Skilled migration plays an important part in the United Kingdom's effort to keep its economy globally competitive. As part of the UK's points based immigration system,
Tier 1 (General) allows highly skilled individuals who score the requisite points to immigrate to the UK without any kind of sponsorship from an employer.
If you can speak English, have gained a qualification which is the equivalent of at least a bachelor’s degree or have earned a substantial salary,the Tier 1 (General)
is the right scheme for you.
The Tier 1 (General) is very similar to the old HSMP (Highly Skilled Migrant Programme).
To make an initial application 100 points must be scored, 80 of these for attributes and the remaining 20 which are mandatory, 10 can be scored for the ability
to speak English and the remaining 10 for showing evidence that you have access to the required level of Maintenance funds.
The following points tables applies to migrants making an initial application:
Attributes
Qualifications
Bachelors's |
Master's |
PHD's |
30 points |
35 points |
45 points |
Previous Earnings
Points for earnings are calculated by converting non-sterling currency to Sterling (GBP). The Sterling figure is converted to points, taking into
account the relative difference in the level of earnings between countries. The difference is converted using an 'uplift ratio' that is applied to the
entered amount. Different countries have different uplift ratios depending on factors such as GDP per capita, etc.
|
In pounds per year |
Points scored |
Under £25,000 |
0 |
£25,000 - £29,999 |
5 |
£30,000 - £34,999 |
15 |
£35,000 - £39,999 |
20 |
£40,000 - £49,999 |
25 |
£50,000 - £54,999 |
30 |
£55,000 - £64,999 |
35 |
£65,000 - £74,999 |
40 |
£75,000 - £149,999 |
45 |
£150,000+ |
80 |
Age
The younger you are the more points you can score. A maximum of 20 points are available if you are under 29 at the time of application:
Age at time of application |
Points scored |
29 or under |
20 |
30 to 34 |
10 |
35 to 39 |
5 |
Over 40 |
0 |
UK Experience
UK Experience |
Points Scored |
Qualification obtained in the UK |
5 |
£25,000 or higher previous ernings in the UK |
10 |
Madatory Points which must be scored:
Points scoring criteria |
Points Scored |
English Language Ability |
10 |
Maintenance (Available Funds) |
10 |
English Language Ability
To be successful within an application for a Tier 1 visa, you must show that you are proficient in English in one of the following ways:
- That you have passed a test in English equivalent to level C1 of the Council of Europe's Common European Framework for Language Learning (equivalent to a grade C or better at GCSE or an approximate overall band score of 6.5 on an IELTS exam)
- That you come from a country where English is the majority language. This includes Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Canada, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Ireland, Jamaica, New Zealand, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and The Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, the USA.
- That you have completed a degree level qualification taught in English from a list of select countries, verified by National Academic Recognition Information Centre, as above. Please note that Canada is NOT included on this list. If your degree was earned in another country, information provided by UK NARIC can verify if the English-taught degree is acceptable to satisfy the English language requirement.
Maintenance
You are required to score 10 points by proving that you can support yourself and any dependants.
| Tier 1 Maintenance Funds |
| Applying from within the UK |
Proof of £800 in a bank account at all times for three months prior to application. For each dependant an additional amount of £533 must be shown* |
| Applying from outside the UK |
Proof of £2800 in a bank account at all times for three months prior to application. For each dependant an additional amount of £1600 must be shown** |
* For instance the main applicant plus a dependant spouse and one child would need to show funds of at least £1866
** For instance the main applicant plus a dependant spouse and one child would need to show funds of at least £6000
You will be required to provide evidence of your maintenance funds. This can be supplied in the form of bank statements. These must be ORIGINAL, on letterhead and must clearly show the applications name, account number and date of statement – these must cover the three month period directly before application.
If bank statements are not available another option would be to obtain an official letter from the bank, stating your name, account number, date, financial institution's name and logo, the funds currently in the your account, and that the required funds have been in the bank for at least 3 months and the balance has never gone below the threshold detailed in the table above. It is important that this information is explicitly stated in the letter.
Extension
If you are making an application to extend your stay and were granted leave to enter/remain in the UK under the Terms of the Tier 1 (General) policy
in place at that time you will continue to be awarded the same points that were in place prior to 19 July 2010.
These are as follows:
Attributes
Qualification
Master's |
PHD's |
35 points |
50 points |
Previous Earnings
Points for earnings are calculated by converting non-sterling currency to Sterling (GBP). The Sterling figure is converted to points, taking into account the relative
difference in the level of earnings between countries. The difference is converted using an 'uplift ratio' that is applied to the entered amount. Different countries
have different uplift ratios depending on factors such as GDP per capita, etc.
|
In pounds per year |
Points scored |
£20,000 - £22,999 |
15 |
£23,000 - £25,999 |
20 |
£26,000 - £28,999 |
25 |
£29,000 - £31,999 |
30 |
£32,000 - £34,999 |
35 |
£35,000 - £39,999 |
40 |
£40,000+ |
45 |
Age
The younger you are, the more points you can score. You can score a maximum amount of 20 points if you are under 28 years of age.
Under 28 |
28 or 29 |
30 or 31 |
20 |
10 |
5 |
UK Experience
| These points can be claimed if you can prove previous earnings or Qualifications gained in the UK |
5 points |
In addition to scoring 75 points for attributes it is mandatory that you must score a total of 20 points in the next two sections
English Language Ability
To be successful within an application for a Tier 1 visa, you must show that you are proficient in English in one of the following ways:
- That you have passed a test in English equivalent to level C1 of the Council of Europe's Common European Framework for Language Learning (equivalent to a grade C or better at GCSE or an approximate overall band score of 6.5 on an IELTS exam)
- That you come from a country where English is the majority language. This includes Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Canada, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Ireland, Jamaica, New Zealand, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and The Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, the USA.
- That you have completed a degree level qualification taught in English from a list of select countries, verified by National Academic Recognition Information Centre, as above. Please note that Canada id NOT included on this list. If your degree was earned in another country, information provided by UK NARIC can verify if the English-taught degree is acceptable to satisfy the English language requirement.
Proof of one of these criteria will earn you the required 10 points for the English language requirement.
Maintenance
You are required to score 10 points by proving that you can support yourself and any dependants.
| Tier 1 Maintenance Funds |
| Applying from within the UK |
Proof of £800 in a bank account at all times for three months prior to application. For each dependant an additional amount of £533 must be shown* |
| Applying from outside the UK |
Proof of £2800 in a bank account at all times for three months prior to application. For each dependant an additional amount of £1600 must be shown** |
* For instance the main applicant plus a dependant spouse and one child would need to show funds of at least £1866
** For instance the main applicant plus a dependant spouse and one child would need to show funds of at least £6000
You will be required to provide evidence of your maintenance funds. This can be supplied in the form of bank statements. These must be ORIGINAL, on letterhead and must clearly show the applications name, account number and date of statement – these must cover the three month period directly before application.
If bank statements are not available another option would be to obtain an official letter from the bank, stating your name, account number, date, financial institution's name and logo, the funds currently in the your account, and that the required funds have been in the bank for at least 3 months and the balance has never gone below the threshold detailed in the table above. It is important that this information is explicitly stated in the letter.
Assistance
Ambler Collins is able to help you with the complicated process of applying for a visa to allow you to immigrate to the UK. We will provide a free assessment of your eligibility contact one of our OISC regulated advisers for discussions.
Contact Ambler Collins for a free assessment of your eligibility to apply. Contact us at info@amblercollins.com or phone +44 (0)20 7371 0213.
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