NEW IMMIGRATION LAWS IN THE UK

According to the new immigration laws, there are no immigration skills charges, and Migrants will be granted entry clearance or permission to stay for two years initially. Scale-up Workers can switch to different sponsored roles in the first six months. The Government has also issued a new Statement of Changes to the Immigration Rules to implement its ‘Plan for Growth’ measures, which aims to simplify the Immigration Rules. 

Appendix High Potential Individual (HPI) route is a new route aimed at introducing an elite points-based route to attract the brightest and best to the UK to maintain its status as a leading international hub for emerging technologies.

It will allow graduates from non-UK universities listed as top 50 on at least two ranking systems (the Times Higher Education World University Rankings, the QS World University Rankings, or The Academic Ranking of World Universities) to come unsponsored for two years if they hold a qualification awarded in the five years before the date of application that is equivalent to a UK Bachelor’s or Master’s degree, or three years if they hold a qualification equivalent to a UK PhD.

The Global Business Mobility routes are a new category of sponsored routes for overseas businesses seeking to establish a presence in or transfer staff to the UK for specific business purposes. 

There were five visa routes created, which came into force on 11 April – none of these lead to settlement:

• Graduate Trainee, replacing the Intra-Company Graduate Trainee route.
• Secondment Worker, a new route for “overseas workers who are undertaking temporary work assignments in the UK, where the worker is being seconded to the UK as part of a high-value contract or investment by their employer overseas”.
• Senior or Specialist Worker, replacing the Intra-Company Transfer route. This route is for senior managers or specialist employees who are being assigned to a UK business linked to their employer overseas. Service Supplier, replacing the contractual service supplier and independent professional provisions in the Temporary Worker – International Agreement route.
• UK Expansion Worker, replacing the Sole Representative of an Overseas Business visa category. 

The UK has recently introduced a new pathway to citizenship for British National Overseas (BN(O)) status holders and their family members facing draconian new security laws in Hong Kong. An estimated 5.4 million people are eligible for this scheme.

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