Information for anyone seeking to welcome a non-European national to the United Kingdom to work with groups associated with the Catholic Church in Scotland.
Since November 2008 the Priests for Scotland office has been administering the Points Based System (PBS) on behalf of the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland. The Bishops’ Conference is licensed to issue Certificates of Sponsorship under the Migrant Religious Worker Category, tier two and tier five. The legislation behind the points based system means that compliance with this system is a legal requirement for anyone involved in the introduction of migrant workers even when those workers are unsalaried. Under UKBA legislation priests, religious, or pastoral workers are considered as Migrant Workers. Failure to comply with this legislation may result in prosecution.
This legislation involves any group within the Church that seeks to invite a non-European national to the United Kingdom. All visitors need to have the immigration status consistent with the work that they wish to carry out. Each diocese has a diocesan coordinator for UKBA who will be happy to advise. Alternatively you may wish to contact the Priests for Scotland office 0141 942 8384.