The number of Tier 2 Certificates of Sponsorship (CoS) available for allocation in March according to the table below is 2329. This is not a precise figure. From past experience it is likely to be more than that. The actual number will probably be similar to the number available in February 2016. UK Visas and Immigration published its February report stating that its figures were correct as of 17 February, 2016.
An employer with a Tier 2 Visa Sponsorship Licence needs to apply for Certificates of Sponsorship for immigrants from outside the EU that they wish to employ. Under the current UK immigration system, unused Tier 2 restricted CoS to employ people who are currently based outside the UK can be reclaimed after three months. This increases the availability of restricted CoS used.
The February Tier 2 Visa Certificate of Sponsorship allocation meeting took place on 11 February. All valid applications lodged by the 5 February were successful provided they scored 21 points or more.
The breakdown of Tier 2 CoSs for the month of February looks like this:
| Number of Tier 2 Certificates of Sponsorship from annual limit set aside for allocation meeting in January. | 1,650 |
| Balance of Certificates of Sponsorship carried over from previous month (January). | 485 |
| Number of certificates returned during previous month (January). | 69 |
| Number of certificates reclaimed as not used within three months. | 285 |
| Number of certificates granted by exceptional consideration outside of monthly allocation during previous month. | 17 |
| Total number of certificates assigned to Croatians in previous month. | 33 |
| Total number of Certificates of Sponsorship available for allocation in February. | 2,439 |
| Minimum point score for successful applications in January. | 21 |
| Total number of Certificates of Sponsorship granted in January. | 1,760 |
| Tier 2 (General – New hires under £155,300). | 1,746 |
| Tier 2 (General – Tier 4 dependant switching to Tier 2). | 14 |
| Balance of Certificates of sponsorship carried over to March 2016. | 679 |
| Number of Certificates of Sponsorship available for allocation in March 2016. | 2,329 |
The next UK Visas and Immigration allocation meeting will take place on 11 March, 2016 and will provide further details of the number of Tier 2 CoS that will be available for the month of April.
[Source:- Workpermit]