On 13 July 2020, the UK Government issues its newest guidelines on the UK’s new immigration system, which will change the present immigration system in the UK from 1 January 2021.

There are 14 changes in the UK immigration system from 1 January 2021:

1. The Global Talent Visa Route will be expanded to EU nationals from January 2021;
2. A single, coherent and strict approach to criminality will be implemented;
3. Most migrants who are presently in the UK with a valid visa will be able to switch to another visa category without leaving the UK;
4. A health and care visa will be launched, although, this astonishingly does not cover care workers;
5. The 12 months ‘cooling off’ period for intra-company transfer migrants to be eliminated;
6. Students can arrive into the UK 6 months before their course is due to start (this has been extended from 3 months);
7. A new UK-graduate route is to be introduced, where undergraduate and master’s degree students can apply a two-year graduate visa. PhD students can apply for a 3-year visa. Both UK visa routes do not require sponsoring and the migrants will be able to switch into UK work visa routes;
8. Skilled migrants from outside the UK seeking to work in the UK will still be required to show that they acquired job offer from an approved sponsor (and that they satisfy the English language requirement);
9. The job offer should be at the required skill level of RQF3 or above (A level minimum). This skill level has reduced from a Graduate-level to an A-level minimum;
10. The monthly cap on the number of migrants who can be sponsored under Tier 2 General will be abandoned;
11. The advertising process (the Resident Labour Market Test) has also been cancelled;
12. Applicant will be required to meet the minimum salary limit. This will be either £25,600 per year for an experienced worker under Tier 2 General (which has been lessened from the present £30,000 per year);
13. If the salary is over £20,480 per year, they may be able to be sponsored if the job is in a shortage occupation or a PhD role, by ‘Trading” Characteristics;
14. After the proposals from the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC), the UK government will try to introduce a new, unsponsored visa route within the Points Based System (PBS) for a reduced number of the most highly skilled migrant workers to come to the UK with no job offer.

At the moment, there is no date provided at present provided for the launch of this scheme, although it is expected to be in 2022.

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