UK Points System

Yesterday was a big day for UK immigration. It marked the beginning of the major overhaul of the entire UK immigration system. Don't worry, though. The changes are being phased in slowly over the next year, so we'll have plenty of time to make sure we get all the latest information to you.

How will the changes affect you from February? Unless you are currently in the UK under the HSMP or Highly Skilled Migrant Programme, you won't be affected by the changes just yet. Current HSMP holders will need to renew their HSMP under the new Tier 1 of the UK Points Based System. The requirements are pretty much the same as they were before, so you shouldn't have to worry too much about being kicked of the country from radical changes. Tier One of the Points based system is very similar to the old HSMP points structure. There are slight changes but nothing radical.

The really big changes will start in April when migrants from India wishing to immigrate to England will have to apply under the new Points Based System. From the summer, the date is not yet set, the rest of the world will have to follow the new system.

The UK Border and Immigration Agency released a ton of information yesterday that we'll be pouring over for the next couple of days.

They've released sponsorship details on how the Tier 2 system will work and we'll be writing an article about that soon.

How will you stack up for points under Tier 1? Check out the handy points calculator provided by the BIA to calculate your points.

I've also posted a permanent page that has the schedule of the new UK Points Based System Rollout.