Applicants for the Tier 2 ICT visa are required to have a ‘Certificate of Sponsorship’, or CoS, from a sponsor that has been approved by the Home Office. According to the UK government’s points-based system, the applicant is required to score 60 points in total, with 20 of these being awarded on the basis of suitable sponsorship.
As an applicant for an Intra company Transfer visa, you are expected to have a valid CoS for the job that you intend to do. Certain requirements will need to be met in order for the CoS to be valid, including that the document must:
Confirm the name of the applicant, that they are being sponsored as an Intra company Transfer or Intra company Graduate Trainee, information about the job, salary and any allowances the sponsor is offering them, and PAYE details if HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) needs income tax and national insurance for the sponsored role to be paid via PAYE; and
Include a start date for the job, stated by the sponsor, which is no more than three months following the application date; and
Not have been used in a previous application that was either granted or refused (but can have been used in a past application that was withdrawn, made void or rejected as invalid); and
Not have been withdrawn by the sponsor or cancelled by the Home Office; and
Unless the applicant is a high earner, confirm that the visa applicant has worked for the sponsor group required in the relevant section of the immigration rules; and
Confirm whether the Academic Technology Approval Scheme (ATAS) requirement in Appendix ATAS applies.
The sponsor needs to be a holder of a valid Intra company route sponsor licence. It is also necessary for the sponsor to be A-rated, unless the applicant is applying for an extension to enable them to continue working for the same sponsor. For further advice and guidance, please call our team on 0208 215 0053.