International Organization for Migration (IOM)

Improving Access to Labour market Information for migrants and employers
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(RLMT) in order to ascertain whether a United Kingdom or other EEA worker
is available before a third-country national is employed. The RLMT involves
advertising vacancies to settled workers for 28 days before a skilled migrant worker
can be recruited under Tier 2 (general).
Intra-Corporate Transfers (ICTs) present particular difficulties when managing
migration. Economic globalization means that the United Kingdom is in
competition with other countries for foreign direct investment and the attraction of
highly skilled workers. The nature of their operations means that large international
firms need to attract the best recruits and move their staff on a global basis (George
et al., 2012). The ICT category is for employees of multinational companies who
are being transferred by their overseas employer to a United Kingdom branch of
the organization, either on a long-term basis or for frequent short visits. There
are four sub-categories: long-term staff, 95 short-term staff, 96 graduate trainee97 and skills transfer. 98 ICTs are exempt from the numerical limit on other Tier 2
routes of entry which restrict the numbers of non-EEA skilled migrants entering
the United Kingdom. A problem for governments is how and at what level to set
minimum salary and other conditions as a prerequisite for entry. The minimum
salary requirements are £40,000 per year for long-term staff and £24,000 per year
for the other staff categories.
The largest proportion of non-EEA immigration has been student inflows (Devitt,
2012). The United Kingdom government is also keen to break the link between
temporary and permanent migration. This means ensuring that migrants who are
temporary (particularly students) leave at the end of their stay, permitting only those
with the most to contribute to the United Kingdom stay permanently. Analyses of
UKBA management information showed that 21 per cent of students who entered
the United Kingdom in 2004 were still in the United Kingdom after five years
(Achato et al., 2010).
1.3. Third-country nationals in the United Kingdom labour
market
The key source of information on third-country nationals and their position in the
United Kingdom labour market vis-à-vis other groups is the Labour Force Survey
95 For established, skilled employees to be transferred to the United Kingdom branch of their organization
for more than 12 months to fill a post that cannot be filled by a new recruit from the resident
workforce.
96 For established, skilled employees to be transferred to the United Kingdom branch of their
organization for 12 months or less to fill a post that cannot be filled by a new recruit from the resident
workforce.
97 This route allows the transfer of recent graduate employees to a United Kingdom branch of the same
organization, as part of a structured graduate training programme which clearly defines progression
towards a managerial or specialist role.
98 This route allows the transfer of new graduate employees to a United Kingdom branch of the same
organization to learn the skills and knowledge required to perform their job overseas, or to impart
their specialist skills or knowledge to the United Kingdom workforce.