Getting to Know the UK’s New Immigration Laws
16/05/2008 by Liam Clifford
Immigration and Visa authority Global Visas got an inside look into the new UK sponsorship requirements, as director Liam Clifford met with Steve Lamb, the Deputy Director of the UK Borders Agency Sponsorship Unit this week.
Steven Lamb ran Work Permits UK successfully for many years. This department became so successful that David Blunkett moved it from DFE to the Home Office when he moved from Education, to become the Home Secretary.
During the time that the Home Office was found releasing prisoners back into society who should have been deported, Dr John Reed said"the Home Office was not fit for purpose". Lamb was the person offered the task of sorting out the prisoner issue, which he did with ruthless efficiency.
Clifford posed some in-depth questions about the sponsorship situation at present, here are some of the discussions main points of interest.
Is 60,000 the maximum number the Home Office can cope with?
Lamb's staffs have been busy answering a steady stream of questions from many UK employers asking if the Home Office had a cap of 60,000 licences. This came on the back of information leaked to www.globalvisas.com from the UK Borders Agency which was picked up in the press.
"Leaks should not be listened to", said Lamb. He continued by stating, "The Home Office does not have a fixed upper figure of cases they can cope with". It was noted by Global Visas that no organisation has an infinite amount of resources regardless of their best intentions. The more companies that leave registration under the new PBS Immigration Laws to the last minute the greater the strain will be on the Home Office resources and the new systems.
Are Companies leaving it too late?
The UK Borders Agency is concerned that companies register in time and not leave thing too late.
Lamb made it clear that there is no commercial benefit in delaying registration and he could not provide an explanation as to why some advisors are not yet registering their clients. The Home Office are now going to step up their marketing campaign to encourage employers to recognise the seriousness of this legislation.
How many licences per organisation?
It was agreed an organisation should hold as many licences as fits its organisational requirements, "It was a matter of choice for each organisation and the UK BA will not make recommendations but leave it to the employer as to how many licences they secure " stressed Lamb.
He went on to make it clear that if a local manager employs a person who does not qualify or should not have been hired, they could expose the organisation to a fine and/or other actions regarding continued registration.
It was suggested some organisations may wish to consider structuring their sponsorship licenses alongside their organisational structure to ensure local stakeholders buy into and understand the new immigration requirements.
Lamb, however, could not comment on this as the legislation only requires one license per company.
What do organisations need to do about Fraudulent Documents?
The organisation will be expected to protect themselves against exposure by employing people on forged or misrepresented documents. There are endless ways people misrepresent themselves from a little white lie on a CV to pretending to hold working rights.
An employer is expected to protect themselves against people misrepresenting themselves. Failure to do so will leave the organisation and individuals exposed under the new legislation.
It was clear from this meeting that the UK Border Agency is changing at such a pace one of the biggest issues is keeping people informed and ensuring the correct steps are taken.
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