New timetable for Points-Based system
Ever since the Home Office announced that it wished to introduce a new Points-Based system for migration to the UK it has produced rough time-estimates on when the system will be introduced, stating that it will not be introduced ‘before’ a particular date. Now the government Minister responsible for the Border and Immigration Agency, Liam Byrne MP, appears to have set down a timetable.
The timetable is:
• Beginning of 2008: Tier 1 of the system, which caters for highly skilled migrants and is the successor to the current Highly Skilled Migrant Programme (HSMP), although it may cover a different group of people and have different requirements.
• Third Quarter (October to December) 2008: Tier 2, which covers people who would currently fall under the work permits system, and Tier 5, which deals with ‘youth mobility’ and temporary workers, probably involving the successor to, for example, the current Working Holiday-Maker scheme.
• Beginning of 2009: Tier 4, students.
The timetable does not cover Tier 3, low-skilled workers. This is deliberate. The UK has stated that part of the points-based system will be the ending of employment routes to the UK for low-skilled workers from outside the European Union except in cases of short-term shortages. Also, at the moment, the UK continues to restrict the work that can be done by citizens of the new member States of the European Union, Bulgaria and Romania, and their opportunities to come to the UK to do ‘low-skilled’ work for a UK employer are very limited. The UK, under European Community Law, cannot treat workers from outside the European Economic Area (EEA) more favourably than those within, thus, at the moment, there is no scope for general schemes for low-skilled workers who are not EEA nationals.
The idea of the Points-Based system is to simplify the many different types of application that people can make to work and study in the UK into a limited number of broad tiers. Whether a person qualifies to enter the UK in a particular tier will depend upon the number of points they score for different attributes, for example aptitude, experience, age and the level of need in the UK. At the moment, the only part of migration for work or study that uses a system of points-scoring is the Highly-Skilled Migrants Programme (HSMP).
Other changes are expected to accompany the introduction of the system are the introduction of a new system of civil penalties for employers who employ people without permission to work in the UK and the loss of many rights of appeal for those refused entry clearance (a visa) at a post abroad. Based on what the UK government has said in the past, it would be expected that the civil penalties scheme would be introduced at the same time as Tier 2, and that as each Tier is introduced people in that Tier will lose appeal rights. However, this can be more than an educated guess until there is more information from the Border and Immigration Agency.
Some people may find it easier to come to the UK under the Points-Based system than the current system, others may find it more difficult. There is not enough information or detail at the moment to suggest that there is a clear reason for workers, employers, or students to delay making an application until the system is in place.
What information there is suggests that some people may find it more difficult under the new system. One consideration is the prospect of loss of appeal rights. Another is that in the current system an application for a work permit is made to the specialised team in the Border and Immigration Agency (previously called Work Permits UK). Then, if a work permit is granted, the prospective employee applies for a entry clearance (a visa) at a UK consular post abroad. The UK government proposes that under the Points-Based system, a single application will be made at a post abroad. Unlike refusal of a work permit, a refusal of a visa at a post abroad forms part of a person’s immigration history, and is thus relevant to whether subsequent applications, whether to the UK or to other countries, will succeed.
There can be no guarantee that the new timetable will not change. Lawyers such as Gherson and Co., who have a specialism in immigration applications for work, will be watching new developments closely so that they can give their clients the most up to date advice about advantages and disadvantages. People who are considering coming to the UK to work or study, or employers who wish or need to recruit a person from abroad, should take advice on their options under the system currently in place, considered in the light of up-to-date information about the points-based system.
Alison Harvey, Gherson and Co.
