5 March 2020

Immigration Bill Paving the way for new point based Immigration system

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Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government will be introducing an Immigration Bill to the House of Commons later today, the government has announced. This bill, however, is not expected to be different from the one introduced by then Home Secretary Sajid Javid in 2018.

In addition to Paving the way for new point-based immigration system, there will also be some light rebranding of some existing categories, for example, existing Tier 2 (General) visa category will now be called General work visa (Tier 2), while Tier 4 (General) is now the General student visa (Tier 4).

What do we understand from the bill

Even though governments rhetoric throughout was to introduce an Australian point-based system but now that we have more details of the so-called new point-based system, it is anything but an Australian/ Canadian style PBS system.

The Australian or Canadian version of a points-based system allows economic migrants to settle in those countries permanently without employer sponsorship if they have various blends of abilities and qualifications. However, this new PBS system only provides limited discounts to the minimum salary needed for a sponsored work visa, available to people working in shortage jobs or with PhDs. Sponsored workers would still need a job offer, English language skills and to be working at a certain skill level. That skill level would be reduced from level 6 (degree) to level 3 (A-level).

The table below shows how this will work. We will, of course, update you once we have more details. So watch out for our next post on this topic.

Characteristics Tradeable Points
Offer of job by approved sponsor No 20
Job at appropriate skill level No 20
Speaks English at required level No 10
Salary of £20,480 (minimum) – £23,039 Yes 0
Salary of £23,039 – £25,599 Yes 10
Salary of £25,600 or above Yes 20
Job in shortage occupation (as designated by the MAC) Yes 20
Education qualification: PhD in subject relevant to the job Yes 10
Education qualification: PhD in a STEM subject relevant to the job Yes 20

 

A total of 70 points is required to be eligible to apply; some characterises are trade able.

Disclaimer:

The information in this blog is for general information purposes only and does not purport to be comprehensive or to provide legal advice. Whilst every effort is made to ensure the information and law is current as of the date of publication it should be stressed that, due to the passage of time, this does not necessarily reflect the present legal position. Connaught Law and authors accept no responsibility for loss which may arise from accessing or reliance on information contained in this blog. For formal advice on the current law please don’t hesitate to contact Connaught Law. Legal advice is only provided pursuant to a written agreement, identified as such, and signed by the client and by or on behalf of Connaught Law.

About the Author

Awais has an extensive experience of advising high net-worth individuals on all types of immigration matters, ranging from investor and entrepreneur visa applications to appeals and judicial reviews in the Immigration Tribunal and the High Court.

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