UK Immigration Blog, Thoughts and Opinions

On 4 December 2009, the Migration Advisory Committee published its review of the Tier 1 General Scheme. Among the proposals, were inter alia, the following:

· the salary multipliers, which are used to convert previous earnings outside the UK into a UK equivalent, should be rapidly and thoroughly reviewed;

· migrants with a bachelor's degree but no master's degree should be allowed to come to the UK under Tier 1 General, if their previous earnings are high enough;

· professional qualifications (in law and accountancy, for example) should be considered as equal to a master's degree;

· the pay thresholds should be substantially increased, with no points for previous annual earnings below £24,000;

· migrants with previous annual earnings of at least £150,000 should not need to meet the educational qualification requirements;

· applicants should receive points for their age if they are 39 or under;

. successful applicants should initially be allowed to come to the UK for two years, rather than three as at present, with a three-year extension later if they are in highly skilled employment.

We have been unofficially informed that the UK Border Agency is likely to review and implement these changes in spring 2010 subject to the economic climate and political situation.