Statement of Changes March 2022

A summary of The Changes can be categorised into two main parts, those for work routes and those for family routes.

Work routes – these have been introduced as a continuation part of the government’s ‘Plan for Growth’ and incorporates 3 new Appendices within The Rules:

• Appendix High Potential Individual: For those applicants that have graduated within the last 5 years from a Home Office compiled list of 50 universities. These applicants must be offered an initial salary in excess of £33,000.00
• Appendix Scale-up: a ‘fast-track’ route for potential employees of a ‘scale-up company’ i.e. a company which has demonstrated that they have an annualised growth of at least 20% for the previous 3-year period in terms of turnover or staffing.  This route leads to settlement.

For both of the above English language and finance requirements will apply as in other work routes. The level of English required will be B1, as with the Skilled Worker route.

The Statement of Changes March 2022 has also introdcued a new Appendix Global Business Mobility which targets overseas businesses seeking to establish a presence in, or transfer staff to, the UK. This incorporates the following which replace existing routes under The Points Based System which will be deleted as a result:

• Senior or Specialist worker, replaces Intra-Company Transfer Route
• Graduate Trainee, replaces Intra-Company Graduate Trainee route
• UK Expansion Worker, replaces Sole Representative
• Service-supplier, replaces the contractual service supplier and independent professional provisions in the Temporary Work – International Agreement route
• Secondment Worker, this is a new route for workers being seconded to the UK as part of a high value contract or investment by their employer overseas

Family Routes – Also incorporates 3 new appendices within The Rules:

Appendix Settlement Family Life, this is a for the most part a consolidation of existing rules for those who were first granted a 10-year route to settlement under new rules brought in in 2012.  Within this Appendix and Appendix Family Life (which replaces Part 7 of The Rules) there are certain modifications to The Rules which include:

• The facility to combine 10- and 5-year routes, so as to avoid ‘re-setting the clock”, but includes the provision that at least one year must have been spent on the applicant’s current route when submitting an application
• School qualifications will be eligible for use re English Language Requirement
• The parent of a child may still be eligible to apply for settlement under that route in spite of the fact that the child ‘sponsor’ is now over the age of 18
• Applications made after 20^th of June 2022 will include transitional provisions which deem that any absences from the UK within the qualifying period and before this date will be discounted
• Children may be eligible to settle within 5 years if the application is made within the boundaries of The Rules

Appendix Relationship – aims to create consistency within both applications and hopefully decision-making, in terms of relationship requirements (initially only for use with Appendix Settlement Family Life).

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