Yesterday, 23 September 2013, UK Visas & Immigration (formerly known as the "UK Border Agency") launched a three month pilot to provide online support to small and medium sized enterprises ("SMEs") in partnership with the Greater London Authority ("GLA").
The pilot is aimed at SMEs who need to recruit skilled international employees to help build their business, and a toolkit of information has been made available through the GLA website. The toolkit includes a simple overview of the process of sponsoring an overseas worker, a best practice guide, and some frequently asked questions, with access to expert help from the Home Office for complex issues or queries via an email request function. The toolkit is available on the Greater London Authority website www.London.gov.uk/sme-visa-support.
The pilot is another example of UK Visas & Immigration's efforts to be more transparent and business friendly. However, care should be taken when consulting the toolkit as it is a condensed version of the Immigration Rules and should only act as an overview aid only. For more information, please contact Lynn McCloghry.