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 at least the equivalent of a bachelor’s degree, and can show that you have earned a good income in your home country, the Tier 1 (General) is the right scheme for you.

The Tier 1 (General) visa was launched globally on 29 June 2008 and replaced the Highly Skilled Migrant Programme.

Tier 1 (General) is very similar to the previous HSMP, but for the notable exception of the removal of the MBA provision which allowed those with MBAs from a list of specific universities to claim an automatic 75 points. English language requirements are also now more stringent.

Specific Criteria

Attributes

The following tables show the how points can be scored for specific criteria. A score of 75 for attributes must be reached for an application to be successful:

Qualifications

Master's	PHD's
35 points	50 points

Previous Earnings
Like the Highly Skilled Migrant Programme, 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 on our Tier 1 Assessment Form and one of our OISC regulated advisers will contact you.

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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