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The government has published Statement of Changes to the Immigration Rules HC813, which sets out the full details of the new UK immigration system. This is a major overhaul of the Immigration Rules with most of the changes taking effect from 1 December 2020.
The main changes are as follows:
- Tier 2 (General) will be replaced by the new Skilled Worker route. To qualify under the new category, applicants must have received a confirmed job offer for a specific job, which meets minimum skill and salary requirements, by an employer that is registered as a licensed sponsor with the Home Office.
- The minimum skill level and salary rates will be lower than required to qualify for a visa under Tier 2 and sponsors will no longer need to undertake a resident labour market test.
- There will be no limit on the number of migrants that can enter the UK under the Skilled Worker category and the “cooling off period” and six-year maximum length of stay will be removed.
- The new Intra-Company Transfer (ICT) route will provide more flexibility for short-term assignments to the UK for employees working at overseas linked companies.
- Greater flexibility on the activities that individuals on Visit visas are permitted to carry out in the UK.
- A new immigration route to the UK for Hong Kong British Nationals (Overseas) will be introduced with effect from 31 January 2021.