Manufacturing NI has been consulting and engaging directly with the Home Office on a wide range of issues and concerns that will affect employers when the new immigration system comes into effect on 1st January 2021.  There is a lot of information to digest on gov.uk but here we have broken this down detailing the top 2 actions that you can take now as well as more information in the presentation link below;

  1. If you recruit directly from overseas (outside the resident labour market from 1 January 2021), familiarise yourself with the requirements to become a sponsor organisation.  The standard processing time for an application is usually 8 weeks.  You do not need to be a sponsor to employ someone from the resident labour market with an existing right to work in the UK. This includes EU citizens with settled or pre-settled status, and non-EU citizens with indefinite leave to remain in the UK.
  2. Continue to promote the EU settlement scheme to any existing employees to get their status. This will enable them to carry on working and access to NHS etc.  They and their family members are eligible to apply to the EU Settlement Scheme and have until 30 June 2021 to make an application. As a transition measure, employers can continue to accept the passports and national identity cards of EU citizens as evidence of their right to work up until 30 June 2021.


For more useful information, click here to view a presentation from Manufacturing NI and Granite Legal Services: 

Migration and Visa sponsorship info for employers

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