The UK Government’s new Points Based Immigration System will be introduced from 1st January 2021 as the Brexit transition period comes to an end.
From that date, there will no longer be free movement for EU citizens. Anyone who wants come to the UK to live and work, whether from the EU or elsewhere, will need 70 points to be eligible for a visa, with points awarded on the basis of a number of criteria around skill-level, salary and qualifications. The new policy is designed to reduce the number of immigrants coming to the UK for lower paid, “lower-skilled” or manual-skilled roles, while allowing more access to those seeking higher-skilled and higher paid jobs. There will be no limit on overall numbers of people coming to work in the UK through the new regime.
The UK Government have published further details of the policy on 13th July. Click here to access the policy update. The regime is complex and requires detailed assessment by those members who will be affected, however, we provide a summary of key points below based on our initial assessment.
The skilled worker route
Under the new regime “skilled” workers can only obtain a UK work visa if they earn 70 points or more. Jobs must pay more than the £20,480 a year before any points are earned – this is the minimum salary threshold. Next they must meet the following compulsory criteria which earn 50 points in total:
- Have a job offer from a licensed sponsor (20)
- Speak English to an acceptable standard (10)
- Job offer is at least skill level RQF3 / SCQF6 (A-level / Higher / Apprentice) (20)
They must then top that up with at least 20 “tradeable” points:
- Annual pay of at least £23,040 or 90% of the going rate for the role, whichever is higher (10)
- Annual pay of at least £25,600 or the “going rate” for the role, whichever is higher (20)
- Job in a “shortage occupation” (20) (to be defined by Migration Advisory Committee)
- “New Entrant” to the labour market (20)
- PhD in a relevant STEM subject (20)
- PhD in a relevant non-STEM subject (10)
Fees
The application fee for skilled immigrant visa will be £610, or £1,220 for stays of more than three years. These fees will be reduced to £464 or £928 respectively for roles in the shortage occupations list. Skilled Immigrant workers will be required to pay the Immigration Health Surcharge which is rising to £624 per year. Employers must pay an “immigration skills charge” of £1,000 per worker per year.
Other routes
Note that there are alternative routes for intra-company transfers and graduate trainees, students, recent graduates and “start up and innovator”, there will also be a route for highly skilled workers in STEM disciplines to enter without sponsorship if they are endorsed by a competent body.
The graduate route will be launched in summer 2021 allowing students to stay for two years after the end of their UK degree (3 years for PhD) to look for work. We will keep members updated as further information on the points based immigration system is released by the Home Office.
