A licensed sponsor is required to meet the Home Office’s job advertisement requirements called the Resident Labour Market Test when requesting an in-country Tier 2 Certificate of Sponsorship.
When carrying out the resident labour market test, you can only use the advertising methods set out in this blog. The job advertisement must be in English unless based in Wales where it may be in English or Welsh, and it must include all the following:
- the job title
- the main duties and responsibilities of the job (job description)
- the location of the job
- an indication of the salary package (including allowances) or salary range or terms on offer, the ‘Rates of pay’ section has more information
- skills, qualifications and experience needed
- the closing date for applications, unless it is part of a rolling recruitment programme – if it is a rolling recruitment programme, the advertisement should show the period of the recruitment programme
Length of time adverts needs to appear
Adverts used to support a Tier 2 Certificate of Sponsorship application must be placed for a minimum of 28 calendar days. The four weeks do not need to be consecutive. For example, adverts may be placed for two weeks in the first instance, and if no suitable resident workers are found, the same advert must be placed for a further two weeks before a Tier 2 Certificate of Sponsorship can be issued. However, each period of advertising must be at least 7 calendar days.
| Type of Medium | Criteria for suitable media |
| Newspaper | Must be:
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| Professional journal | Must be:
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| Website | Must be one of the following:
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| Recruitment agency |
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Guidance on how to quote salary in advertisements
An employer must quote the salary in one of the following ways but not in the combination of all these.
- Quote the whole salary range, consider whether it is necessary to include the discretionary range depending on post type and market rates
- Quote “from” and state the bottom of the range
PLEASE NOTE that quoting a “from” salary is only appropriate where a salary may be offered which is a modest amount over the top of the standard scale. If a salary significantly higher than the top of the standard scale may be offered, you should use “Competitive salary” instead.
The advertisement quotes “competitive salary”. Note that other terminology such as “market rate” and “salary negotiable” is not accepted by the Home Office.
- All other requirements of the Home Office’s resident labour market test as per guidance have been met.
Please note that if the above conditions are not met the post will need to be re-advertised quoting a salary range.
Record-keeping requirements
Where internet advertising is used, a printout (not a screengrab) of the advertisement as it appears on the website must be made on the first day that the advert appears. The printout must show the following:
- name and logo of the host website
- the content of the advert
- date of printing
- URL (web address)
When you don’t need to advertise the job
The advertising requirements do not apply for:
- those applying from within the UK to switch into Tier 2 from a Tier 4 student or Tier 4 Doctorate Extension Scheme (DES) visa;
- those applying from within the UK to switch into Tier 2 from a Tier 1 Graduate Entrepreneur visa.
- those who have previously worked with the lead researcher as part of their team for a continuous period of 12 months immediately before the new Tier 2 visa application.
Continuing to work in the same occupation
If the migrant is already working for you and they need to extend their leave in the same immigration category to continue working for you in the same occupation, you do not need to carry out a resident labour market test. If they are changing (‘switching’) immigration categories and are not covered by another exemption, you must advertise the post.
Shortage occupations
Shortage occupations are ones where there are not enough settled workers to fill available jobs in particular sectors. The shortage occupation list in Appendix K of the Immigration Rules on GOV.UK is reviewed regularly. The document includes a separate list of shortage occupations for Scotland. If you are filling a vacancy which is listed only on the shortage occupation list for Scotland, the vacancy must be in Scotland.
