Immigration Expertise Cost – A Information for Employers

By Georgina Griggs –
Immigration Barrister

22 Sep 2025

The UK Immigration Expertise Cost (“ISC”) is a payment that UK employers should pay for every migrant employee that’s sponsored within the Expert Employee or International Enterprise Mobility – Senior or Specialist Employee classes, until an exemption applies.

1. Overview of the Immigration Expertise Cost

The ISC was launched on 6 April 2017. It’s payable on the time {that a} Certificates of Sponsorship (“CoS”) is assigned to a migrant employee, the place they’re contracted to work for greater than six months if making use of to return to the UK, or for any period of time if making use of from inside the UK.

The quantity sponsors are required to pay is specified within the Schedule to the Immigration Expertise Cost Laws 2017. Nonetheless, the current White Paper “Restoring Management of the Immigration System”, revealed in Could 2025, units out that the charges are set to extend by 32% to convey the ISC in keeping with inflation. Beforehand, it has not been elevated since its implementation in 2017. No set date for the rise has been revealed on the time of writing this text. 

Initially, the aim of the payment was to assist preserve the Division of Schooling’s present abilities price range and present degree of funding in abilities in England, in accordance with the Residence Workplace Belief Assertion 2017 to 2018, revealed on 08 January 2019. The Could 2025 White Paper units out that the “ISC funding will likely be used on the oncoming spending evaluate to help abilities funding for precedence sectors to upskill the home workforce and scale back reliance on migration over the medium time period.”

2. Duty for Paying the ISC

Many sponsors enquire about whether or not the employee themselves will pay the ISC, both on the outset, or by means of deductions of their wage. It’s crucial to notice that the sponsor can not go the ISC onto the employee by means of any means, doing so may outcome within the revocation of the Sponsor Licence. 

3. Immigration Expertise Cost Quantities

The quantity payable depends on the scale and kind of the organisation, and the size of employment as acknowledged on the CoS. 

A small or charitable sponsor is outlined in Regulation 2 of the Immigration Expertise Cost Laws as: 

• an organization topic to the small corporations regime below part 381 of the Firms Act 2006(4);
• a charity inside the that means of part 1 of the Charities Act 2011(5), or part 1 of the Charities Act (Northern Eire) 2008(6), or a physique entered within the Scottish Charity Register (7); or
• an individual who employs not more than 50 staff.

All different sponsors who don’t match into the definition of a small enterprise or charitable organisation are required to pay the bigger payment.

As set out above, these figures are attributable to improve by 32% to the next quantities. 

4. Cost of the ISC

The Immigration Expertise Cost is paid every time a sponsor assigns a Certificates of Sponsorship to a migrant employee, until an exemption applies.

5. Exemptions to the Immigration Expertise Cost

There are quite a few exemptions to paying the ISC.

1. Exemptions for Sure Occupation Codes 

Sponsors don’t have to pay the ISC the place they’re sponsoring a employee in any of the under occupation codes. 

• (2111) – chemical scientists;
• (2112) – organic scientists;
• (2113) – biochemists and biomedical scientists;
• (2114) – bodily scientists;
• (2115) – social and humanities scientists;
• (2119) – pure and social science professionals not elsewhere categorised
• (2161) – analysis and growth managers;
• (2162) – different researchers, unspecified self-discipline; and
• (2311) – increased training instructing professionals.

2. Size of Sponsorship

Sponsors using staff making use of for entry clearance for employment of lower than six months are exempt. 

Sponsors are additionally exempt from paying the ISC when assigning a CoS to an present sponsored employee (the place the Sponsor has already assigned a CoS to the employee / the employee has been transferred by way of TUPE or comparable safety) and the brand new interval of permission they’re in search of is not going to exceed their present interval of permission. If the grant of permission would exceed their present grant, then the payment can be payable until one other exemption utilized. 

3. Sponsored within the  International Enterprise Mobility Senior / Specialist Employee Route 

Since 01 January 2023, employers who assign a CoS to a employee on this class is not going to be required to pay the ISC the place:

• The employee meets the necessities for this route;
• The employee is a nationwide of an EU nation or a Latvian non-citizen (observe that this doesn’t apply to nationals of Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein or Switzerland);
• The abroad firm which employs the person is a enterprise established within the EU and varieties a part of the identical ‘sponsor group’ as the corporate sponsoring them to work within the UK;
• The UK task, based mostly on the dates supplied on the Certificates of Sponsorship, will likely be not more than three years in period.

4. Valid Permission for the Goal of Research

The place a employee has legitimate permission for the aim of examine, and is making use of to ‘swap’ to the Expert Employee or Senior or Specialist Employee route, the Sponsor is not going to be required to pay the ISC. The exemption applies whether or not or not the employee is presently within the UK supplied that they’ve present, legitimate, permission in one of many following routes:

• Pupil;
• Little one Pupil;
• Tier 4 (Common);
• Tier 4 (Little one);
• Brief-term Pupil (English language). 

This exemption will proceed if a brand new CoS is assigned to the identical employee to proceed working in the identical function. 

5. Sponsored Beforehand Earlier than 06 April 2017

A employee who was assigned a CoS below Tier 2 (Common) or Tier 2 (ICT) Lengthy-term Employees earlier than 06 April 2017 and:

• that CoS resulted in a grant of entry clearance or permission to remain;
• the employee undertook the function for which that CoS was assigned; and
• the employee has not since ceased to have permission below Expert Employee (or its predecessor route, Tier 2 (Common)) or Senior or Specialist Employee (or its predecessor routes, Intra-Firm Switch, or the Lengthy-term Employees sub-category of Tier 2 (Intra-Firm Switch)).

Notice – the Immigration Expertise Cost applies to the employees alone and no extra cost is required for the employee’s dependents, i.e. their companion or youngsters.  The Immigration Expertise cost additionally doesn’t apply to another Employee or Non permanent Employee route.

6. Penalties of Not Paying the Immigration Expertise Cost

Sponsors will likely be contacted by UK Visas and Immigration if the Immigration Expertise Cost was not paid when the CoS was assigned. The CoS is invalid till the ISC is paid in full. Failure to pay, may additionally result in delays in contemplating immigration purposes made on the idea of the CoS.

If the Immigration Expertise Cost just isn’t paid in full inside 10 working days of the primary reminder, the employee’s software will likely be refused. 

7. Immigration Expertise Cost Refunds

The Immigration Expertise Cost could also be refunded partly or full. If refunded, the quantity will likely be paid again to the credit score or debit card the cost was paid with, until the sponsor advises the Residence Workplace of a distinct pay association. 

A full refund will likely be made the place the employee’s software is refused, withdrawn or granted however the employee doesn’t journey to the UK or begin work for the sponsor.  

A partial refund will likely be made for all entire unused six month intervals of permission, after the primary 12 months of employment the place the employee:

• Is granted permission for lower than the interval requested on the CoS;
• The employee begins work for one sponsor, however then voluntarily adjustments to a different sponsor. On this state of affairs, the primary sponsor will likely be paid the distinction between the cost paid and the cost payable for the size of time the employee labored for the primary sponsor;
• The employee leaves their put up early.

Sponsors may also obtain a partial refund the place a CoS has been assigned to a employee and the Sponsor had been verified as a small enterprise a charitable organisation previous to the CoS being assigned. The Sponsor may have needed to notify the Residence Workplace of this modification previous to the CoS being assigned. 

Choices on refunds are usually made inside 90 days of:

• the date the Sponsor tells the Residence Workplace that the employee didn’t come to work;
• the expiry date on the employee’s Certificates of Sponsorship, if they didn’t use it to use for a visa;
• the date the employee’s visa software is refused or withdrawn;
• the date the Sponsor assigned the Certificates of Sponsorship, if the Sponsor had already notified the Residence Workplace that it had develop into a small or charitable sponsor.

The Residence Workplace is not going to refund the Immigration Expertise Cost the place:

• the employee adjustments job however stays working for the Sponsor;
• the employee switches from the Expert Employee or Senior or Specialist Employee route to a different immigration route, however stays employed in the identical job;
• the licence is made dormant;
• the licence is revoked;
• the employee’s permission is cancelled (until the permission is cancelled as a result of the employee did not begin employment or completed employment early).

It will be significant that sponsors pay the required Immigration Expertise Cost with the intention to guarantee there aren’t any pointless delays to a migrant’s immigration software reliant on the CoS.

For recommendation relating to Immigration Expertise Cost charges, refunds or exemptions, contact our enterprise immigration barristers in London on 0203 617 9173 or by way of our enquiry kind under.

9. Regularly Requested Questions