UKVI visa, ATAS processing and RTW Check updates

Where an individual is applying to extend or switch visa from inside the UK, the UKVI rules confirm that the applicant should not travel until the visa decision has been confirmed and new leave granted.

Please be reminded that employees/new hires should not leave the UK during the period that they are awaiting decision on their application, otherwise this will lead to automatic cancellation of the visa application which would impact on the individuals’ rights to live and work in the UK.

Although the immigration rules state that the pending visa application will be cancelled if the applicant leaves the UK or common travel area (Ireland, Channel Islands, Isle of Man), the ‘3C Leave’ status rules confirm that 3C Leave ends if the applicant leaves the UK during the period their application is live. Where an individual needs 3C Leave to be able to continue legally working, leaving the UK would mean that Imperial would have no choice but to suspend/end employment until the individual is able to evidence their new visa status, once granted.

Therefore we strongly advise against any travel during this period, and if an employee needs guidance on timing of submitting their application around any existing travel commitments, they should contact the Staff Immigration & Compliance Team

By April 2025, all visitors who do not need a visa, except British and Irish citizens, will need an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) – a digital permission to travel to the UK.

Nationals of Gulf Cooperation Council countries already need an ETA to travel to or transit through the UK. All remaining nationalities will be able to apply for an ETA from later this year through a quick and simple process using the UK ETA app.

ETA is extending in two phases:

• Eligible non-Europeans can apply in advance from 27 November 2024 and will need an ETA to travel to the UK from 8 January 2025.
• Eligible Europeans can apply from 5 March 2025 and will need an ETA to travel to the UK from 2 April 2025.

Visitors can find out when they will need an ETA here:  Check when you can get an electronic travel authorisation (ETA)

An ETA costs £10 and permits multiple journeys to the UK of up to six months at a time over two years or until the holder’s passport expires – whichever is sooner.

ETA applies to:

• visits of up to 6 months for tourism, visiting family and friends, business, or short-term study
• visits of up to 3 months on the Creative Worker visa concession  Creative Worker visa concession
• visits for a permitted paid engagement  permitted paid engagement
• transiting through the UK – including if you’re not going through UK border control

Further information and how to apply:   www.gov.uk/electronic-travel-authorisation

Where a visitor is coming to UK with ETA to undertake visiting research that is not exempt from the ATAS requirement (either through exempt nationality, or the research not being in field, level that requires ATAS), they would continue to need an ATAS certificate in place before starting any research at Imperial, in line with individuals who need to obtain a standard visit visa.

The Staff Compliance Team sent out communications to departments and to relevant Imperial employees potentially impacted by these changes in September 2024, and have published online information and instructions on the steps that should be taken by individuals to ensure that they can continue to evidence their UK Immigration status, and for travel in and out the UK without issues at the border.

UKVI have published online guidance with some key information about what holders of BRP cards that expire at the end of 2024 should do, and guidance for individuals who hold other types of legacy documents.

BRP cards are no longer issued since 31 October 2024, and individuals will instead be given instructions on how to create UKVI account and attach their eVisa status to evidence their rights.

UKVI will continue to issue some individuals UK entry vignettes in their current passports for initial travel to the UK (or where their visa period is for less than 6 months total), but it is expected this will also be phased out in time.

As there will be no more BRP cards for UK National Insurance numbers to be automatically issued and confirmed on, this change does mean that individuals are likely to need to submit their own application for an NI number once they arrive in the UK.  

Please see the timescale estimates guidance for where a new hire needs to apply for and obtain a Skilled Worker or Global Talent visa to work in the UK.

Please see the Human Resources service level agreements webpage for general SLA’s and performance in operational teams.

Right to work checks

Where the Staff Compliance Team is copied into conditional employment contracts to undertake a right to work check for individuals who hold a suitable time-limited UK visa status, the team is generally able to complete these right to work checks within 5 working days of the date the conditional contract is issued. Whether the check can be fully completed will depend on the new-hire prospective employee providing the necessary evidence promptly, and their availability to meet and complete the check.

The Staff Compliance Team will send a ‘contract RTW conditions met’ email to the new employee cc’ing departmental contact / line manager and Recruitment/Staff Hub, once the check is completed and individual is cleared to start work.

If any other pre-employment checks are needed before work can start the Recruitment/Staff Hub will confirm where right to work check is not the final pre-employment check/condition.

Providing advice to HR Hub teams and hiring departments

Where the Staff Compliance Team is requested by Recruitment Hub or HR Staff Hub to review the UK visa documents / eligibility for UK work-route visa, in most cases the team can meet our processing aim of providing an initial response/advice within 5 working days of the request from the Recruitment/Staff Hub, cc’ing the key departmental contact in our response.

*The initial response may ask for further information/evidence from the prospective employee and/or hiring department to make a full assessment of eligibility for our preferred employment visa routes.

To be eligible for the Skilled Worker Route (SWR) salaries must meet the General Salary Threshold (GST), and the occupation specific Going Rate Threshold (GRT), determined by the relevant Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) code for the role, whichever is higher.

The Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) system and the salary thresholds changed from 04 April 2024.

Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) system

• Jobs are now classified using the newer SOC 2020 codes in place of the SOC 2010 codes previously used.
• The most frequently used SOC codes for Academic and Research staff will remain the same. However, as some codes will change, the SCT will check the SOC codes for both new and extension applications to ensure Certificates of Sponsorship (CoS) are assigned under the correct, newly defined SOC codes for the role.

New SWR visa applicants applying for a visa using a Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) assigned after 4 April must meet the following salary thresholds:

• The General Salary Threshold has increased from £26,200 (based on 25^th percentile UK earnings) to £38,700 (50^th percentile or median UK earnings) per year.
• The occupation specific Going Rate Thresholds has increased from the current 25^th percentile level to the 50^th percentile or median level.
• These increases will mainly affect new hires.

Existing SWR visa holders who wish to extend their stay, change employment, or settle (before 4 April 2030) continue to have to meet the lower 25^th percentile level salary thresholds. However these thresholds will increase in line with the latest UK earnings data:

• The General Salary Threshold increased from £26,200 to £29,000 per year.
• The occupation specific Going Rate Thresholds will also increase in line with the latest UK earnings data.
• A review of Imperial staff who currently hold SWR visas showed that there will be no impact on our ability to continue sponsoring them based on their current employment arrangements.

All other existing SWR salary threshold discounts (tradeable points) relating to holders of relevant PhD qualifications, new entrants to the labour market, and national pay scale occupations, are retained.

The Shortage Occupation List (SOL) has been removed and replaced by a new Immigration Salary List (ISL). Imperial College is currently unable to use this discount option for any roles, as the occupations are either irrelevant to our sector/organisation or there are requirements to the recruitment criteria that we are unable to meet.  

Please note that the Immigration rules and some sponsor updates published between 04 April 2024 and 07 October 2024 included some errors on going rate threshold requirements for specific SOC categories. The Staff Compliance Team are reviewing our commonly used SOC codes and will monitor whether any of the corrections (both increases and decreases to going rates) could impact on any existing employees at point they next require an extension to sponsorship/visa. We will continue to review any updated sponsor guidance changes / provisions as needed.

Supplementary employment provisions for SWR visa holders were widened to allow individuals to undertake up to 20 hours work per week in any eligible SWR occupation, rather than requiring the work to be in the same (SOC) occupation and at the same level as their main job, or in a shortage occupation. They must continue to work in their main sponsored role for supplementary activities to be permitted, and supplementary work must be outside the sponsored working hours.

Please note that supplementary employment for Temporary Work T5 Government Authorised Exchange visa holders will remain as previously - requiring the work to be in the same occupation (SOC) and at the same level as the individuals’ main job, or in a shortage occupation. They must also continue to undertake their main sponsored role for supplementary activities to be permitted.

Skilled worker route defined certificate of sponsorship applications:
Defined COS for overseas Skilled worker route applications can take up to 2 weeks to be granted. Please review below information with this in mind.

Global talent visa endorsement (stage 1) applications:

• For accelerated endorsement routes – most endorsement applications are being decided within 3 weeks
• For standard peer review endorsement route – most endorsement applications are being decided within 5 weeks

In-country visa applications:
UKVI are currently working to their usual standard of 8 weeks for visa application decision from the point that an in-time application is submitted, all fees and surcharges paid, and applicants biometrics provided.

However, there has recently been a change in the service provider to UKVI for in-UK visa application biometric appointments (from Sopra Steria to TLSContact) on 15 October 2024, and this has impacted on appointment availability for applicants. This can mean in some cases for in-country applications for extensions, visa switches or change of employment applications, that the overall timescale is increased, as the processing decision times do not start until biometrics are completed.

With many applicants now able to provide biometrics via smartphone app (EU nationals, and others who have previously provided biometric at UKVCAS centre), as directed during the online visa application – these biometric appointment delays will not impact on all.

There may be priority (£500 additional for 1 week decision), or super priority (£1000 additional for 1-2 working day decision) options available, where required. These fees must be paid at time of visa application submission and cannot be added separately later.

• For extension/switching applications – individuals are unable to leave the UK and common travel area until their new visa is granted and checked, and applicants/departments may decide to pay for priority processing.
• For changes of employment from another sponsor, please consider the above processing times when setting start dates. Candidates may wish to extend their current role/notice period to avoid the situation where they are unable to start employment with Imperial and have left their former employer / sponsor and are not eligible for UK public funds/benefits in the interim. Applicants/departments may decide to use discretion to reimburse applicant for priority processing.
• Please be aware that applications for Indefinite leave to remain (settlement) have a 6-month standard processing service standard rather than the 8 weeks above. Applicants may decide to pay for priority processing.

Out-of-country visa applications:
Please review the UKVI guidance on how quickly you will receive a decision on your UK visa application if you are applying from outside the UK. Most overseas applications are expected to be a 3-week standard decision from point application fees are paid and biometric information provided.

Overseas priority application options are subject to availability, and dependent on the country of application but operate with the same priority/super-priority timescales where available.

Academic & Technology Approval Scheme (ATAS)

• ATAS application processing for employees / sponsored researchers / visitors – FCDO advise that from 6 weeks is the standard processing time, and we see most applications processed within 6-12 weeks.

We see delays regularly and some cases have taken from 3-6 months. Unfortunately, there is no way of expediting ATAS applications. Where the ATAS application for an employee / sponsored researcher / visiting researcher or academic has taken over 12 weeks please email the Staff Immigration & Compliance Manager and we will flag this delay to FCDO as feedback on their processing times and to check the application is still progressing. Applicants can login to their ATAS application portal and see that their application is still showing as ‘live’.

Where it becomes clear that ATAS is not legally required (e.g. individual changes route and applies for Global Talent Visa or other route that does not have ATAS work requirement) it is possible to withdraw the ATAS application, if no longer needed for visa application or to commence research work.

For delayed ATAS applications for current or prospective Imperial College London students please continue to liaise with the relevant College student admissions / international student support team. The Staff Compliance Team is unable to assist with student or admissions ATAS queries.