What’s the minimum salary for Tier 2 General visa? £20,500 or as on the Code of Practice?

We are asked this question a lot as requirements seem to be confusing.

Firstly, there is currently a minimum salary of £20,500 from 6 April 2014. This is just a minimum, so all Tier 2 General applicants must be offered at least that but it does not end there!

Secondly – and very importantly as it’s a common reason for refusals – at the same time the minimum salary must be as on the Tier 2 Code of Practice or on a Shortage Occupation List.

For example, if your occupation requires a minimum salary of £19,000 then you must be still offered at least £20,500 to qualify, otherwise your application will be refused. However, if your occupation requires a minimum of, say, £25,000 then you must be offered minimum £25,000 (and not £20,500). If you are offered less than £25,000 in this example then your application will be refused because your salary is not as on the Code of Practice, even if it is £20,500.

If your employer cannot afford to pay £25,000 (in this example) then they can reduce a number of hours you work, on a pro-rated basis (but with enough hours for an annual pay of £20,500).

For example, your occupation requires a salary of £30,000 for a 39-hour working week (the current Code of Practice is based on 39 hours per week, unlike the old one which was based on 37.5 hours). So, pay per hour would be: £30,000 / 52 (weeks in a year) / 39 (hours per week) = £14.80. The minimum pay for a Tier 2 General visa is £20,500 per annum, so we need enough hours to achieve £20,500 per year. In this example it would be minimum 27 hours per week: 27 x £14.80 per hour x 52 = £20,779.20. It is above the minimum £20,500 and meets the Code of Practice requirement of paying minimum £30,000 for a 39-hour week. It is the same salary per hour, just working fewer hours.

A number of working hours will be stated on your Certificate of Sponsorship (COS), so the UK Visas & Immigration does not have to guess. You have to ensure your employer knows that! From our experience many HR managers just put some standard salary amount for some standard (for their company) number of working hours per week and then it turns out to be not enough when we compare it with the Code of Practice. It is you, the migrant, who will have a problem when applying for a Tier 2 visa, not your employer. If your employer gets it wrong then your COS will become obsolete and your employer will have to issue you with another COS. Our strong advice – discuss this with your employer BEFORE they assign your COS!

Please remember: if your job is from Shortage Occupation List then minimum number of hours must be 30 hours per week!

Finally, there is a new salary category from 6 April 2013: Entry Level, which is a lower amount of pay for the people who are applying under Tier 2 category for the 1^st time AND are under 25 years old. Entry Level can also be used  for all applicants who are switching from Tier 1 Post-Study Work or Tier 4 visas. Some of these Entry salary levels may be less than £20,500, however, the minimum must still be £20,500 per year. It means you must be either offered more than an Entry Level or your COS must specify more hours in order to take your pay to a total of £20,500. Just cannot end up working too much – the UKVI allows max 48 hours per week.

If you are not eligible for Entry Level salary then your employer must offer an Experienced level.

For more advice or to make an application, including on same-day service in Croydon, please contact us: info@1st4immigration.com or visit www.1st4immigration.com

If you are an Immigration Adviser or a Solicitor please visit our CDP training website: www.1st4immigration.com/training