The UK construction industry is grappling with several staffing challenges that impact its ability to meet growing demand, maintain project timelines, and uphold safety and quality standards. Despite this, growth is expected in all areas including Industrial, Residential and Home Improvements. In 2024 the Home Improvements sector alone was worth approx. £14.2bn so the need to attract new recruits into this industry is vital to maintain growth.
As with many other sectors, there are specific jobs that are available via the Skilled Worker Visa route and Employers must understand these. Approved jobs range from Architects (SOC 2451) through to Welding Trades (SOC 5213) as well as Plumbers (SOC 5315) and Bricklayers (SOC 5313) and many others. However, there are associated jobs that are key to the Construction industry that are not included such as Crane Drivers (SOC 8221) and Elementary Construction roles such as Builder's Labourers (SOC 9129).
Passportia, through the use of the AORA immigration platform, can easily flag any non-approved SOC code allowing you to take relevant action.
Sponsor Licence
As with most situations, businesses in the construction sector that want to employ non-UK citizens will still need a Skilled Worker Sponsor Licence. Passportia can assess whether the business qualifies and can prepare the application at a very competitive fee. A Sponsor Licence is a strategic investment for the future, a form of insurance for ensuring operational stability and a means to source necessary skills that are otherwise in short supply.
In some cases, an existing sponsor licence in a company group or co-owned business can be extended to other businesses in the group. Ideally, one licence covers the whole group, providing flexibility in assigning migrant workers to projects.
Compliance and SMS Management
Passportia can conduct ongoing compliance audits to ensure that the sponsored staff are managed in a way that is compliant with the rules. This is important as responsibility does not stop once a visa is issued.
Passportia can also manage your Sponsor Management System (SMS) to ensure that it is kept up to date and notified of staff or other relevant changes.
What can Passportia do for your visas?
There are many different ‘moving parts’ when considering international recruitment. Passportia will support and work with you to ensure the Sponsorship and Visa application process is compliant and completed as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Before an advert is published, Passportia can assess the eligibility of a proposed job and compute the minimum salary. There is a report showing outcomes for a variety of scenarios that are met or likely to be met. For example, a New Entrant discount (Options E/J) can apply for applicants who are under 26 or meet some other requirements. Additionally, stonemasons, bricklayers, roofers, and carpenters are some of the many trades included in the Immigration Salary List (Options D/I) which makes it easier to sponsor workers.
Automated justification letters and reports are issued to demonstrate a high level of due diligence which is often overlooked but is essential should a compliance check be conducted.
For a potential applicant for a particular job, Passportia can assess eligibility for a Skilled Worker Visa or further Leave to Remain. Detailed reports are also issued explaining eligibility, costs and timings for a proposed period of sponsorship.
For the candidate chosen, Passportia can then prepare and submit the application for the Certificate of Sponsorship and visa (entry clearance) or further Leave to Remain, filling in all the Home Office UKVI forms.
Our immigration platform, AORA, collects data and document scans from staff and job applicants using intelligent, smartphone-friendly, white-labelled questionnaires. This approach ensures your chosen applicant has a great initial user experience with the UKVI application process as their first step in securing a new opportunity in the UK.
Passportia is powered by AORA Mobility
Passportia, an OISC-regulated company, uses the AORA Mobility platform to deliver increased time savings and higher levels of data consistency through the application of AI and process automation to Work Visa cases. Using AORA requires less staff time and reduces repetitive manual tasks, in many cases, users can save up to 75% of their time when compared to traditional manual processing.
Because of this increased efficiency, Passportia can offer very competitive prices for these services compared to traditional immigration consultancies and lawyers as clients are not being charged for practitioners' time to perform these tasks manually.
AORA is also available for organisations to use directly. By leveraging AORA, your in-house teams can also work more effectively, freeing their time to focus on other value-added tasks. Equally, if you prefer to outsource this process, you can still benefit from greatly reduced costs when compared to traditional immigration consultancy services.
Are you currently outsourcing skilled worker visas? Calculate how much you could save by using Passportia: AORA ROI CalculatorAORA ROI
If you don’t already have a sponsor licence, Passportia can make an assessment of eligibility and make the application.
Interested in finding out more? Here’s a video which explains how easily and efficiently a Skilled Worker case is completed when using AORA:
If you’re interested in exploring how a Skilled Worker Sponsor Licence could benefit your Construction and Building company, then please get in touch with our experts today for a consultation.
PASSPORTIA IS
- A UK immigration & citizenship law specialist
- Powered by AORA technology
- Fast, flexible, precise
Nigel Cleur Business Development Manager |