WORKING IN THE UK

Kirin Abbas

Paragon Law

IntroductionNon-EU nationals may remain in the United Kingdom for the purposes of working under various types of leave. The focus of today will be upon leave to remain / enter under the following categories:

– Tier 1 (General). – Tier 1 (Post-Study Work).– Tier 2 (General).

Other routes which allow an individual leave to enter or remain for the purposes of working are:

– Tier 1 (Entrepreneur).– Tier 1 (Investor).

Tier 1 (Entrepreneur)

• £200,000.

• Maintenance - £2800 or £800.

• English language requirement.

Tier 1 (Investor)

• £1,000,000.

• No maintenance requirement.

• No English language requirement.

Tier 1 (General)

In order to obtain entry clearance / leave to remain within Tier 1 (General) an applicant must score the following points:

– 75 points for attributes.

• Age.• Qualifications.• Previous Earnings.

– 10 points for English language.

– 10 points for maintenance.

Tier 1 (General)

ATTRIBUTES – (Pass Mark – 75 points)

AGE (5 – 20 points)

Under 30 years of age 20 points

30 – 34 years of age 10 points

35 – 39 years of age 5 points

QUALIFICATIONS

PhD 45 points

Masters Degree (or equivalent vocational or professional qualification)

35 points

Bachelors Degree 30 points

Tier 1 (General) PREVIOUS EARNINGS

£25,000 - £29,999 5 Points

£30,000 - £34,999 15 Points

£35,000 - £39,999 20 Points

£40,000 - £49,999 25 Points

£50,000 - £54,999 30 Points

£55,000 - £64,999 35 Points

£65,000 - £74,999 40 Points

£75,000 - £149,999 45 Points

£150,000 or more 75 Points

Tier 1 (General) UK Experience

Successfully scored points for previous earnings and those earnings made in the UK

5 points

Undertaken a period of full time study in the United Kingdom of at least 1 full academic year and been awarded a qualification at Bachelors Degree level

or above. The qualification should have been awarded no more than 5 years before making the

application

5 points

Tier 1 (General)

ENGLISH LANGUAGE Requirement – (Pass Mark – 10 points)

Evidence to prove that the applicant speaks English to the required standard and meets the requirements which may be done as follows:

Be a national of a majority English speaking country.

Pass an English language test:

Hold a degree that was taught in English and is equivalent to a United Kingdom Bachelors Degree or above.

Tier 1 (General)

MAINTENANCE – (Pass Mark – 10 points)

Bank statements covering a 3 month period demonstrating £2800 for a period of 3 months, dated within the last 1 month where the applicant is applying from abroad and £800 in-country for the same period.

Tier 1 (General)

• Supporting documents:

– Age – passport.– Qualifications – original academic certificate. – Previous Earnings – 12 months worth of wage slips or bank

statements within the last 15 months. – UK experience – wage slips or original academic certificate.

Tier 1 (General)

• Initial grant of leave will be for 2 years.

• An extension in this category will be for 3 years.

• An individual who has completed 5 years in this category may apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain.

• The UKBA application fee is £840.

Tier 1 (Post-Study Work)

• An applicant may obtain leave to remain under Tier 1 (Post-Study Work) by pursuing an application for entry clearance abroad or by making an application to vary their leave from inside of the United Kingdom. Under Tier 1 (Post-Study Work) an initial applicant must score:

– 75 points for attributes.– 10 points for English language.– 10 points for maintenance.

Tier 1 (Post-Study Work)ATTRIBUTES – (Pass Mark – 75 points)

Qualifications:

The applicant has been awarded:

A United Kingdom recognised Bachelors or Postgraduate Degree; A United Kingdom Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) or Professional Graduate Diploma of Education

(PGDE); or A Higher National Diploma (HND) from a Scottish institution.

20 points

Institution:

The applicant studied for the eligible award at a United Kingdom institution that is a United Kingdom recognised or listed body, or holds a sponsor licence under Tier 4 of the points based system

or

If the applicant is claiming points for having been awarded a HND from a Scottish Institution: the HND must have been studied at a Scottish publicly funded institution of further or higher education, or at a Scottish bona fide private education institution which maintains satisfactory records of enrolment and attendance.

20 points

Immigration Status:

The applicant’s periods of UK study and/or research towards his eligible award were undertaken whilst he had entry clearance, leave to enter or leave to remain in the UK that was not subject to a restriction preventing him from undertaking a course of study and/or research.

20 points

Date of Qualification:

The applicant made the application for entry clearance or leave to remain as a Tier 1 (Post-Study Work) migrant within 12 months of obtaining the eligible award.

15 points

Tier 1 (Post-Study Work)

ENGLISH LANGUAGE REQUIREMENT – (Pass Mark – 10 points)

The applicant who has successfully achieved 75 points in the attributes section as listed above will satisfy the English language requirements. This is because the applicant would have shown in the attributes section that they have obtained an appropriate English qualification.

Tier 1 (Post-Study Work)

MAINTENANCE – (Pass Mark – 10 points)

Applicants outside the United Kingdom seeking entry clearance must have at least £2800 personal savings held for at least 3 months prior to the date of application.

In-country applicants must demonstrate they have held at least £800 for a 3 month period.

Tier 1 (Post-Study Work)

Documents required:

– Original certificate of award (if not issued a letter from the institution at which you studied).

– Original passport.

– An original letter from the institution.

– Bank statements covering a 3 month period.

Tier 1 (Post-Study Work)

• Grant of leave will be for 2 years.

• No further extensions will be granted in this category.

• Can switch into Tier 2 if continuing to work with the same employer and have been employed with them for 6 months without doing Resident Labour Market Test.

• There is no route to settlement, however, any leave granted in this category will count towards an application made for Indefinite Leave to Remain upon the basis of 10 years long residence.

• The UKBA postal application fee is £550.

Tier 2 (General) In order to be eligible to apply for leave to enter or remain under Tier 2 (General) an individual must have a job offer and a Certificate of Sponsorship from an organisation that is a licence sponsor in the United Kingdom.

In order to obtain leave to enter or remain under Tier 2 (General) an individual must score as follows:

– Attributes – 50 points.

• Sponsorship.• Qualifications. • Prospective earnings.

– English language skills – 10 points.

– Maintenance – 10 points.

Tier 2 (General)

ATTRIBUTES – (Pass Mark – 50 points)

SPONSORSHIP

Job in shortage occupation 50 points

Transitional arrangements 50 points

Offer of job that passes theresident labour market test

30 points

Switching from a post-studyCategory

30 points

Extension (resident labourmarket test not required)

50 points

Tier 2 (General)

QUALIFICATIONS

PhD or above 15 points

Masters or Bachelorsdegree or above

10 points

GCE A-level orequivalent or above

5 points

None, or below GCEA-level

0 points

Tier 2 (General)

PROSPECTIVE EARNINGS

£32,000 or more 25 points

£28,000 - £31,999 20 points

£24,000 - £27,999 15 points

£20,000 - £23,999 10 points

Under £20,000 0 points

Tier 2 (General) • English language skills – 10 points:

– Points scored in this category may be scored in the same way as those set out for Tier 1 (General).

• Maintenance – 10 points:.

– Applicants must show they have at least £800 available and held for at least 3 months.

– A Grade A Sponsor on the Sponsorship Management System may certify maintenance.

Tier 2 (General)

• Jobs in Shortage Occupation – list available from the UKBA website.

• Resident Labour Market Test:

– job must be advertised for 28 days.

– The appropriate information as set out by the UKBA must be given in the job advert, e.g. job title, salary, location, number of hours worked, duties, qualifications.

– Advertised through two different sources, including JobCentrePlus.

Tier 2 (General)

• Grant of leave is dependent upon what the employers request but cannot be for more than a period of 5 years.

• Any extension again is dependent upon what the employer will request but cannot total more than 5 years.

• An individual can apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain upon completing 5 years in this category.

• The UKBA application fee is £475.

Switching from Post-Study Category

• If an employee has worked for the employer for at least 6 months immediately before the date of the application under Tier 1 (Post-Study Work) then the Resident Labour Market Test does not need to be completed.

Self-Employment

• Tier 1 (Investor) – • Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) – • Tier 1 (General) – • Tier 1 (Post-Study) – • Tier 2 (General) – x

Contact

www.paragonlaw.co.uk