This article is a follow up from our previous post here. 

Skilled Worker 

Anyone coming to the UK for work (including EU citizens) will need to meet a specific set of requirements to score ‘points’. There is no overall cap on the number of who can apply for this Skilled Worker route. This is good news because a foreign applicant will not have to apply through a panel for a Restricted Certificate of Sponsorship which is the current procedure. 

Essentially, applicants will need to meet the following mandatory criteria in addition to meeting the relevant UK criminality checks:

•  You must have a job offer from a licensed sponsor;
• The job must be at or above the minimum skill level;
• You must be able to speak English to an acceptable standard;

Tradeable points

An important element of the visa is a tradeable point which essentially can boost up an applicant’s chances to get a visa.

Table 1: Tradeable points 

The UK’s Points- Based Immigration System 18 

	Non-tradeable points (mandatory) – 50 required
Offer of a job by an approved sponsor	20
Job at an appropriate skill level	20
English language skills at level B1 (intermediate)	10
	Tradeable points (may only score from one entry from each of the two sections below) – 20 required
Salary4	Other
General salary threshold	Going rate
Salary of at least £20,480	At least 80% of the going rate for the profession (70% if a new entrant).	0	Education qualification: PhD in a subject relevant to the job	10
Salary of at least £23,040	At least 90% of the going rate for the profession.	10	Education qualification: PhD in a STEM subject relevant to the job	20
Salary of at least £25,600	At least the going rate for the profession.	20	Job in a shortage occupation (as designated by the MAC)	20
Salary of at least £20,480	Listed health/education job and meets the relevant national pay scale	20	Applicant is a new entrant to the labour market (as designated by the MAC)	20

*Source – The UK’s Points Based Immigration System

Skilled work: Health and Care Visa

This visa will start from 4th August 2020.

This visa is part of the Skilled Worker route however, this route is specifically catered to the individuals working in eligible health occupations with a job offer from the NHS, social care sectors or employers and organisations which provide services to the NHS. You must have good working English in addition to the professional skills requirements.

Your application under this category will be fast-tracked with reduced fees. You will also be exempted from paying for the Immigration Health Surcharge which is compulsory for all other categories. 

Who can apply?

• Individuals who have a confirmed job offer for a skilled role within the NHS, the social care sector or for NHS commissioned service providers;
• You must also meet the requirements of the Skilled Worker route, including the relevant skill and salary threshold;

Highly Skilled Workers

It is suggested that beyond January 2021, the UK government will create a broader unsponsored route within the Points-Based System to run alongside the employer-led system. It is suggested that this route will have a smaller number but the highly-skilled workers can come to the UK without a job offer. Further details will be shared in due course. 

Global Talent Visa

This is an existing route which replaces the Tier 1 Exceptional Talent visa. You can find further information about this visa here.

There is currently no cap in the visa under this category.

Start-Up and Innovator visa

This is also an existing visa and you can find further information on it here. 

This route will be open to both EU and non-EU citizens.

Other routes? 

The guidance further discusses other routes to the UK including study, visiting, UK Ancestry, Intra Company transfer, Youth Mobility visa, Ministers of Religion, Sporting & Creative routes, Charity and Government Authorised Exchange and International Agreement routes which are existing.

What is not mentioned in the route are Tier 1 Investors and Representative of Overseas Business Visa.

Further enquires made by ILPA suggest that the two visas will continue unless announced, however, it is not known if the two routes will be struck off. 

It was suggested previously in 2019 that the two routes above will go through reform and there were talks that it should be closed permanently. With this in mind, we recommend clients considering this visa to apply for it as soon as possible if you are eligible. 

Contact our Lawyers for more details and we will be happy to discuss.

SINCERE IMMIGRATION