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Entry Clearances: Foreign Workers

Answer

Tier 2 of the points based system (PBS) for intra-company transfers (ICT) has been reformed in recent years. For this reason, direct comparisons before and after the changes in both November 2008 and April 2011 would be misleading.The PBS Tier 2—ICT category was introduced in November 2008. Prior to this, intra-company transfers were included in the work permit system.In April 2011, there was a further change to the PBS ICT route whereby it was separated into long- and short-term categories including both main applicants and dependants. Prior to April, dependants of the ICT category were issued visas under the PBS Tier 2—Dependent category.The available information is provided in the following table:

Tier 2 intra-company transfers out of country visas to the United Kingdom issued, main applicants and dependants
	Main applicants	Dependants
	Tier 2—intra-company transfers	Tier 2—intra-company transfers, short-term	Tier 2—intra-company transfers, long-term	Total	Tier 2—intra-company transfers	Tier 2—intra-company transfers, short-term	Tier 2—intra-company transfers, long-term	Total
Q1 2008	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—	²—	¹—	¹—	¹—
Q2 2008	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—	²—	¹—	¹—	¹—
Q3 2008	¹—	¹—	¹—	¹—	²—	¹—	¹—	¹—
Q4 2008	47	¹—	¹—	47	²—	¹—	¹—	¹—
Total 2008	47	¹—	¹—	47	²—	¹—	¹—	¹—
Q1 2009	4,356	¹—	¹—	4,356	²—	¹—	¹—	¹—
Q2 2009	5,662	¹—	¹—	5,662	²—	¹—	¹—	¹—
Q3 2009	6,091	¹—	¹—	6,091	²—	¹—	¹—	¹—
Q4 2009	5,920	¹—	¹—	5,920	²—	¹—	¹—	¹—
Total 2009	22,029	¹—	¹—	22,029	²—	¹—	¹—	¹—
Q1 2010	7,379	¹—	¹—	7,379	²—	¹—	¹—	¹—
Q2 2010	7,164	¹—	¹—	7,164	²—	¹—	¹—	¹—
Q3 2010	8,046	¹—	¹—	8,046	²—	¹—	¹—	¹—
Q4 2010	6,582	¹—	¹—	6,582	²—	¹—	¹—	¹—
Total 2010	29,171	¹—	¹—	29,171	²—	¹—	¹—	¹—
Q1 2011	7,370	¹—	¹—	7,370	²—	¹—	¹—	¹—
Q2 2011	2,242	2,992	2,152	7,386	²—	825	2,190	3,015
Q3 2011	751	4,387	3,276	8,414	²—	1,154	3,195	4,349
Q4 2011	415	3,647	2,445	6,507	²—	1,146	2,413	3,559
Total 2011	10,778	11,026	7,873	29,677	²—	3,125	7,798	10,923
¹ Not applicable
² Not available
Notes:
1. PBS Tier 2 and the category intra-company transfers were introduced in November 2003.
2. PBS Tier 2 categories for short- and long-term intra-company transfers were introduced in April 2011. Prior to April 2011, dependants of those issued visas under the PBS Tier 2 ICT category were recorded differently.
3. Figures for entry clearance visas are Management Information and are provisional and are subject to change.

Those issued with visas in the short-term ICT category are granted leave for no longer than 12 months and are not included in ONS figures for net migration.Some entry clearance visas continued to be issued in pre-PBS categories for a period following the introduction of PBS. These would include those for the purposes of work for employees of multinational companies who were being transferred to a UK branch of the organisation, but these are now at a very low levels.The pre-PBS work permit system was a two-stage process. Not all those granted work permits took up jobs and some may have been refused entry clearance or leave to enter. The UK Border Agency does not hold visa data for ICTs prior to November 2008 in a readily available form. These figures could be obtained only by examining individual applications at disproportionate cost.Data relating to out of country visas issued under Tier 2 intra-company transfers are published in table 'be.04.q' of the Home Office statistical release 'Immigration Statistics'.A copy of the latest release, Immigration Statistics October to December 2011 is available from the Library of the House and from the Home Office Science, research and statistics web pages at:"http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/science-research-statistics/research-statistics/immigration-asylum-research/immigration-q4-2011/"

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

97837; 542 c1122-3W

Session

2010-12

Subjects

Entry clearances Migrant workers

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk