In January 2021 free movement rights will end and the immigration system will be updated.
According to the Policy Statement issued in February 2020, the following changes will be made in relation to sponsored employment:
There is no indication in the policy paper that “new entrant” would be given a wider meaning and the current minimum pay threshold for new entrants of £20,800 will most likely be lost.
The current definition of New Entrant covers Tier 2 applicants under the age of 26 and those who received their offer of employment in a milkround, or those who are switching in the UK from Tier 1 Graduate Entrepreneur or Tier 4 visa having completed a degree course or finished a minimum of 12 months study towards a PhD.
If the current definition of new entrant applies, the advantages associated with it will be limited to lowering the occupation-specific threshold by 70%. The general lowest pay threshold of £25,600 will apply to new entrants in the same way as to everyone else, with the only exception given to shortage occupation jobs and PhD graduates.
According to the policy document, this is only the first step in the immigration reform. We’ve been promised that the rules will be further refined to achieve even more flexibility.
- there will be no cap on the number of people who can come to the UK for sponsored employment;
- there will be no resident labour market test;
- the minimum level of pay will go down from £30,000 to £25,600 or to £20,480 for jobs in the shortage occupation list;
- the level of skill required for sponsored employment will be lowered to RQF level 3, as compared to the current RQF level 6.
How the new points-based system will work at the Tier 2 level
The new system will introduce a combination of the so-called tradeable and non-tradeable points, to justify it being a points-based system. Non-tradeable points will be the mandatory requirements mirroring those currently in place. These will include:
- Offer of employment from an approved sponsor;
- Job requiring an appropriate level of skill, at least RQF level 3;
- Knowledge of English at the required level.
Minimum pay threshold and occupation-specific thresholds
Occupation specific thresholds will remain in place and there is no indication that the existing levels will be changed. The occupation-specific codes will continue to apply and will set the minimum pay when the occupation-specific minimum pay level is higher than £25,600.Proposed changes related to “new entrants”
In January 2020 the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) recommended giving a wider definition to “new entrant” and making it applicable to five years instead of the current three years.
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