UK firms face migrant work fees

Businesses who use skilled workers from outside of the EU will need to pay between �300 and �1,000 from later this year, under new immigration rules.

The Home Office's Border Agency (UKBA) is launching a TV ad campaign alerting employers to immigration changes.

The charges are part of a continuing and major overhaul of the UK's economic migration system.

Immigration chief Lin Homer said the changes would ensure only workers needed by the UK would be allowed in.

Under the new rules, workers from outside the European Union will be subject to new vetting procedures, known as "Tier Two" of the points-based immigration system.

Businesses which want to bring in skilled workers from these parts of the world will need a licence and will be obliged to sponsor the arrival of each individual.

Tier Two requirements For skilled workers Enough points from qualifications Points from potential earnings Good English Funds for one-month's stay

Licences will cost from �300 for small businesses and charities - and each sponsorship application will cost a further �170.

Individual migrants will then need to go through a separate vetting process to see if they have the necessary points for entry.

The UKBA warns officials may take up to two months to deal with licence applications ahead of the scheme's launch in November.

Under the points-based system, seen in other industrialised nations, prospective immigrants need to prove they have sufficient skills and qualifications to match gaps in the British economy.

Most people within Europe are however allowed to seek work in the UK under the free-market rules that also allow British workers to go the other way.

The UKBA's advert tells businesses they need to jump over a number of hurdles if they want to bring in other skilled workers.

Immigration breaches

The Home Office says licences will be revoked if sponsors do not alert officials to immigration breaches, such as the disappearance of a worker.

Crackdown: Illegal workers at a raid in Derbyshire

Lin Homer, chief executive of the UK Border Agency, said: "The Points Based System is one of the biggest shake-ups to the immigration system in a generation ensuring only those with the skills we need will be able to work or study here, and no more.

"Business benefits from migrant labour but must join us in helping crack down on illegal working and ensure a system which is both firm and fair.

"We need employers to understand that unless they register by 1 October, when they want to get foreign workers in later in the year they are going to struggle. If you need to register foreign workers get your application in now."

This year the Home Office introduced fines for businesses employing illegal workers and has so far issued 450 penalties of up to �10,000 a time.

In June some 35 firms became the first to be "named and shamed" for employing a total of 56 illegal immigrants - almost all of them takeaways or restaurants.

The only official published estimate for illegal migrants in the UK puts the total as somewhere between 310,000 and 570,000.

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