Following the MAC report on 18 November, the UK government has announced that the Tier 1 (General) route is to be abolished with effect from 31 March 2011.

What does this mean?

While we do not anticipate that this will affect applications for Tier 1 (General) dependants or applications to extend existing Tier 1 (General) visas, possible refinements under consideration for extensions are a higher earnings threshold and / or evidence that the migrant is working in a graduate level role. One of the Government's main concerns has been that some Tier 1 (General) migrants have been holding several low-skilled jobs to accrue the salary points required for an extension.

Working with the temporary quota

November 2010 is the second consecutive month that the temporary Tier 1 (General) quota for out-of-country applications has been hit - this time by 7 November. We anticipate that this is likely to be the pattern going forward, with a very real possibility that the backlog may mean that no new Tier 1 (General) applications will be accepted from early in the New Year if the backlog becomes too big.

We strongly recommend that all out-of-country Tier 1 (General) applications are submitted before the end of December 2010 to stand a chance of being included in the January and February quota - there is likely to be a spike in applications before the route is permanently closed after 31 March 2011.

Exceptional Talent

From 1 April 2011, a new category will be introduced under Tier 1 ('Exceptional Talent'), aimed at scientists, artists/entertainers and academics with exceptional skill who have achieved international recognition (or are recognised as having exceptional talent). This is to be limited to 1000 a year.

Tier 1 (Investor) and Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) will also be simplified. These categories will not be included in the cap. It is not clear whether the Entrepreneur category will allow wider opportunities for self-employed migrants, which we would hope, and the devil will be in the detail once further guidance is published.  

Next steps

We advise the following:

  • All out-of-country Tier 1 (General) applications should be filed immediately and before January 2011 where possible.
  • If applying from the UK, Tier 1 (General) applications should be submitted before 31 March 2011 to benefit from this category before it closes.
  • Opportunities for self employment may arise under the Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) category. We will report  as soon as details about this category are formulated.   
  • Migrants who were granted entry as Tier 2 Intra-company transferees after April 2010, and therefore not in a category which leads to settlement, may wish to consider switching in-country to Tier 1 (General) before the scheme closes on 31 March 2011.
  • Employers who are not yet on the register of sponsors should consider becoming licensed as soon as possible to have the option to bring in employees as either Tier 2 Intra-company transfers or Tier 2 General certificates of sponsorship.

This article was written for Law-Now, CMS Cameron McKenna's free online information service. To register for Law-Now, please go to www.law-now.com/law-now/mondaq

Law-Now information is for general purposes and guidance only. The information and opinions expressed in all Law-Now articles are not necessarily comprehensive and do not purport to give professional or legal advice. All Law-Now information relates to circumstances prevailing at the date of its original publication and may not have been updated to reflect subsequent developments.

The original publication date for this article was 30/11/2010.