Welcome to UK Immigration Guide
Immigration to United Kingdom (UK) is the process by which people migrate to UK to reside permanently in the country. Immigration to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland since 1922 has been substantial, in particular from Ireland and the former colonies of the British Empire - such as India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, the Caribbean, South Africa, Kenya and Hong Kong - under British nationality law. Others have come as asylum seekers, seeking protection as refugees under the United Nations 1951 Refugee Convention, or from European Union (EU) member states, exercising one of the EU's Four Freedoms.
The UK has welcomed newcomers for centuries. It is a mixture of diverse ethnic groups, each with their own distinct culture and sometimes their own language or religion.Migrants bring a diversity of skills to the UK labor market, providing skills and expertise which complement the existing work force.
UK has various visas designed for various purposes. These visas are divided under Immigration category or 'Settlement Visas' and 'Non Settlement Visas. While Settlement Visas (like HSMP or Innovator Visa) allow you long period of stay leading to Permanent Resident or Indefinite Leave to Remain in the UK, non settlement visas are for shorter periods and do not lead to Permanent Resident status. There are other Visas available, apart from HSMP scheme, which allow you to come to the UK for different purposes.
One of the most popular forms of immigration to the UK is the Skilled Worker Category. This allows you to enter the UK before finding a job and means that you do not need a UK employer to sponsor your work permit. One of the biggest advantages offered by the Skilled Worker category is that it is effectively a UK work permit that allows you to work in the UK for any employer.
Tiers of UK Immigration System
The introduction of the UK tier visa was done so as an intention of simplifying and rationalising the outgoing UK immigration services into a more straightforward and transparent structure. As part of this new immigration points based system, visas for the fifth tier will replace a range of youth mobility schemes such as the Commonwealth Working Holidaymaker (WHM) and the Au Pair Programme with a single system which introduces a uniform set of requirements.
There are five tiers altogether in the new immigration points based system. All of these tiers have a different purpose and function and depending on your skills and qualifications as well as why you want to come to the UK depends on which of these tiers you apply to in order to come to the UK. For the purpose of this article I m going to be looking into Tier Five of the UK Immigration Process.
Tier five is to be used by youth and mobility workers. It is being put in place for working holiday makers, temporary exchange workers and voluntary workers. The main purpose of tier five is to allow people to work in the UK for a temporary period of time.
Under tier five of the new UK immigration system you are not allowed to bring dependants to the UK with you and you are also not allowed to switch to a different tier. Tier five was not put in place to grant permanent Residence to workers. The option of applying to work within the UK under tier five is available to applicants from participating countries aged 18-30 and will grant leave to enter the UK for a maximum period of 24 months.
Tier 2 now incorporates the Sponsored Skilled Worker category (formerly the Work Permit Scheme), whilst Tier 5 establishes the Youth Mobility Scheme (replacing in part the Working Holidaymaker).
The new Tier 1-5 immigration categories are part of the fundamental shake up by the UK Government of the UK immigration laws. The new categories are designed to provide a more transparent and simplified UK immigration system.
The UK waived goodbye to a number of previous immigration categories, including:- The Work Permit Scheme;
- The Training and Work Experience Scheme (commonly known as TWES);
- Working holidaymaker;
- Businessman;
- Innovator;
- Investor; and
- Retired person of independent means.
For some of these categories, an equivalent has been introduced under the PBS, for example the investor, businessman and innovator are now incorporated under the Tier 1 category as Investor and Entrepreneur. The actual requirements for entry as an Investor or Entrepreneur under the Tier 1 have changed little as compared to the former investor and businessman visas.
However, others, such as the working holidaymaker and retired person of independent means provisions are gone for good, which will have a profound effect on those seeking to enter the UK under those routes.
Prospective UK immigrants should now carefully check to ensure they are applying under the correct category and more importantly the criteria to be met.