Home Office Makes Further Additions to the Shortage Occupation List

9th October 2019 by

On 6 Oct 2019, UK Visas and Immigration added the following occupations to the shortage occupation list for Tier 2 General Migrant applications:

  • All IT business analysts, architects and systems designer roles (SOC Code 2135)
  • All programme and software development roles (SOC Code 2136)
  • All web design and development professional roles (SOC Code 2137)
  • All IT and communication professionals not elsewhere classified (SOC Code 2139)

The benefits of a job being on the shortage occupation list are:

  1. No requirement for an employer to conduct a resident labour market test
  2. A shortage worker is not required to meet the minimum earnings threshold when applying for indefinite leave to remain
  3. Reduced UK Visas and Immigration application fees for those jobs on the shortage occupation list
  4. Shortage occupation jobs are given priority status and should not be affected by the monthly cap on the allocation of certificates of sponsorship

Skilled chefs (SOC 5434) are also included on the shortage occupation list (even if it’s a take away business).

Other occupations added are civil engineering roles (SOC Code 2121) and architects (SOC Code 2431).

For more information, please contact our immigration team on 020 7822 4000 or email enquiries@healys.old-website.shout-loud.co.uk