Formal Tier 2 Certificate of Sponsorship requests
Where a Tier 2 Certificate of Sponsorship is required for an overseas migrant, the University must submit a formal request for a specific Certificate of Sponsorship from a national monthly quota of 1500 certificates held by the UK Border Agency.
The only exemption from the requirement to request a Certificate of Sponsorship from the UK Border Agency for an overseas migrant is where the annual salary will be £152,100 per annum or more. For posts where the annual salary is £152,100 per annum or more, the University may issue a Certificate of Sponsorship from its own allocation. In addition, departments are not required to meet the UK Border Agency's advertising requirements for posts with a salary at or above £152,100 per annum.
All requests for Certificates of Sponsorship for overseas applicants received by the UK Border Agency on or before the 5th of each month will be considered on the 11th of the same month. In order for the Work Permits Desk to submit formal requests for Certificates of Sponsorship to the UK Border Agency by the 5th of each month, departments and colleges must submit fully completed Certificate of Sponsorship applications to the Work Permits Desk by the 29th of each month to ensure that valid requests can be considered by the UK Border Agency the following month. Where the 29th falls on a weekend or bank holiday, departments and colleges must submit fully completed Certificate of Sponsorship applications to the Work Permits Desk by the last working day before the 29th.
Departments and colleges are advised to apply for a Certificate of Sponsorship at least three months before the migrant is due to commence employment.
In each month, the UK Border Agency will consider applications for Certificates of Sponsorship for overseas applicants against the following criteria:
| Route | Points | Salary | Points |
| Shortage Occupation | 75 | £20,300 - £20,999.99 | 2 |
| PhD level post, and Resident Labour Market Test met | 50 | £21,000 - £21,999.99 | 3 |
| Other post, and Resident Labour Market Test met | 30 | £22,000 - £22,999.99 | 4 |
| £23,000 - £23,999.99 | 5 | ||
| £24,000 - £24,999.99 | 6 | ||
| £25,000 - £25,999.99 | 7 | ||
| £26,000 - £26,999.99 | 8 | ||
| £27,000 - £27,999.99 | 9 | ||
| £28,000 - £31,999.99 | 10 | ||
| £32,000 - £45,999.99 | 15 | ||
| £46,000 - £74,999.99 | 20 | ||
| £75,000 - £99,999.00 | 25 | ||
| £100,000 - £152,000.99 | 30 |
All applications must score a minimum of 32 points from the above table from a combination of both the 'route' and 'salary' columns to be eligible for consideration by the UK Border Agency i.e. even for a PhD level post (scoring 50 points), the minimum salary must be at least £20,300 (as would be expected). Each month, the 1500 eligible applications scoring the highest points will be allocated a Certificate of Sponsorship by the UK Border Agency.
Departments and colleges should note that all university and college research and lecturer posts are considered by the UK Border Agency to be 'PhD level' posts, regardless of whether the job actually requires the migrant to hold a PhD, or whether the migrant actually holds a PhD or not. As a result, formal requests made to the UK Border Agency for certificates for university and college research and lecturer posts should be among the applications with the highest points scores.
The University should receive the UK Border Agency's decision on formal requests for Certificates of Sponsorship for overseas applicants within five working days of the date that the UK Border Agency meets to consider the requests.
If a formal request for a Certificate of Sponsorship is approved by the UK Border Agency, the University will be allocated a Certificate of Sponsorship which can only be issued for the specific post in question, and at the specific salary detailed in the application.
Where the UK Border Agency approves a Certificate of Sponsorship request, the Work Permits Desk will issue the Certificate of Sponsorship to the migrant as soon as possible. The Certificate of Sponsorship will be emailed to the migrant by the Work Permits Desk. The migrant will need a Certificate of Sponsorship before they can apply for their entry clearance/visa.
Where a formal request for a Certificate of Sponsorship is declined by the UK Border Agency, it will not be considered automatically in the following month. The department or college would need to notify the Work Permits Desk that they would like the request to be re-submitted to the UK Border Agency for consideration at the next meeting.