The new global system awards points for skills, having a job offer and speaking English.

Applications for the new skilled worker visa open today, meaning the brightest and the best from around the world can now apply to work in the UK from 1 January 2021.

Under the new UK’s points-based immigration system, points will be awarded for a job offer at the appropriate skill level, knowledge of English and being paid a minimum salary. Skilled worker visas will be awarded to those who gain enough points.

The new immigration system was initially thought to resemble an Australian points-based system, but the UK’s government listened to the clear message from the 2016 referendum and the 2019 General Election and decided to end the reliance on cheap, low-skilled labour coming into the country altogether.

The new immigration rules that came into force today will ensure that businesses can recruit the most highly qualified from across the globe to drive the economy forwards and keep the UK at the frontier of innovation. It will also encourage employers to focus on training and investing in the UK workforce, driving productivity and improving opportunities for individuals, especially those impacted by coronavirus.

Home Secretary Priti Patel said: “This government promised to end free movement, to take back control of our borders and to introduce a new points-based immigration system. Today, we have delivered on that promise. This simple, effective and flexible system will ensure employers can recruit the skilled workers they need, whilst also encouraging employers to train and invest in the UK’s workforce. We are also opening routes for those who have an exceptional talent or show exceptional promise in the fields of engineering, science, tech or culture.”

To obtain a skilled worker visa under the new immigration system, people will normally need to be paid at least £25,600 per year unless the ‘going rate’ for that job is higher.

Applications are made online, and as part of this, people will need to prove their identity and provide their documents. Once someone outside the UK has gone through all these steps, they will usually get a decision within 3 weeks.

They will need to have enough money to pay the application fee (ranging from £610 to £1,408), the healthcare surcharge (usually £624 per year) and be able to support themselves (usually by having at least £1,270 available).

The visa lasts for up to 5 years before it needs to be extended.

Alongside the skilled worker visa, a number of other routes have opened today. These include:

• Global Talent visa for people who can show they have exceptional talent or exceptional promise in the fields of science, engineering, humanities, medicine, digital technology or arts and culture
• Innovator visa for a person seeking to establish a business in the UK based on an innovative, viable and scalable business idea
• Start-up visa for a person seeking to establish a business in the UK for the first time
• Intra-company Transfer visa, which is for established workers who are being transferred by the business they work for to do a skilled role in the UK

The Student route and Child Student route opened on 5 October 2020 to eligible international students from across the globe.

As Minister for Future Borders and Immigration Kevin Foster said in a March statement when the new Immigration Bill was introduced to the House of Commons, “Today we’ve taken the momentous first step to end free movement and take back control of our borders, delivering on the people’s priorities. Our firmer and fairer points-based immigration system will attract the brightest and best from around the globe, prioritising those who come to Britain based on the skills they have to offer, not on the passport they hold.”

However, small businesses reacted negatively to the changes, underlining that they would face challenges in hiring new employees under the new immigration rules. Many enterprises operating in sectors like farming, manufacturing, hospitality, domestic services, care sector, warehousing, waste collection and disposal, and construction will definitely lose out. They have expanded rapidly mostly because of the supply of cheap labour from countries such as Poland, Baltic States, Romania and Bulgaria, paying workers much less than the £25,600 annual salary floor required under the new immigration system.

While the new system will end free movement, bringing EU citizens under UK immigration controls, it will further protect the long-held rights of Irish citizens, a unique status in place since the 1920s. Irish citizens will continue to freely enter and reside in the UK without requiring permission to do so after free movement ends.

EU citizens and other non-visa nationals will not require a visa to enter the UK when visiting the UK for up to 6 months. But to have the right to live, work and study in the UK, those EU citizens that are currently resident in the UK must apply to settle in the UK through the EU Settlement Scheme until June 2021. By the end of October, there had been more than 4 million applications to the EU Settlement Scheme.

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