Newly Introduced UK Visas for Skilled Workers and Graduates in 2022
The UK is set to launch new immigration routes in the spring of 2022 to allow UK businesses to recruit international talents in various fields. The new routes will allow skilled workers, brilliant innovators, and entrepreneurs to enter and settle in the UK for business or employment purposes.
These pathways are economy-focused immigration approach to help UK businesses facing a shortage of skilled workers access international talents faster and more easily. While the Global Talent and Graduate Visa routes introduced in 2021 are still being expanded and tweaked for more efficiency, the government will soon launch the following new, more effective, and flexible routes.
- Global Business Mobility (GBM)
The Global Business Mobility Visa is one of the high-value routes set to launch in Springs. This visa will streamline the intra-company transfer and sole representative routes and bring the two under the same new and improved single pathway. It will provide an easier process for foreign-based firms to set up UK offices and transfer staff to the UK. It will be open to foreign businesses with a UK-based subsidiary or branch and foreign businesses without a presence in the UK. According to the Home Office, the route will have five sub-categories, namely:
- Graduate Trainee: Transferred to the UK as part of a structured training programme
- Senior or Specialist Worker: Sent to a UK office of an overseas firm to carry out specific business assignments
- UK Extension Worker (Specialists or Senior Employees): Sent to the UK to establish a presence as part of expansion of the overseas organisation
- Service Supplier: Sent to the UK to render a service in line with a UK trade agreement
- Secondment Employee: Transferred to a UK business in high-value investments or contracts or sent to the UK for a specific business purpose.
The Global Business Mobility route is structured to be more effective than the existing similar pathways. For instance, it may allow companies to mobilise a team of workers as one unit. It will also come with a lower salary threshold of £20,480 for individuals traveling to the UK for graduate trainees – compared to the current £23,000 or 70 percent of the going rate of the job.
Just like other related routes, the visa may require English language proficiency. Applicants will also be required to demonstrate a qualifying connection between the foreign firm and the UK entity they are being sent to.
- Scale-Up Visa
The Scale-Up visa is an integral part of the UK government’s bigger plan to make Britain a global innovation hub by 2035.
The visa will be open to highly skilled people who have a job offer from an eligible UK company paying at least a £33,000 annual salary. Other requirements may include English language proficiency.
Successful applicants will enjoy the liberty to switch employers while in the UK and extend their visas for up to 5 years. After that, they will be eligible to apply for UK permanent residency, also known as Indefinite Leave to Remain. This makes it a possible pathway to British citizenship by naturalisation for interested eligible applicants.
International talents in tech and science and other highly skilled workers will be among the biggest beneficiaries of this visa.
This is because the UK is currently experiencing a shortage of skilled individuals in those sectors. A report by Tech Nation reveals that the UK advertised tech vacancies in 2021 was 42 percent higher than in 2019.
Another recent report by Scale Up Institutes shows that the scale-up businesses surveyed in 2021 stated that up to 21 percent of their staff are from outside the UK. This shows the significance of international talents in sustaining the UK tech industry and other critical sectors.
Though the scale-up visa application framework is still being finalised, it is expected to be a timely and less rigorous route for applicants and prospective UK employers – as it may not require sponsor licence application.
In a 2021 policy paper, the Home Office hinted that the visa would offer a fast-track route:
“In Spring 2022, we will also introduce a new, unsponsored points-based route to attract the brightest and best to the UK, with a particular emphasis placed on the very high skilled and academically elite.” The route will create a ‘scale up’ stream allowing applicants with a job offer at the required skills level from a recognised UK-based scale-up to qualify for a fast-track visa, without the need for sponsorship.
- High Potential Individual
This route aims to attract individuals with high potential who have graduated from top universities from across the world. Eligible graduates will be allowed to move to the UK even if they do not have a job offer.
Giving insights on this route, the Home Office said: “There will be no job offer requirement, giving individuals the flexibility to work, switch jobs or employers and make contributions to the UK economy. The route will also allow eligible individuals to extend their visa and settle in the UK, subject to meeting specific requirements.”
It is not yet certain what the immigration body’s definition for “high potential” individuals will b, but it is evident that eligible candidates will need to have graduated from government-approved schools and demonstrate potential to contribute to UK economic growth. Criteria like age, grade, and course of study may come into play in determining eligibility for “high potential.”