Tier 1, Tier 2 Skilled migrants: New UK visa rules

New UK visa restrictions for Tier 1 and Tier 2 of the points based system were outlined by the UK Border Agency today.

The proposed changes, which may be implemented from April 2009, will raise the bar for qualifying under Tier 1 and Tier 2 of the UK’s new points based system. The current economic downturn has prompted the UK Border Agency to restrict the number of foreign nationals moving to the UK for employment.

Under Tier 1, the replacement system to HSMP, the current minimum educational qualification is a Bachelors Degree, but this will be raised to a Masters Degree under the proposals. Similarly, the minimum earnings requirement under the current rules is £17,000. This will be raised to £20,000.

The visa changes represent the most drastic tightening of the Tier 1 Highly Skilled Migrants/HSMP visa requirements to date. At present, over 25,000 foreign workers travel to the UK each year under the Highly Skilled Migrant route. The new requirements may reduce this number to under 15,000 per year.

The proposals discussed also include the posibility of restricting Tier 2 Skilled Migrants work to skills shortage areas. Furthermore, Tier 2 Skilled jobs need to be advertised at Jobcentres to allow UK/EU workers to have the opportunity to apply first, before a foreign national can be recruited.

Almost 80,000 migrants travel to the UK per year under the Tier 2 Skilled Migrant/Work Permit arrangements. This number would be halved under the proposals.

There is also a proposal to restrict migrants’ dependants from taking up employment in the UK. This would prevent spouses and children of skilled migrants from working in the UK. The UK Border Agency will first have the economic contribution of skilled foreign workers’ dependants assessed before taking a decision.

The Home Secretary has suggested the banning of foreign workers’ families completely, but the legality of a move that conflicts with such a basic human right is doubtful.

The proposals include measures aimed at focusing development of the British work force in areas with skills shortages, allowing any occupations on the official skills shortage list to receive additional focus.

The changes, which will mainly effect nationals of India, the USA, Australia, and Pakistan, will be assessed by the government’s Migration Advisory Committee before a decision is taken on implementation. It is feared that the changes are short sighted, and may do more harm than good to the UK’s fragile economy.

UK visa changes implemented by the UK Border Agency to limit economic migration will always be restricted, as workers from within the EU will always be allowed to travel to the UK freely for the purpose of employment. There are restrictions on Romanian and Bulgarian workers, but these restrictons remain temporary.

The changes are expected to be announced in a 10 point plan to reduce economic migration to the UK.

The UK’s Points based system (PBS) was introduced to simplify managed migration. The points requirements were designed to be raised or lowered easily, in line with the UK’s labour market needs.

Previous immigration policy allowed for the growth of foreign workers in the UK, to make up for an ageing population and for economically inactive Britons. As the economy grew, foreign workers also alleviated inflationary pressures on UK salaries.