Tier 2 Intra Company Transfer Visa

Applicants were required to show that:

- they had a Certificate of Sponsorship from a licensed employer;

- for Tier 2 ICT Short Term, Graduate Trainee or Skills Transfer:

- the salary was more than £24,500 or the minimum level set out in the Standard Occupation Codes guidance for your job type (whichever was higher);*

- for Tier 2 ICT Long Term: the salary had to be more than £41,000 or the minimum level set out in the Standard Occupation Codes guidance for your job type (whichever was higher);* and

- were capable of maintaining yourself in the UK according to a set criteria.

Certificates of Sponsorship could be issued for people who had either a degree level qualification (or higher) or specialist skills acquired through doing the type of job for which the permit is being sought.

Generally the job should had to be at NQF level 6 (degree level). Jobs below this skill threshold only qualified for Tier 2 work permission in certain circumstances, for example, jobs in the creative sector had to be at level NQF4 or above, or if the employee has previously held work permission for a post at NQF3 prior to 6 April 2010.

The initial visa could be granted for up to 3 years.

Tier 2 Intra Company Transfer (ICTs) is a common type of application used by multi-national organisations which need to transfer employees from an overseas office, subsidiary or sister company to fill a skilled post in the UK which cannot be filled by a locally recruited employee. Minimum salary thresholds and prior employment requirements can apply.

There are 4 sub-categories of Tier 2 ICT:

Long-term Staff: For established, skilled employees to be transferred to the UK branch of the company for more than 12 months to fill a post that cannot be filled locally.

Short-term Staff: For established, skilled employees to be transferred to the UK branch of the company for 12 months or less to fill a post that cannot be filled locally.

Graduate Trainee: For recent graduate employees to be transferred to a UK branch of the company as part of a structured graduate training programme which clearly defines progression towards a managerial or specialist role.

Skills Transfer: For new graduate employees to be transferred to a UK branch of the company to learn the skills and knowledge required to perform their job overseas, or to impart their specialist skills or knowledge to the UK workforce.

Applicants had to show they could support themselves and any dependants financially for the entire duration of their stay in the UK without recourse to public funds.

In order to show had to provide evidence of a consistent level of cash funds for a 90-day period.

The maintenance thresholds were then: £945 for a single applicant plus an additional £630 for each dependant.

It was possible for an A-rated sponsoring employer to certify the maintenance requirement on behalf of an employee and any dependants.

Outside the UK

The application involved submission of an online application and specified evidence and attendance at a biometric appointment.

Some applicants had to undertake a tuberculosis test.

If  required by the employer and applicants had to continue to meet the requirements, you could extend their permission for up to 6 years.

A Tier 2 Intra Company Transferee could be accompanied by their spouse/civil partner/long term partner and children under the age of 18 to the UK.

Intra company transferees who obtained their visa permission after 6 April 2010 could not qualify for indefinite leave to remain (settlement) in the UK.

Those issued with Tier 2 ICT permission before this date could have applied for indefinite leave to remain after 5 years.

An intra company transferee must within the 5-year continuous period must have spent time in the following categories:

- a Tier 2 (Intra company transfer) migrant under the Immigration Rules in place before 6 April 2010;

- or a qualifying work permit holder, provided that the work permit was granted because you were the subject of an intra-company transfer.

Once the above criteria are satisfied and the Tier 2 ICT worker had completed 5 years continuous lawful stay in this category, they could apply for settlement provided they were still required for the employment in question and they were paid at or above the appropriate specified salary as defined by the Standard Occupation Codes.

From 6 April 2016, a worker applying for indefinite leave to remain had to earn £35,000 or more (or £35,500 if applying on or after 6 April 2018).

Intra-company transfer workers who acquired Tier 2 permission after 6 April 2010 would not qualify for settlement but could stay in the UK for up to a maximum period of 9 years in this category. If your absences exceeded the permitted limits, you could still apply for an extension of permission.