The Highly Skilled Visa (Tier 1 General)
This visa has now replaced the Highly Skilled Migrant Programme in the UK.
Overview
The Tier 1 General visa allows highly skilled international students to apply for a visa to stay on and look for work in the UK for 3 years.
With this visa, you do not need an employer to sponsor a work visa for you.
With this visa you can take any form of employment.
This visa is extendable for a further 2 years if the applicant still qualifies for the points requirement.
Time spent on this visa does count towards the 5 years working in the UK required for permanent residency.
What has changed?
- The points criteria have changed slightly and it is now more likely that some students can qualify without significant previous earnings (particularly PhD students under 27).
- There is an English language requirement.
- There is a minimum funds requirement - you need to have minimum amount of funds available to support your application.
- MBA graduates from The University of Manchester and other leading MBAs now no longer automatically qualify for this visa. They now need to score sufficient points under the points calculator as with other applicants.
Getting help
It is vital to seek all available help when making visa applications as each application costs time and money.
The International Advice Team has advice pages for Tier 1 General Visas.
They also have advice on where to look for other sources of legal advice, including solicitors:
The UK Border Agency website has the official guidance notes.
Questions & answers:
Do graduate employers prefer Post-study work visas or Tier 1 general visas?
This is a difficult question to answer. There are advantages and disadvantages to both, and the answer will probably depend upon the employer in question.
The Tier 1 general visa has the advantage that it is likely that you will be able to extend further after the two years and also that it counts towards the 5 years for residency requirements.
However, if the concession is formally announced in November, 2008 the post-study work visa may have the advantage that the employer does not have to do a labour market test if they hire you for 6 months and then sponsor a work visa application for you.
This is one to discuss with the employer in question about what suits them best. Alternatively they may wish to sponsor a work visa from the outset and not use either visa.