UK government

In its latest Statement of changes, published on 7 March 2019, the UK Government has made it very clear that it is moving away from the Points-Based Immigration system (PBS). Both the Tier 1 Entrepreneur and Tier 1 Graduate Entrepreneur route are falling away shortly. These routes will be replaced with an Innovator and Start-up Visa routes. Both the new routes fall outside the PBS and do not have a point-scoring system. Breytenbachs welcome the announcements on the newly formed immigration routes, and believe it will open up more opportunities for those looking to live and work in the UK. Tier 1 (Graduate Entrepreneur) closing The Tier 1 (Graduate Entrepreneur) immigration route will close for all new applicants on 6 July 2019. The last day a person can thus apply under this route is 5 July 2019. Persons already in the UK under this route, do not need to worry, as there are transitional arrangements in place to switch to the new routes. Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) closing The Ti…

The UK Home Office has announced that it will henceforth no longer include doctors and nurses in the cap on the Tier 2 Visa cap. This is according to immigration consultants Breytenbachs, which notes that every month, since December 2017, the monthly quota for the Tier 2 Restricted Certificates of Sponsorship (CoS) was reached. “Many UK businesses that applied for Restricted Certificates of Sponsorship (CoS) to employ non-EU workers were not able to obtain the CoS they require,” it said. “When a CoS is not issued, the employing company subsequently has to wait for the next monthly round of allocations of the Restricted Certificates of Sponsorship. Furthermore, it is not only a waiting game, but they have to lodge a new CoS application for consideration each month to be considered,” it said. “The implication was a growing shortage of staff at the National Health Service (NHS) in the UK, as well as a negative impact on other sectors in the UK economy. Note, however, that cert…

The UK Government announces that they are now reforming the Immigration route

New visa rules good news for South Africans looking for work in the UK