The Law

Over the last few years there has been an upheaval in the law relating to those wanting to either come into the Country or those wanting to remain here. The Government has now introduced a new system which is extensively based upon a point system to determine whether clearance will be given to enter the country.

This points-based system is the biggest shake-up of the immigration system for 45 years. The system will replace over 80 existing routes to work and study in the United Kingdom with five tiers. The system allows British businesses to recruit the skills they need from abroad while providing assurances to the British public that only those migrants we need will be able to come to the United Kingdom.

This will affect migrants from outside the European Economic Area (EEA) this is a larger area than the European Union itself and Switzerland.

If you want to employ or teach an EEA or Swiss national, you should be able to do this without needing permission from the Home Office.  Please note that the Home Office still does have some restrictions on nationals of countries that have recently joined the EEA.

Under the new system, anybody wanting to enter the country need to accumulate a number of points in order to pass a points-based assessment before they are given permission to enter or remain in the United Kingdom. The new system has five tiers and each tier has different point’s requirements. So you will need to know under which tier you are seeking to enter and then the number of points required for entry clearance.

The general rule is points will be awarded to reflect the applicants ability, experience, age and when appropriate the level of need within the sector the migrant will be working.