FAME, CIfA and CBA all respond to a consultation on what should be included in the Shortage Occupation List (SOL) and were pleased when archaeology jobs were recommended for inclusion.
However, when the SOL was updated in October archaeology jobs were not included. Our organisations planned to write to the Home Office regarding this. However, Rob Lennox from CIfA inquired with DCMS about this and we have received an update. This was the result of an accident and immigration documents have been updated accordingly to account for that.
Page 5 of this guidance on Tier 2 visas and Annex 9 (p.211) of this sponsorship guidance for Tier 2 and Tier 5 states that archaeology will be treated as a shortage occupation, even though it is not currently included in the SOL.
It is likely that the SOL will not be changed till the spring with the next round of changes to the immigration policy and guidance are implemented but anyone planning on applying to a Tier 2 visa please know that you will be considered as being on the SOL for archaeology jobs. Please point to those documents if you run into any issues around this when applying for Tier 2 visas for archaeology job.