International RECRUITMENT GUIDE

 At Taurus Global, we are pleased to advise on recruitment strategies to enable organisations to operate more efficiently. Through our network of trusted international recruitment and immigration specialists, we can connect you with a talented pool of vetted international professionals (skilled and unskilled) across multiple industries. 

This is a guide that helps you to explore and maximise opportunities that international recruitment offers.

 What are the benefits of International Recruitment? 

• A loyal & committed workforce.
• Lots of transferable skills on arrival.
• High retention rates.
• A future supply chain as international employees tell family and friends how great it is to work for you.
• Succession planning for the future as international employees progress in time to more senior roles.

Is it for me?

International recruitment is not for everyone and isn't a quick fix. It's a serious commitment that places significant responsibilities on you, the employer. That said, feedback from employers who have contributed to this guide have said the benefits outweigh the challenges, cost, and effort involved.

The following are 'must haves' for international recruitment. If you can't answer yes to the questions below, you're not ready to start yet:

• Do you have real, funded permanent vacancies for roles that pay a minimum £23,200 or £11.44 per hour (based on 39 hours per week)? (The minimum salary threshold varies depending on the visa category).
• Do you have the right capacity in place to support the whole process? You'll need people in your organisation who will take responsibility for the end-to-end process, from ensuring you're compliant with the legal requirements through recruitment to supporting your new employees to settle in the country and in your organisation.
• Is international recruitment part of your long-term workforce plan? Get it right, and your new recruits are likely to stay with you. They'll grow and develop with you and help you in recruiting from overseas more easily next time round.
• Are you and your organisation committed to making international recruitment work for you? Becoming a sponsor is a serious commitment. The reality of the process is that it takes time, it can feel frustrating at times, and you'll have an ongoing duty of care for the people you recruit.

How do I do it? Legal requirements: what you need to know:

Requirements on you as an employer:

You'll need a sponsor license to employ someone to work for you from outside the UK. This process is managed by UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI): Work in the UK. 

A sponsorship license is described by the Home Office as a 'privilege and not a right' and can be revoked at any time.

Steps to getting a sponsorship license:

1) Check your business is eligible:

To get a license as an employer, you cannot have unspent criminal convictions for immigration offences or certain other crimes, including fraud or money laundering. Or had a sponsor license revoked in the last 12 months.

You will need to show that you have systems in place to monitor sponsored employees and people to manage Sponsorship in your business. Sponsorship of a worker can only be undertaken by a business. 

Individuals cannot be Home Office sponsors for the purposes of a specific worker visas.

2) Check if your job is suitable for Sponsorship:

You can sponsor a worker if the job they're going to do has a suitable rate of pay and skill level or meets the other criteria needed for their visa.

3) Decide who will manage Sponsorship within your business:

There are three different roles identified by UKVI, but they can all be fulfilled by the same person. You will need to appoint someone within the organisation to manage the sponsorship process via the Sponsor Management System (SMS) and act as a single point of contact with UKVI. 

The SMS is UKVI's primary method of communication. It can build in delay if these are not identified early or changed during the process.

The roles are:

• Authorising officer – a senior and competent person responsible for the actions of staff and representatives who use the SMS.
• Key contact – your main point of contact with UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI)
• Level 1 user – responsible for all day-to-day management of your license using the SMS.

4)  Applying for a sponsorship license:

There are a number of supporting documents that will be required as part of the application process; these documents will evidence your suitability to UKVI. What you are required to provide will vary depending on what type of organisation you are. The requirements are set out in the relevant Government Guidance. 

Getting these documents right at an early stage can help the process run smoothly. Tip: Once collated, save them somewhere easily accessible, as you may be asked to submit them again further down the line.

The process should take eight weeks to complete, but it can take longer if there are requests for clarification and additional information from UKVI. To seek clarification, a case worker may contact you through SMS, by phone or arrange to visit. All of this can extend the process.

The application costs vary depending on the size of the business, from £536 for an organisation employing 50 or fewer with assets under £5 Million to £1476 for larger organisations.

Priority Service:

UKVI offer a priority service, which is currently limited to 10 organisations per day. This operates on a first-come, first-served basis and costs £500. This service can turn around applications within ten days.

Some employers choose to use a solicitor to manage the application process on their behalf. This can help in getting the application right the first time, but the process does not require legal expertise. The decision on whether to use a solicitor comes down to capacity and resources. Do you have a person in the business who can take this forward?

Application process:

When assessing the application, UKVI will want to see evidence that it is a genuine vacancy that fits within the rules. Also, your organisation is aware of the roles and responsibilities of Sponsorship. These need to be demonstrated in the application, which is why the supporting documentation is so important at this stage. 

The advice from the UKVI is to "read the guidance, be clear about what you want and be clear to us in your application".

1. Make contact through the UKVI email address.
2. UKVI will send a link to the SMS to invite you to upload documentary evidence. Sponsor guidance appendix A: supporting documents for sponsor applications gives a full list of the documents required.
3. Caseworkers will consider your application. They will be looking at what the prospective employee will be doing, how they fit into the structure of the organisation/business and how they will fit moving forward over four years. If there are no requests for clarification/ further information, you will not hear anything until the end of the process.
4. You should expect to be contacted by SMS in eight weeks.
5. Once you have a license, you will also need a certificate of Sponsorship for each person you intend to recruit.

The Sponsorship License runs for four years; this enables you to recruit within the agreed business plan. For each worker employed, you will also need a Certificate of Sponsorship. A number of these are issued in line with the request made in the license application.

5) Certificate of Sponsorship (COS):

The Certificate of Sponsorship relates to the workers who are linked to the sponsorship license. There is one Certificate required for each worker. A number are issued when the sponsorship license is granted, and they are then reissued annually in line with the agreed business plan.

If additional Certificates of Sponsorship are required at any point, applications can be made via SMS. Information about how the additional recruitment supports the business plan and how the new recruits fit into the structure will be required.

Applying for additional Certificates of Sponsorship will take 13 weeks. Unused Certificates of Sponsorship expire after three months. Timing is a consideration when planning an additional recruitment campaign. Leaving it late to apply for certificates could mean waiting extra time before new recruits start, and applying too early could mean that the certificates expire. The advice from the UKVI is to apply for additional certificates at the start of the recruitment campaign in order to best align the processes.

If the worker is based overseas, when you make an application, you will need a Defined Certificate of Sponsorship. If you are applying for someone who is already in the UK and currently working for someone else, you will need an Undefined Certificate of Sponsorship.

Once in possession of a defined Certificate of Sponsorship, the overseas worker can apply for a skilled worker visa.

If the employee that the Certificate relates to stops working for you, UKVI should be informed, and the Certificate of Sponsorship will be cancelled. The worker will no longer be assigned to you.

Compliance:

UKVI will continue to monitor your sponsorship license and use of certificates of Sponsorship for the duration of the license period. They reserve the right to inspect businesses to ensure that you are aware of your responsibilities and are carrying out your duties as a sponsor. 

They may visit or ring premises without notice and have a set series of questions to follow.

They will be checking:

• Whether you are carrying out right-to-work checks
• keeping identification and immigration documents
• Can demonstrate there is nothing preventing the worker being employed in the UK.

During this contact, they may request additional documentation, which will include wage slips duty timesheets, and they may also ask to interview workers directly.

UKVI will be looking for evidence and assurance that the sponsorship license and related certificates are being used in the right way and in line with the original application.

Things to note:

• Only allow workers to undertake roles permitted by the conditions of their stay.
• Only assign work COS licences to workers if you believe they will meet the immigration requirements.
• The COS is linked to the individual worker, and the worker is directly linked to the business.
• UKVI have an ongoing responsibility to ensure licences are being adhered to.

How long does it take?

Four to six months from starting the process of becoming a sponsor through to your new recruit, starting work with you seems to be the average, although we've come across examples of it being as quick as 8 weeks. Once you're set up as a sponsor, it will become quicker for subsequent recruits.

How can you ensure Success?

The key to success is the care and effort you put in to help people settle in the UK and in their new role. Put yourself in their shoes and think about what would help you if you went to work in a new country. What you do will depend on your circumstances, location and the extent to which your new recruits have friends and family already here.

Here are some examples of what employers are doing:

• An information pack prior to arrival in the UK providing information about what to bring, clothing needed, adaptors, etc.
• A virtual meeting between existing and new staff members to build connections
• A WhatsApp group that allows relationships to be built between new recruits and the local team in advance of arrival and once over here.
• Meeting and greeting at the airport.
• A welcome pack with, for example, groceries, bedding, etc.
• A local guide to help people navigate the local area and know what to expect, e.g. how to register with a GP, what things cost, where the local shops are, etc.
• Help to apply for a national insurance number and open a bank account.
• A local tour to familiarise with the area – local shops, green spaces, places of worship, transport links, etc.
• Secure short-term accommodation.
• Support to find longer-term accommodation.
• A buddying scheme between local staff and new overseas recruits.
• Information about local community networks.

Keeping in regular contact with the people you are recruiting via Zoom or WhatsApp can really help to keep communication open. It helps to keep worries to a minimum for all involved, to keep everyone informed of where things are up to and who needs to do what, and to start to build those crucial relationships.

Accommodation can be a challenge. Most employers secure accommodation for their overseas recruits for at least the first four weeks. We heard different examples of how people have done this, including repurposing spaces to create a self-contained flat, arranging for people to stay with existing members of staff, and paying for Airbnb accommodation. 

Some employers told us that helping people secure longer-term affordable accommodation is becoming increasingly difficult. The situation will differ depending on where you are located, but it's advisable to plan in advance.

Preparing your UK team:

If you are new to overseas recruitment, you may find that your UK team have mixed feelings about it. Helping your staff to understand the reasons for trying overseas recruitment and giving them the chance to hear about the experiences of other organisations who have used overseas recruitment will help alleviate any worries. 

We have listened to some fantastic examples of how employers have worked with their teams to help them get ready to welcome overseas candidates and how members of staff have really gone out of their way to help people settle. 

Examples include:

• Arranging an introductory Zoom/Teams call between team members and the new candidates to help them get to know each other.
• Sharing photos and bios provided by new recruits with the staff team in advance of arrival
• Involving staff in developing welcome packs and guides for new candidates.
• Seeking out people who will act as a buddy to new candidates and, where possible, choosing someone with a common interest.
• Encouraging staff to take the new recruit(s) out and about to get to know the local community.

Our Service:

• Pre-placement support.
• Unlimited matches with pre-qualified suitable international candidates until you find the right candidate for you and your organisation. 
• Up to 3 video interviews with each candidate.
• Introduction to a UK specialist immigration solicitor (if required & additional fees apply).
• Post-placement support.

Our fee is fixed at £2500.00 per successful placement. It is payable after 3 months of the placement commencing in the UK and fully refundable should the placement be unsuccessfull within 12 months*.

For further information, please email hello@taurusglobalmanagement.com. We will be delighted to assist you without any obligation whatsoever. 

* Terms & Conditions Apply 

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