Although the Highly Skilled Migrant Programme (HSMP), which was introduced in January 2002, has proven to be very successful for UK immigration, it has now been replaced by Tier 1 (General). Tier 1 is a points-based visa system specially designed to attract gifted individuals to migrate to the UK. The Tier 2 work permit allows a UK-based company to sponsor a foreign individual to come and contribute to the UK’s economy.

Under the Entrepreneur visa, a foreign individual is allowed to live and work in the UK and invest capital and start a business, as long as it is within UK immigration rules. A potential investor may also come to the country with a pioneering idea under an Innovator visa or simply to invest in the country’s economy through a Tier 1 Investor visa.

For students wishing to study in the UK, a study permit or Tier 4 Student visa permits foreign students to enter the country. The Post Study Work and Youth Mobility Scheme allow students and young individuals to work in the UK for a restricted time.

Family-based visas include UK Marriage visa and UK Fiancé visa or De Facto visa or the Unmarried Partner visa. A UK marriage visa allows the husband, wife or civil partner of a person who settled in the UK to apply for leave to enter and live permanently in the country. The UK Fiancé visa permits a person who is resident in the UK to bring their fiancé into the country.

This programme is a form of a work permit to work in UK: so long as an applicant shows an interest of working in the UK and the meets the requirements needed then he or she qualifies for this visa. This is normally encouraged by the UK government because the it helps build their economy by outsourcing manpower from outside and in return benefits the Skilled Migration applicant to have an opportunity that he or she might have never seen in his or her country of origin.

The Highly Skilled Migration Programme can lead to British citizenship for the visa holder, so long as the person has stayed in UK for the first two years and has been granted another three years extension. After this five years period has elapsed, the visa holder can apply for an indefinite leave to remain in UK so long as the he or she is economically active and later can then apply for a British citizenship.

Many countries in the world have adopted the system of looking for skilled foreigners for employment. A good example in Africa is Botswana and Namibia, who have given work permits to skilled foreigners to help in the field of engineering, medical industries and even teaching. As an example, many Kenyans are employed in Botswana and Namibia as result of work permit programmes based on the Highly Skilled Migration Programme in the UK.

The concept of the PBS is not novel. The PBS is widely applied in highly industrialized nations like Australia to great effect.

The United Kingdom’s Home Office decided to borrow a leaf from these nations. The Office rolled off the Point Based System on February 29th, 2008, to replace the then existing Highly Skilled Migration Process – HSMP.

The PBS is more efficient when it comes to identifying the skills demands and filling the labour gaps than HSMP. This is because with the PBS, there is an advisory board known as the Skills Advisory Board which is mandated to identify the skill and labour demand in the United Kingdom.

Once the board identifies the skills gap, it recommends the changes which have to be implemented to the PBS in order to effectively address these needs. Such recommendations include increasing the points for tier 1 visa applicants with the desired skills in shortage. The move can be reversed when enough people with the desired skill set have been found to meet the labour demands.

The Point Based System is superior to HSMP in that it is a linear and more efficient application process. By implementing the PBS, the United Kingdom has been able to consolidate study and work permits to just 5 easily manageable tiers.

In addition to being a more transparent and objective system, the PBS also acts as a filter that only allows entry to those individuals whose skills are in demand in the United Kingdom.

The Tier 1, like the HSMP, uses a points system to determine immigration eligibility. The system is used to award points in six categories; education, adaptability, language skills, work experience, age and employment. The total number of points needed in order to submit your HSMP (Tier 1) application is 75. The purpose of the HSMP points system is to ensure that immigrants will be able to care for themselves and assimilate into society well. The HSMP is used as a first step towards permanent residency and ultimately, citizenship.  After five years with the HSMP an applicant can apply for residency and one year after that naturalisation to become a citizen. It is important to submit all the necessary paperwork and substantiations, along with your application, in order to be certain that the process will not be halted. If your application is incomplete you will need to resubmit and start the process over.

Getting an investor visa is not as easy as some may think, there are tight regulations governing investors in any country. For example in USA, the visa applies for those who are willing to invest either, $1million in a new enterprise that will employ more than ten U.S workers excluding immigrants; investment of $500,000 within an area with a high percentage of unemployment or in rural area. The investor visa for people investing with $500,000 is limited to a maximum of $3,000 every year. Investor Visa holders receive permanent resident status.

In the UK, the investor visa is under the Tier 1 and is categorized in two parts. The first one is that the investor is referred to a bank where he or she is given a loan of £1 million, of which the investor will be charged £170,000 without monthly interest and the second category is where by the investor has £1million from his or her own account, which will be used in the UK.

The UK investor visa is normally granted for three years and is eligible for an extension for two more years. At the end of this five-year period in the UK, the investor visa holder may apply for indefinite leave with his or her dependents and later British citizenship if desired.

Tier 1 and Tier 2 afford an applicant permanent residency or indefinite leave to remain in the UK. Additionally Tier 2 to 5 visa applicants need to obtain a certificate of sponsorship from an institutions, (for example for Tier 2 visa holders the sponsoring institution will be a British Company; for Tier 3 the sponsoring will be the operator of a specific worker scheme; for Tier 4 the sponsor will be an educational institution and finally for Tier 5 visa holders the sponsor will be the home government of the applicant).

This system does not apply to temporary immigration systems like visiting visas or travel or tourist visas, this is due to their short term nature and the restrictions placed on them specifically with regards to employment; they are separate from the UK Tier Visa system and visiting visa holder cannot switch to the Tier system.

In terms of spouse or dependents immigration, they are distinct from the Tier Visa system, with the Tier 1, 2 and 4 permitting the combined immigration of dependents (e.g. spouse, civil partner, unmarried partner and dependent children) to join the Tier Visa holder in UK, with the rights to work and study.

This programme has now been replaced by ‘Tier 1’ visa; this is part of the UK’s new five-tier points based system, which will encompass all study, work and training immigration routes into the country. You may have to wait for several months for your UK visa application by the UK Border Agency. 

To get permanent residence depends on the status of your stay in the UK before you made your application as you need to have been living in the UK to qualify. Permanent residence removes any immigration based restrictions there may be. After one year of permanent residence you may apply for naturalization.

The UK Immigration services can be contacted for either application specific queries or general consultancy. Those requiring the immigration services include businesses, recruitment agencies and individual applicants. They can enjoy free membership and direct access to online systems to contact the immigration services.

The Working Holidaymakers’ Visa, which is popular with members of Commonwealth countries, can be held for a period of two years and allows people to work in the UK, but it does not count towards UK residency.

The fee for a Highly Skilled visa is determined by the country from which you apply. A ‘Family Immigration’ visa is determined by evidence of a marriage certificate or by a separate fiancée applications or an unmarried partner application.

The application process for the Tier 1 Visa has changed slightly from the old process used for HSMP Visas.  The HSMP Visa application process was a two-step process.  The new Tier 1 Visa application process is only one step.  It is therefore extremely important that you include all the proper documentation along with your application.  The application process will be halted if the proper information is missing and you will need to start the process over again.  You must include all information regarding your education, prior work experience, age, status, English skills, and UK knowledge along with your application.  The approval process may take up to a year and a half.  A Tier 1 Visa allows you to live and work in the UK for up to two years at which time the Visa can be renewed.

Under the new system, migrants wishing to come to the UK no longer need a job offer or spouse and are able to apply for work anywhere in the UK. The applicant must first pass the points based system to qualify for a Tier 1 visa, with a score of at least 75 points. Successful applicants can stay and work in the UK for three years; after this time a migrant can apply to renew their Tier 1 visa.

There are four sub-categories to the UK Tier 1 visa, these are:

Highly Skilled Migrant visa – This is now known as a Tier 1 General visa and is designed for highly skilled and educated migrants. The applicant must score a minimum of 75 points to qualify for a Tier 1 General visa. Points will be awarded for their age, qualifications, previous earnings and UK experience.

Entrepreneur visa – This visa is for individuals who want to invest in the UK by starting or taking over a business. To qualify for a Tier 1 Entrepreneur visa, at least £200,000 of disposable capital is required.

Investor visa – Is for people who plan to make a more significant investment can apply for a Tier1 Investor visa. This visa is designed for very well-off individuals and requires at least £1,000,000 of disposable capital.

Foreign Graduate visa – This is known as a Tier 1 Post Study Work visa and is for students who have studied and graduated in universities within the UK. It allows successful applicants to look for work after they have graduated, without having a sponsor.

The Tier 1 Post Study Work visa is only designed to bridge the gap to a Highly Skilled or skilled worker visa. It is expected that students with a Post Study Work visa will switch to another Tier 1 or other Tier visa as soon as they can.