Tuesday 30 November 2010

Latest 3 minute News from SKY NEWS

UK Tier 1 and Tier 2 annual limit further info

On the 23 November 2010, the Home Secretary announced some dramatic changes to the UK's immigration policy with Tier 1 and Tier 2 of the UK Points Based System. These steps confirm the hard stance that the UK Govt is taking on keeping the annual immigration numbers down.

Tier 1

The Tier 1 (General) visa option will be closed

The Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) visa option will be made more attractive and the UK Govt will introduce flexible allowances for promising start up companies that do not initially meet the requirements

The Tier 1 (Investor) Category is set to also change and offer an faster track to settlement that will depend largely on the amount of investment

The Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) and Tier 1 (Investor) categories will not be affected by the limit and there will be no limit on the number of these visas

A new category of Tier 1 Visa for people with exceptional talent will be introduced shortly. This category is intended for migrants who have received some international recognition in scientific or cultural fields or have sufficient evidence that they will receive such an award. Applications of this type will have to be confirmed by a relevant authorized body in the specific field.There will be a limit of 1000 applications in this exceptional talent category.

I will be posting the Tier 2 policy changes shortly.

Wednesday 24 November 2010

Immigration Cap Announced

Non European Workers Annual Limit Set

The Home Secretary confirmed today the new measures that will be introduced to control the amount of foreign workers from outside the EU.


Besides limiting the number of foreign skilled workers that UK Businesses can employ in the country, the Home Office is making the intra company transfer route harder and limiting the Tier 1 of the points based system to entrepreneurs, investors and applicants with exceptional talent.

The UK Govt has committed to the following:

-Introducing the annual limit of 21,700 for applicants that are applying under the highly skilled and skilled route (20,700) Under Tier 2 (General) and 1,000 under the new exceptional talent route

-Raising the minimum salary amount to 40,000 GBP for those applicants under the Intra-Company Transfer

-Raising the minimum required education level of all those applying under the Tier 2 to at least Graduate Level

-New Tier 1 route for exceptionally talented applicants

It has been reported that according to findings done in the UK recently that about a third of applicants entering the UK through this route were in fact doing low-skilled work.

These new rules will come into affect in April 2011 and again we see a massive shift in the UK policy towards immigration and foreign workers.

It is also clear that once again the Student/Tier4 route which makes up the majority of migrant applications will also be assessed and most definitely changes will be made to the Tier 4 Policy and Procedures.

AS soon as there is more information on these limits and changes I will post so keep checking back or contact me if need be.

Tuesday 23 November 2010

Updated Applications Forms - UK Visa Fee Changes

Yesterday the United Kingdom Border Agency published updated versions of a number of temporary and permanent migration application forms. ALL Further Leave to Remain (FLR) and Settlement (SET) application forms together with Points Based System made in the UK have been edited to display:

-the increase in application fees
-the option to now pay visa fees with American Express
-an additional declaration page that enables the UKBA to collect the information used to support visa applications made inside the UK

The guidance notes associated with each application have also been updated and all application forms submitted from now should be the 11/2010 version.

Sunday 21 November 2010

Wednesday 17 November 2010

UK Tier 1 Limit

The United Kingdom Border Agency's limit for visa applications under Tier 1 of the points based system was introduced on 19 July 2010.

Recently there has been a rise in the queries about the limit and Tier 1 in General so I have included some useful points for anyone thinking about submitting a Tier 1 application.

-Each month there will/can be 600 Tier 1 Visas issued
-If the limit for the month is not reached in any month then the unused allocation will be rolled over to the next month
-The limit does not affect the method of submission
-Applications can be submitted even if the limit has been reached for that month
-If your application fits in line with the rules and the monthly limit has not been reached then your application will be issued in the normal way
-If your application fits in line with all the rules and the monthly limit has been reached then the application will be issued when the next limit allocation opens again
-If an application does not meet all the requirements then it will be processed in the normal way and returned even if the limit has been reached
-All applications will be dealt with in a first come first serve kind of basis, which means the authorities will process applications in the order that they are received
-The current limit does not apply to Tier 1 (General) in country applications, IE if you are inside the United Kingdom and also does not apply to any dependent applications of Tier 1 Holders

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