New immigration rules - Government rewards those who contribute to economic growth

New Rules were introduced today by the Government.

Tier 1 Investors

At present Investors who invest £1 million in the UK economy become eligible to apply for permanent settlement upon completion of five years` residence in the UK, provided they have not remained outside the UK for more than 90 days in any calendar year. The UKBA has now given more incentives to these high net worth individuals who are able to invest more than £1 million in the UK economy which are as under:

-    Those who invest £5 million in the UK for three years will be able to apply for settlement upon completion of their 3 years` residence in the UK.

-    Those who invest £10 million in the UK for two years will be able to apply for settlement upon completion of their 2 years` residence in the UK.

-    The Tier 1 (investor) migrants will be allowed to remain outside the UK for maximum 180 days in any calendar year without losing their right to apply for permanent settlement after 2 ( £10 Million investment), 3 (£ 5 million investment) or 5 (£1 million investment) years.

-    Initial leave will be granted for three years and four months and extensions will be granted for 2 years` time period.

-    The dependants will also be eligible to obtain settlement in line with the main applicant, as usual.

These new rules will be available to those who are already in the UK on Tier 1 (Investor) visa or who are planning to apply for first initial leave.

The requirements relating to naturalization applications have not been affected and even if they obtain ILR on completing two years` time by investing £10 million in the UK economy, they would still be required to wait for another 3 years and comply with the residence requirements, to apply for Naturalization.

Tier 1 (Entrepreneurs)

At present Entrepreneurs need to have access to £200K held in a regulated financial institution and must meet English language and maintenance requirements. The recent changes announced by the UKBA have made the eligible criteria more flexible by introducing the following changes:

-    They must have either access to £200K held in a regulated financial institution or have access to of £50 K held in a regulated financial institution which has been funded by

• An FSA registered Venture Capitalist firm
• A UK Govt. Department
• An Entrepreneurial seeding competition recognized by UK Trade and Investment

A new Prospective Entrepreneur Visa will be introduced for those who wish to come to the UK to finalize their discussions with one of the establishments mentioned above. They will be given 6 months visa which cannot be extended for a further period of time, but the migrants will be able to switch to Tier 1 (Entrepreneur Visa) while remaining in the UK.

-    Two persons can apply at the same time for the Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) visa using the same level of funds i.e. either £200K or £50K funded by one of the above-mentioned establishments. Each one of them will still need to pass language and maintenance requirements.

-    Initial leave will be given for 3 years and 4 months instead of 3 years, to allow some time to the migrants to arrive in the UK within time for settlement purposes.

-    Existing Tier 1 (Entrepreneurs) will no longer be required to provide evidences of English language or maintenance to obtain extensions of visas.

-    Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) migrants will also be eligible for accelerated settlement upon completion of 3 years` time, provided they fulfil one of the following requirements:

• Creation of 10 full time positions for resident workers for at least 12 months; or
• Generation of a turn-over of at least £5 million over a 3 years period

-    The Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) migrants will be allowed to remain outside the UK for maximum 180 days in any calendar year without losing their right to apply for permanent settlement after 3 (if they create 10 full time jobs for 1 year or generate a turn-over of £5 million) or 5 years.

-    The dependants will also be eligible to obtain settlement in line with the main applicant, as usual.

These new rules will be available to those who are already in the UK on Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) visa or who are planning to apply for first initial leave.

The requirements relating to naturalization applications have not been affected and even if they obtain ILR on completing three years` time, they would still be required to wait for another 2 years and comply with the residence and other requirements, to apply for Naturalization.

Tier 1 (Exceptional Talent)

This is a new sub category introduced in the Tier 1 section and will be available for those who are exceptionally talented in the fields of science, arts and humanities. This is subject to quota and only 700 will be allowed to apply who are related to scientific fields and 300 will be allowed to apply who are related to arts and humanities fields. It is the quota for the first year only and further quotas will be announced once the progress of this category is monitored.

-    The criteria will be quite strict and only those who are well recognized world leaders in their filed or have the potential to become one, will be eligible to make application under this category.

-    The applicants will require an endorsement by a designated competent body which is specialized in their fields. A list of competent bodies will be available on the UKBA website by April 2011.

-    Interestingly, there will be no language or maintenance requirements for this immigration category.

-    They will be given initial leave for 3 years and 4 months which can be extended by providing evidences of economic activities and English language certificate of intermediate level.

-    They will be able to apply for settlement upon completion of five years in the UK.

-    Their dependants will also be able to apply for settlement in line with the main applicant.

As you can see, the requirements will become simpler, but the procedure is not going to be the same, and we strongly advise you to take professional help before you decide to take any actions.