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VISA. It’s an ominous and off-putting word. It shouts paper-work, bureaucracy and red tape. Steer clear of it.

Or maybe don’t: that word is the key to a new stage of your life. It is full of opportunity and excitement. It is your ticket to your new destination. It’s a good word.

For non-EEA migrants, the UK operates a points-based, tiered system for visas. There are 5 tiers; however, for this piece, we’re only interested in tiers 1, 2, and 5. Tier 3 has never been used and is currently suspended; tier 4 is for students.

Tiers 1, 2 and 5 are sub-divided into further categories. Within each category there are eligibility requirements and whether or not you make the cut comes down to a points-based assessment.

The tiers can roughly be divided up as follows:

• Tier 1: High value migrants with exceptional talent, credible entrepreneurial ideas, or just lots of cash to invest;
• Tier 2: Skilled workers with job offers from sponsoring institutions;
• Tier 5: Temporary workers, preachers, charity members, international ambassadors or members of Youth Mobility Schemes.

The system may seem daunting at first, but hopefully this guide can get you started and help you determine which category is the one for you.

As a brief disclaimer, this guide does not constitute legal advice. This can be a complex area of law and there is no replacement for speaking to a lawyer or agency to help you out.

Tier 1

High value folk, step up. This is the tier for you.

This tier is sub-divided into four categories: Exceptional Talent, Entrepreneur, Graduate Entrepreneur, and Investor. We’re not going to look at the investor visa here, but if you are an investor, have a look at the government website.

Tier 1 (Exceptional Talent)

As the name suggests, this visa is for the exceptionally talented in the fields of science, engineering, humanities, medicine, digital technology, or the arts. More than simply an award for effort in school, this visa requires recognised international endorsement in your area of expertise. You can be endorsed by the UK either as a recognised world leader in your field or as an emerging leader with exceptional promise. The threshold is high.

This is probably the hardest visa to successfully receive as there are only 1000 places up for grabs per year, split between two intakes. If you qualify, however, there are minimal restrictions once you arrive in the UK – you have the freedom to change employers or to be self-employed without further authorisation and there is no need for sponsorship in a particular post.

Successful applicants under this scheme will be granted a visa for 5 years and 4 months (the 4 months is an allowance for the processing time) and there is no maximum limit to the amount of time you can spend in the UK.  You can also bring dependents with you and, after 5 years, can apply for permanent leave to remain.

Requirements and Process:

There are two steps to the process: first, you need official endorsement from your designated body (this is not technically an immigration application at this stage so it will not affect any current leave you may hold); second, you apply for leave to enter with the home office (this is the immigration bit). You must apply for your visa within 3 months of receiving your letter of endorsement from the Home Office.

Costs:

Official costs for stage 1 are £287, regardless of where you are from.

Official costs for stage 2 are £287 in most cases, £232 if you are from Turkey or Macedonia. Applications for all dependents under this visa cost £574.

Legal costs for this will vary depending on the lawyer you employ, however, you may expect to pay somewhere between £1000 – £1750, depending on circumstances.

Tier 1 (Entrepreneur/Graduate Entrepreneur)

We aren’t going to cover these in any depth here but essentially they are for those with entrepreneurial ideas who are looking to set up or run businesses.

The Entrepreneur visa is tightly controlled by a ‘Genuine Entrepreneur Test’, which examines the viability and credibility of your business plan, your market research, your previous experience (or lack thereof), and any previous immigration history. There is an English language requirement and you must have access to a minimum of £50000 of funds to apply. The rules surrounding the source and availability of those funds change depending on whether they are above £50000 or above £200000, but we won’t go into them here.

The Graduate Entrepreneur is for non-European graduates from UK universities who have been identified and endorsed either as having world-class entrepreneurial ideas or as having a genuine and credible idea for a business they intend to establish in the UK.

Like the Tier 1 (Exceptional Talent) route, this is a highly exclusive visa. Each year a limit is set by the government as to how many can be accepted; from 2015 to 2016 the limit is set at 2000, with a maximum of 20 endorsements per institution. You must be endorsed by a UK higher education institution (HEI) or by UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) as part of the elite global graduate entrepreneur programme (Sirius). The endorsement must have been issued within the last 3 months.

See how professionals from the likes of Google and Dropbox are using Kandidate’s members only network to confidentially discover tech sales and marketing job opportunities in London.

Click here to learn more on www.kandidate.com

Tier 2

Are you a skilled worker? Do you have a job offer in the UK? Well then, let’s talk about tier 2 visas.

Tier 2 visas are the way for skilled workers with job offers to enter the country and fill a job vacancy. There are initial requirements that must be met, however: the occupation entered needs to be on the Occupation Shortlist; applicants must have a job offer with a certificate of sponsorship; and the employer must be a certified sponsor.

Employers must also carry out a Resident Labour Market Test (unless the job is on the Tier 2 Shortage Occupation List) before offering the job to the individual. This means the job must first be advertised to workers from within the EEA before being advertised to non-EEA immigrants.

Typical documents for a Tier 2 application include your passport/other travel documents, your tuberculosis test results, and proof that the individual can meet the maintenance fund requirements (£945, that must have been in your bank account for at least 90 days). If that list of documents really interested you, the full details of documents required can be found  here.

There is also a Tier 2 Priority Service that can be used for all these visas. This will get you a decision within 10 days if applying to extend or switch to a tier 2 visa. Only the first 60 requests received each day after 8:30am (Monday to Friday) are accepted for this, so you’ve got to be quick.

There are 4 categories of Tier 2 visa: General, Intra-Company Transfer, Minister of Religion, and Sportsperson. We are only going to looks at General and Intra-Company Transfer here.

Tier 2 (General)

This is the go-to of Tier 2 visas: skilled workers with job offers.

There are approximately 20000 of these visas up for grabs per year and successful applicants can stay for a maximum of 5 years and 14 days. You can apply for an additional 5 year extension, provided your total stay isn’t longer than 6 years.

Requirements and Process:

You will need a certificate of sponsorship from your new employer and they must be paying you an ‘appropriate’ salary of £20,800 or more (there are certain exceptions to this salary).

You are not permitted to own more than 10% of your sponsor’s shares unless you earn more than £155,300 a year. You are also not allowed to start working before you get the visa or to apply for a second job until you’ve started working for your sponsor.

To settle on this visa, there is a minimum income threshold of £35,000.

You have to apply online for this visa if applying from outside the UK and you need to get your biometric information taken. If bringing dependants, you will have to demonstrate that you can support them financially.

Costs:

Official costs for this visa depend on where you are applying from, who you are applying for, the role you are filling, and the length of time you are applying for. Broadly, they range from £437 – £1828, however, a full breakdown can be found here.

Legal Costs might range from £700 – 2000.

Tier 2 (Intra-Company Transfer)

This visa allows for employees of multinational companies to transfer workers from overseas to the UK.

It is similar to the general visa in that your employer will need to sponsor you and will need to be a licensed sponsor. The work you do in the UK will also have to be related to the work of your sponsoring organisation.

There are four types of Intra-company Transfer:

Long-term Staff : Transfers of more than 12 months into a role that can’t be filled by a new UK recruit. You need to have worked for your employer overseas for at least 12 months.

The maximum stay on this visa is 9 years if you earn more than £155,300 per year; 5 years 1 month if you earn less than £155,300 per year.

Short-term Staff: Transfers up to and including 12 months into a role that can’t be filled by a new UK recruit. You need to have worked for your employer overseas for at least 12 months. The maximum stay on this visa is 12 months.

Graduate Trainee: Transfers into graduate trainee programmes for specialist roles. You need to be a recent graduate with at least 3 months’ experience with your employer overseas. The maximum stay on this visa is 12 months.

Skills Transfer: Transfers that allow people to gain skills and knowledge needed to perform their role overseas, or to pass on their skills to UK colleagues. You don’t need to have been with your employer overseas for a set period of time. The maximum stay on this visa is 6 months.

Requirements and Process:

Alongside the general Tier 2 requirements, you will need an ‘appropriate salary’. They are as follows:

• Long-term Staff applicants – at least £41,500 or the ‘appropriate rate’ for the role (whichever is higher)

• Short-term Staff, Graduate Trainee or Skills Transfer applicants – at least £24,800 or the ‘appropriate rate’ (whichever is higher)

• Staff already in the UK on a Tier 2 (Intra-company Transfer) visa or work permit issued before 6 April 2011 – at least the ‘appropriate rate’.

There are minimum periods of which you must have been employed by your employer and you may be required to provide payslips for these lengths of time.

The application is online and different countries will have different processing times. To exempt yourself from paying the NHS surcharge, get a reference number as part of your application.

Costs:

Official fees depend on the type of visa and range from £399 – £1828. Full guide can be found here.

Legal fees range from £700 – 2000.

See how professionals from the likes of Google and Dropbox are using Kandidate’s members only network to confidentially discover tech sales and marketing job opportunities in London.

Click here to learn more on www.kandidate.com

Tier 5

Tier 5 Visas are people to enter the UK on a temporary basis. Normally this means temporary workers, but it can also be those under the Youth Mobility Scheme. For most of these categories, therefore, as above, you need a job offer and sponsorship.

There are 6 sub-categories: Creative and Sporting, Charity Workers, Religious Workers, Government Authorised Exchange, International Agreement, and Youth Mobility Scheme.

Official fees for all the tier 5 visas, with the exception of the Youth Mobility Scheme, are the same: £230 for yourself and each of your dependants (£175 if you’re from Turkey or Macedonia), whether applying from outside the UK or switching/extending from within the UK. Higher prices apply (£675 – £730) if using the premium service.

Fees for the Youth Mobility Visa are set at £230 in all cases.

Legal costs will be in the region of £750 – £1500.

Tier 5 (Creative and Sporting)

Sportspeople, actors, dancers, musicians or film crew members, this is your moment. With this visa you can come to the UK for up to 12 months.  You can do your current job, can study, and can take a second job.

Requirements and Process:

As a sportsperson, you need to make a significant contribution to your sport at the highest level in the UK to be eligible for this visa.

As a creative, you must make a unique contribution to the UK labour market: you must be internationally renowned or required for continuity. You must also be paid a minimum salary as outlined in the official guidance (except for models, musicians or circuses).

Tier 5 (Charity Workers)

This is the visa for those entering the UK to do paid or unpaid charity work. You can study and get a second job, but you can only stay for 12 months.

Requirements and Process:

You will need sponsorship from your sponsor in the UK, which will be valid for 3 months, and will need to be able to maintain yourself. You may also require additional documents depending on the charity work or sport you are going to be doing.

Tier 5 (Religious Workers)

This is quite a self-explanatory one: temporary religious workers entering to preach or work temporarily. Workers can stay up to two years with extensions. It is possible to study and to get a second job, however, each of these requires additional documentation.

If you are coming to the UK as a religious worker on a long term basis, you should apply under Tier 2 (Minister of Religion).

Tier 5 (Government Authorised Exchange)

This is for individuals coming to the UK for work experience, training, and research. The schemes must be approved and sponsorship is required. Successful applicants will be able to stay for up to 12 or 24 months, depending on the scheme they are applying for.

Tier 5 (International Agreement)

Diplomats, foreign office workers, ambassadors – this is your ticket. If the work you are doing is covered by international law, or international agreements (or if you are a servant in the household of someone who fits this category) you will be eligible.

Successful applicants can stay for up to two years; however, if the job or service you are providing finishes early, you may be asked to leave within 6 months. You will need to be sponsored and your sponsor can give you a multiple entry sponsorship.

Tier 5 (Youth Mobility Scheme)

This is a government scheme for young individuals to come and experience life in the UK. You can apply for this visa if: you want to live and work in the UK for up to 2 years, are aged 18 to 30, have £1,890 in savingsn and meet certain other (more detailed) requirements.

You need to be sponsored if you’re from Hong Kong, the Republic of Korea or Taiwan.

You can stay for up to two years and can get multiple entry, but you can’t extend this. You can also study, do most jobs and even set up a company. That company must not exceed a certain size, however, and you are not allowed employees.  You cannot bring family members with you on this visa.

We’ve made it

Those are the visas in tiers 1,2 and 5. As you can probably tell, this list has only scratched the surface and there are numerous additional requirements that we didn’t mention here (we would all have got bored a long time ago if we did that).

The legal fees mentioned are also only ball-park figures – each application will depend on its merits and it may be that a lawyer will quote you a lower price than those mentioned here. They may seem daunting prices but in the long run they will save you a great deal of time and effort.

Linkilaw would love to help you out with your immigration issues, so please get in touch if you have any questions or if you need any help finding a lawyer.

Otherwise, good luck!

By Joseph Mahon, Linkilaw

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