Amendment to Policy - Immigration Costs - Paying the cost of employee visas
December 2022
This policy comes into effect for those commencing employment or being extended from 1 December 2022.
Payment of Visa and Immigration Health Charge
For employees that have been offered a contract for employment of 2 years of more, University of Liverpool will:
- Skilled Worker Visa (SWV) Applications - Pay the full cost of a new employee's standard SWV application, plus the associated cost of the Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS) and any subsequent extensions, in-line with the term of their employment contract, for up to a maximum period of 5 years.
- Global Talent Visa (GTV) - Pay the full cost (endorsement and visa) of a standard GTV application, plus the associated cost of the Immigration Health Surcharge, and any subsequent extensions, in-line with the term of their employment contract for up to a maximum period of 3 years.
The University of Liverpool will not pay for:
- Skilled Worker Visa Premium and Priority Service
- Any cost associated with a switch in immigration category during sponsorship under the skilled worker route
- Indefinite Leave to Remain
- Applications for Citizenship
- Visa costs or IHS for partner/spouse/children/family, however, will continue to offer an interest free loan to cover these costs - NHS surcharge/Visa loan application (DOCX, 60KB)
- Skilled worker visa applications exceeding 5 years
- Global Talent visa applications exceeding the length of contract or more than 3 years
Calculation of Salary for Skilled Worker Visa Holders who have been assigned a Certificate of Sponsorship after 9 April 2025
Where a sponsor deducts money from a sponsored worker's salary to cover loan repayments, the salary will be considered after the loan repayments are made, and therefore must continue to meet the Skilled Worker salary threshold. The rule primarily applies at the visa application stage; however sponsors must continue to meet the salary requirements throughout a sponsored worker's employment and report any significant changes to UKVI. Any loans taken out must not cause the take-home salary to fall below the minimum salary requirements.
How to reclaim the cost
Skilled Worker and Global Talent Visa Costs - the employee will need to pay the cost upfront and reclaim via the expenses module, which can found on the employee dashboard in Core Portal.
Extensions to Visa and Immigration Health Surcharge are considered by HMRC as Benefit in Kind and are taxable. The employee will need to pay the cost upfront and reclaim by completing the necessary NHS surcharge claim form (DOCX, 47KB) or Visa Extension Claim Form (DOCX, 47KB).
To reclaim the cost of the Immigration Health Charge, the claim form must be completed and sent to:
If the employee leaves within 2 years, the cost of this is reclaimed on a decreasing scale, on the same basis as the Relocation Policy.
Any questions about visas and process please email: staffimmigration@liverpool.ac.uk
Any questions on reclaiming the costs email payroll@liverpool.ac.uk
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