Britain announces new immigration rules

19 Mar 2010, 0000 hrs IST,
Sources:ET/PTI

  

NEW DELHI: Britain today announced new immigration
rules for skilled and highly skilled migrants, including
those from India, under which the

Under the new rules, which will be applicable from April 6, the
minimum previous earnings for those applying under Tier 1 has
been increased from the current 20,000 pounds to 25,000 pounds.

For Tier-II, the minimum prospective earnings has been increased
from 17,000 pounds to 20,000 pounds, while the highest earnings
threshold has been set at 32,000 pounds, increased from 24,000 pounds,
a release from the British High Commission said.

India continues to be an important source country of highly skilled
and skilled migrants and Indian migrants continue to do well under
Tier 1 and 2 of the points based system, with New Delhi accounting
for the highest number of Tier 2 applications worldwide.

Tier 2 (ICT) will no longer lead to settlement in the UK, to reflect
the intrinsically temporary nature of ICT roles, the release said.

The UK Government also accepted changes to Tier 1 recommended
by the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) and has set out
further details of how it will implement changes
the MAC recommended to Tier 2.

It also reintroduced points for Bachelor Degrees for those
with high previous earnings (of at least 35,000 pounds).

"Under the new rules, those with very high previous earnings of
at least 1,50,000 pounds but no formal qualifications to come to the
UK using Tier 1 will be allowed," the release said.

It also increased 15 points for Master's Degrees from the current 10 points.

The initial grant of leave for Tier 1 (general) will be 2 years, reduced
from 3, with a further 3-year extension for those working
in highly skilled employment, it said.

The release said graduates of UK medical/dental schools will be able
to work as doctors/dentists in training and may switch into Tier 1
(post-study work) on completing their Foundation Programme.

Tier 1 (General) migrants will not be permitted to work
as a professional sportsman (including as a sports coach), the release said.


Under the Tier-II, differentiated points for sponsorship
under the General and Intra-Company Transfer categories were also introduced.

In Tier-II, the Intra-Company Transfer will be
split into 3 sub-categories.

The points based system was launched two years ago
with the aim of providing a flexible way to identify and attract migrants.