The UK government has finally released some of their actual plans for the new immigration system after Brexit.
2020-02-27
The UK government has finally released some of their actual plans for the “new immigration system” after Brexit. The new system is allegedly more employer-led and will be implemented on 1 January 2021.
The details released on February 20th do not cover family migration, asylum and students but cover workers (“fiscal migration”).
The new UK’s point-based system
As the UK will leave the UK by the end of 2020, the government has released their plans to “compensate” the cessation of the EU freedom of movement of people. Businesses and workers have been quite anxious about how the UK would shape their immigration system after Brexit, and this morning, the Home Office has finally disclosed their plans (some) for introducing a new UK points-based system following the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) report published last month.
1. Skilled Workers
The Home Office will bring the skills threshold down from RQF6 to RQF3. These will open a door for more workers to become eligible to work in the UK. All other workers with lower skills than RFQ3 are not going to benefit by any specific route. Still, the government will expand the pilot scheme for seasonal workers in agriculture, providing 10,000 places for such individuals.
1.0. New Salary Threshold
Migrants still need to meet 70 points in order to be eligible to apply for the visa and have a job offer from a Home Office-approved employer.
The gross annual general minimum salary, currently used on the Tier 2 General visa category, will be reduced from £30,000 to £25,600. Migrants must still be paid according to the minimum “going rate” salary of their respective Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) codes, which can be higher than the new salary threshold.
⦠Trading Points and salary reduction
The new factor introduced is that migrants will be able to “trade” some of their jo characteristic qualifications towards points if their salary is going to be less than the minimum threshold or “going rate” but never less than £20,480.
Migrants can “trade” to obtain points if:
-their job is in the shortage occupation list (as designated by MAC); or
-they have a PhD in a subject relevant to the job or
-they have a PhD in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) subject relevant to the job.
Salaries can be reduced as follows:
-the job is in the shortage occupation list (as designated by MAC) – 20 % reduction
-the migrant has a PhD in STEM subject – 20 % reduction
-the migrant has a PhD in a non-STEM subject – 10 % reduction
Dependants
The Home Office has confirmed that, as of now, skilled workers are going to be allowed to bring their dependants to the UK. No further information or details have been provided on this.
Global Talent visa category
As expected, the Global Talent Visa will be extended to EU citizens who will be able to come to work in the UK without a job offer as long as a competent body has endorsed them.
Unsponsored visa route
The government mentioned that they are working on a broader unsponsored route to allow the most highly skilled workers to come to the UK without a job offer. No further details have been provided on this either.
Students
Student visas will also be a points-based system managed where students must have an offer from an approved educational institution, knowledge of English and funds to maintain themselves in the UK. Again, no further information or details have been provided on this visa category.
EU Citizens
The government has confirmed that EU Citizens will be treated the same as non-visa nationals, where entry clearance is not required to be issued before coming to the UK for a maximum period of six months, but work is not permitted.
The UK unilaterally will allow EU citizens to use the e-Gates but stressed that this policy will be kept under review.
EU Citizens will be able to apply for visas using their smartphones to self-enrol face biometrics, and fingerprints will not be required. Other citizens will have to visit a Visa Application Centre (VAC) abroad to enrol their biometrics.
A physical visa or card will not be issued to EU citizens. Therefore, they will be able to prove their immigration status in the UK electronically.
Article written by Michael Rodriguez.
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