ISC Exempt COS

[Bhor]

Hello friends, I am on Tier 2 General visa. My current employer has promoted me to higher grade with different responsibilities hence they have issued me a fresh COS. Tier & Category mentioned on the COS is - Tier 2 (General - Changes of Employment - ISC exempt). Can anyone please confirm what is ISC exempt and will it cause any issue in my fresh application?

[Bhor]

Hello friends, I am on Tier 2 General visa. My current employer has promoted me to higher grade with different responsibilities hence they have issued me a fresh COS. Tier & Category mentioned on the COS is - Tier 2 (General - Changes of Employment - ISC exempt). Can anyone please confirm what is ISC exempt and will it cause any issue in my fresh application?

[CR001]

ISC Exempt is something related to your sponsor and a fee they must pay or not - ISC = Immigration Skills Charge. It is NOT relevant to YOUR visa application.

[Bhor]

Thanks for your reply. My concern is if my sponsor has wrongly selected ISC exempt, my visa may get refused. Does home office checks reason for ISC exemption before approving CoS?

[nbandla]

If you were granted initial Tier 2 General before 2017 (some month) then you are ISC exempt.

[Bhor]

My initial COS was granted this year in August 2018 and my employer paid full 5 years ISC amounting to GBP 5,000. This time they have provided me COS with ISC exempt hence my query if home office checks ISC exemption before approving COS?

[nbandla]

They wont reject the visa just for mentioning ISC exempt, they will ask for payment if your sponsor had to pay and then process your visa application.

In my opinion your sponsor will have to pay ISC again for this new application, but your sponsor can get refund of previous payment for the remaining 4 years.

It may depend on case officer, but if the application is already submitted, wait for update from home office.

[Bhor]

My appointment under premium service is scheduled for tomorrow. So, do you suggest I should go ahead and submit it without any worry?

[nbandla]

Where is your appointment?

Why don't you call hot line or tell your sponsor to call hot line and make this query?

if your sponsor is happy to then may be, best is to change to isc liable and pay iSC fee and then claim the previous payment, or submit the documents and see what will happen (may be get told by case office to do same )

I am also submitting my Tier 2 Change of employer tomorrow in York, but i am ISC exempt as i was initially granted Tier 2 G route in 2014.

[Bhor]

Thanks nbandla for your quick replies. My appointment is at Croydon center under new service option. I tried calling hotline but they gave standard answer to refer online policies.