The Government has announced in its Immigration White Paper, published today, that the Immigration Skills Charge (ISC) is set to increase by 32%.
What is the Immigration Skills Charge?
The Immigration Skills Charge (ISC) is a fee that UK employers must pay when sponsoring skilled workers from overseas under specific visa routes, such as the Skilled Worker visa and the Global Business Mobility (Senior or Specialist Worker) route.
Introduced in April 2017, the ISC aims to encourage employers to invest in training and upskilling the domestic workforce, thereby reducing reliance on migrant labour. The funds collected are directed to the Department for Education to support skills development initiatives.
The White Paper states that since the ISC has not been increased or subject to a comprehensive policy review since its introduction in 2017, the rates will be increasing in line with inflation.
How much is the Immigration Skills Charge?
The amount of the ISC depends on the size of the sponsoring organisation and the length of employment specified in the CoS:
| Sponsor Type | Charge for First 12 Months | Charge for Each Additional 6 Months |
|---|---|---|
| Small or charitable sponsors | £364 | £182 |
| Medium or large sponsors | £1,000 | £500 |
The maximum charge for a five-year sponsorship would be £1,820 for small or charitable sponsors and £5,000 for medium or large sponsors .
New rate for ISC rates
The UK government has announced a 32% increase in the Immigration Skills Charge (ISC), as follows:
| Sponsor Type | First 12 Months – New Rate | Each Additional 6 Months – New Rate |
|---|---|---|
| Small Businesses/Charities | £480 | £240 |
| Medium/Large Sponsors | £1,320 | £660 |
Certain exemptions to the ISC remain in place, including for:
- Workers in specific PhD-level occupations.
- Individuals switching from a student visa to a Skilled Worker visa within the UK.
- Workers assigned a Certificate of Sponsorship for six months or less.
- EU nationals assigned a Certificate of Sponsorship under the Global Business Mobility route for up to three years.
Employers should review these exemptions to determine applicability to their sponsored workers.
Employer implications
Employers sponsoring skilled workers under the Skilled Worker or Global Business Mobility routes will need to factor these increased costs into their recruitment budgets.
It’s also important to remember that the ISC is payable when assigning a Certificate of Sponsorship and cannot be passed on to the sponsored worker.
Failure to pay the correct ISC amount can result in visa application refusals.
If you have any questions about the ISC or the proposed increase to the fee, contact us.
Author
Founder and Managing Director Anne Morris is a fully qualified solicitor and trusted adviser to large corporates through to SMEs, providing strategic immigration and global mobility advice to support employers with UK operations to meet their workforce needs through corporate immigration.
She is a recognised by Legal 500 and Chambers as a legal expert and delivers Board-level advice on business migration and compliance risk management as well as overseeing the firm’s development of new client propositions and delivery of cost and time efficient processing of applications.
Anne is an active public speaker, immigration commentator, and immigration policy contributor and regularly hosts training sessions for employers and HR professionals
