Skilled Worker and Intra-Company Transfer (ICT)
The majority of the statement is dedicated to the new Skilled Worker route which will replace Tier 2 (General), the primary current route for skilled workers to obtain immigration permission in the UK.
The statement confirms a number of changes which were announced in the previous policy statement – there will be no cap on numbers, the Resident Labour Market Test will be scrapped and the minimum skill level will be reduced to A-Level equivalent. The statement also re-confirmed the tradeable points which will be part of this route, clarifying the conditions for their use and certain exceptions. For example, two of the four available criteria for which points can be ‘traded’ on bases other than salary thresholds are when applicants hold PhDs relevant to the job they wish to be sponsored for – however, it has been confirmed that these tradeable points will only be available for a limited number of highly skilled roles or STEM roles. In addition, the statement sets the scenarios in which an applicant will be considered a ‘new entrant’, which will be subject to the applicant meeting a higher minimum salary threshold than initially indicated.
The statement also touches upon the current Tier 2 (ICT) category which is to simply become the ICT route. It is suggested that there will be limited substantive changes to this category – there will be no tradeable points and there is no indication that the minimum salary threshold will change from its current level of £41,500. The minimum skill level for this route will remain at degree-level (unlike the Skilled Worker route), which is something that was not previously clear.
These are two positive developments in relation to this rebranded category. It will firstly be possible to switch from this route to the Skilled Worker route from within the UK. This change is not specific to these two routes, as it appears that it should be possible for migrants to switch between the majority of the routes under the new system, except for from short-term routes such as visitors and seasonal workers. In addition, the existing ‘cooling off’ requirements will be replaced with a requirement for workers with leave under this route to not hold leave for more than five years in any six-year period.
Current Tier 2 sponsors should not be concerned about what appears to fundamentally be a rebranding of the existing Tier 2 system. The statement confirms that Tier 2 sponsors will automatically be issued with a new Skilled Worker and/or ICT sponsor licence with the same expiry date as their existing licence and will be issued with an ‘appropriate’ Certificate of Sponsorship allocation.
Student and Graduate
In comparison, there will be only a few changes to the current Tier 4 (General) Student category and these changes are generally to be welcomed. Students will be able to submit applications up to six months before the start of their course, rather than the current three months. Evidentiary requirements for applications are to be relaxed and the limit for studying at post-graduate level is to be scrapped.
Unfortunately, however, there is one change which will be detrimental for a large number of people wishing to apply under this route – Student migrants can no longer be accompanied by dependents (unless they are studying at post-graduate level) for at least nine months or if they are government sponsored to study a course for at least six months.
In relation to the Graduate route, the statement essentially reiterates details which had already been announced. The route will launch in Summer 2021 and will enable graduates to remain and work in the UK for a period of two years after graduation (three years for PhD students). The requirements for this application will primarily be the successful completion of a degree in the UK, although parts of degree may be completed overseas if distance learning became necessary due to COVID-19. There will be no financial or English language requirements, however the Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS) will be payable.
Visitors
The statement is limited in the provisions for visitors to the UK, but does emphasise that it is the government’s intention that EU and Swiss citizens will not require visit visas to visit the UK. It does stop short of affirming that this will be the case, as this will be subject to the ongoing Brexit negotiations.
Other categories
The statement confirms that a number of the current UK immigration categories will remain in their same substantive form under the new system. The categories which are expressly mentioned are: Global Talent, Start-up, Innovator, Tier 5 routes (Youth Mobility Scheme, Sporting, Creative, Charity, Government Authorised Exchange, International Agreement, Religious Workers), Tier 2 (Ministers of Religion) and UK Ancestry. The statement also confirms the introduction of the new Highly Skilled Worker category and the new Skilled Work: Health and Care visa subcategory.
Concluding thoughts
It is evident that the ‘tradeable points’ are only going to be available to a limited number of Skilled Worker applicants and therefore it is arguably difficult to justify their inclusion, particularly given the focus which has been placed on this element of the Skilled Worker route by the Home Office. The decisions to keep the skill level for ICT applicants and to remove the option for undergraduate Students to have dependents with them in the UK is also unexpected and discouraging.
Despite this, none of the new details change the previously acknowledged fact that the Skilled Worker route will rightly be open to a far greater pool of applicants under the new system given that it will apply to EU nationals in the same way as ‘third country’ nationals. It is therefore vital for UK employers who wish to recruit foreign talent beyond the end of free movement on 31 December 2020 to develop their understanding of the Skilled Worker route and other categories under the new system.
The new UK immigration system takes effect