4 March 2021

The Home Office has published a Statement of Changes today, paving the way for a new Graduate visa route starting from 1 July 2021 as well as introducing changes to many of the existing routes, including Skilled Worker, Innovator, Global Talent and the EUSS which will be scattered from 6 April to 1 July 2021 (see below for further details).

New Graduate Route

A new Graduate visa route, akin to the previously popular and subsequently scrapped Tier 1 (Post-Study Work) scheme, will be introduced from 9am 1 July 2021 allowing international graduates an additional two-year period (three years for those finishing a Doctorate) following their studies to look for suitable employment at any skill and salary level, without the need for official sponsorship from an employer.

Students will be required to meet the following conditions, amongst others, to qualify for leave under this route:

• to have successfully completed the course of study undertaken during their most recent grant of permission as a Student (which includes Tier 4);
• the course must have led to the award of a degree at UK bachelor’s or postgraduate level, or a professional course requiring study at UK bachelor’s degree level or above, in a profession with reserved activities that is regulated by UK law or UK public authority;
• for applicants with course duration of 12 months or less, the whole of the course must have been studied in the UK. Those on courses lasting longer than 12 months will need to have been granted permission for at least 12 months on the Student route and have spent that time studying in the UK (with an exception for absences due to Covid which would potentially not affect this requirement).

This is no doubt welcome news to international students and immigration lawyers alike, who for years have been calling on the Government to allow international students the opportunity to develop their careers in the UK following their hard-earned degrees, especially as it has taken nearly a decade for this to happen.

Skilled Worker

There are two main updates to the Skilled Worker route coming into effect from 6 April 2021.

Minimum salary

The Rules now make it clear that in addition to meeting the annual salary of £25,600, migrants must also be paid a minimum hourly rate of £10.10 to ensure that employers are not extending migrants’ hours in order to meet the annual salary level.
In addition, employers looking to move workers to a lower salary threshold (for example because they have completed a PhD) would now be required to submit a fresh application.

Expansion of the Shortage Occupation List

In another welcome, if slightly mistimed move, the Home Office is expanding the Shortage Occupation List to include the following:

• health services and public health managers and directors;
• residential, day and domiciliary care managers and proprietors;
• pharmacists;
• health professionals not elsewhere classified;
• physiotherapists;
• laboratory technicians (including those not in the health and care sectors);
• Nursing auxiliaries; and
• Senior care workers

Innovator

From 6 April 2021, a requirement is being introduced that an applicant must be the ‘sole founder or an instrumental member of the founding team of the business’ for which they have been endorsed.

Global Talent

An amendment is being made from 5 May 2021 allowing applicants who have won certain ‘prestigious’ prizes to apply without having to secure an endorsement from an official endorsing body. The list of acceptable prizes will be detailed in Appendix Global Talent: Prestigious Prizes and will include the Nobel Prize, the Oscars, BAFTAs and Golden Globes, amongst others.

Hong Kong (BNO) route

From 6 April 2021 migrants in this category will be allowed to request to have their ‘No recourse to public funds’ condition removed from their leave, if they show that they are or are at imminent risk of becoming destitute.

EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS)

Now that the Brexit transition period is over, some technical changes are coming into effect from 6 April 2021 to allow the Home Office to refuse applications where there are issues with the applicant’s conduct, for example a criminal conviction committed from 1 January 2021.

There are also technical changes being made to various definitions within Appendix EU.

In addition, individuals applying under the EUSS as the dependant parent of an EU or Swiss citizen (or their spouse/civil partner) will now have to actively submit evidence of their financial dependency – this will no longer be assumed. This change will only apply to applicants who had not entered the UK prior to the end of the transition period and who apply after 30 June 2021.

Youth Mobility Scheme

The Youth Mobility Scheme allocations for 2021 will be as follows:

• Australia – 30,000 places;
• New Zealand – 13,000 places;
• Canada – 6,000 places;
• Japan – 1,500 places;
• Monaco – 1,000 places;
• Taiwan – 1,000 places;
• Hong Kong – 1,000 places;
• South Korea – 1,000 places;
• San Marino – 1,000 places.

For further information on other changes to UK immigration law contact your assigned LDI lawyer or enquiries@lauradevine.com.