We would like to give you brief information about the latest Immigration Regulation changes announced in March but will come into effect gradually from April 12.
The most striking changes have been made in the Global Talent and the Startup/Innovator visa. As the changes affecting the Global Talent visa are more restrictive, those who intend to apply in this route should speed up their process.
What has changed?
1- Electronic Travel Authorisation (“ETA”)
- The program is available for citizens of Qatar from 15 November 2023. From 15 February 2024, it will also apply to nationals of Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The ETA scheme is an arrangement for third-country national travellers visiting the UK who do not currently need a visa for short stays.
2- Innovator Founder Route
- The Innovator Founder route is a new route for overseas nationals looking to enter the UK to start an innovative business. This route removes the £50,000 minimum funding requirement currently imposed on UK arrivals to provide a more flexible provision for those with a genuine bid for innovative business and sufficient funds to do so. With this change, the Start-up route is abolished and replaced by the Innovator Founder route as of April 13, 2023.
3- Updates for the Skilled worker route
- Salary requirements for Skilled worker visa have been updated, and the minimum salary threshold for Skilled Worker visas has been updated from a minimum of £25,600 to £26,200 per year. The change will take effect from April 12, 2023.
4- Updates for the seasonal worker route
- The minimum working time of 30 hours for seasonal workers in horticulture has been changed to 32 hours per week. The change will take effect from April 12, 2023.
5- Updates for the Global Talent route
- At Arts & Council England’s request, a CV showing the current stage of the applicant’s career in arts and culture is required, in addition to the existing documents to be submitted. We can consider this change as positive among the other changes. Currently, those who applied for the Global Talent visa via the IT route with Tech Nation were adding their CVs to their files. However, for Arts&Council applicants who already have a specific page restriction, adding a CV to express themselves will facilitate the preparation of the file.
- Despite this, unfortunately, with the change made to the Global Talent Exceptional Promise field (a talented person whom can obtain a visa with a duration of up to 5 years) only the applicants that are at the beggining of their career will be considered, which makes the Global Talent Exceptional Talent field (a talented person whom can apply to indefinite leave to remain within only 3 years of their application), which is more difficult to get accepted for many applicants. left the field without an alternative.
- In addition, the requirement that the institutions writing the letters for the three reference letters requested must have worked with the applicant before (“2 must be from well-established arts and culture organizations that they have worked with” is replaced by “2 must be from well-established arts and culture” organizations that the applicant has worked with”) has been brought into a clear line. Accordingly, applicants must have worked with at least one well-known institution based in the UK.
The changes will take effect from April 12.