Tier 1 (General) migrants will no longer be able to extend their leave to remain after 5 April 2015 or apply for indefinite leave to remain (“ILR”) in the UK after 5 April 2018.
If you are considering an application for extension or for Tier 1 General Settlement you should do so as soon as possible. However be aware that your application will go through extra scrutiny as you will need to prove that both your current and previous earnings are genuine (‘genuine earnings test’) else you will risk refusal.
Those who are self employed need to be extra cautious as it will no longer be sufficient to simply provide their payslips and bank statements to evidence their earnings. They will need to satisfy the Home Office that the earnings are “genuine”, proving which can involve significantly more paperwork and in some instances an interview.
If you have been in the UK on a Tier 1 General visa, and if you meet the following requirements you can apply for settlement also known as ‘permanent residence’ and ‘indefinite leave to remain’.
1. You have:
- a Tier 1 General visa and you’re in the UK
- had at least 5 years’ ‘continuous residence’
- passed the Life in the UK Test and an approved English language test; and
- scored 75 or 80 points, depending on the type of visa you have had and when
2. You must also:
- be in the UK legally
- comply with the conditions of your stay (visa)
- meet the criminality criteria
- have no recourse to public funds, for instance, Job Seeker’s Allowance (JSA), Income Support, Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit.
3. Continuous residence
Your residence in the UK must be continuous and unbroken during the previous 5 years. This means that you can only be outside the UK for up to 180 days in any 12 months during that time.
You can include time spent in the UK in one of the following visa categories to fulfill the 5 years residency requirement:
- Tier 1 (General)
- Tier 2 (General)
- Tier 2 (Intra-Company Transfer)
- Tier 2 (Minister of Religion)
- Tier 2 (Sportsperson)
- Highly Skilled Migrant Programme
- Work Permit
- Innovator
- Self-Employed Lawyer
- Writer, Composer or Artist
4. The points you need to score
You will need to score 75 points from Appendix A, Table 2 of the Immigration Rules if you held 1 of these visas before 6 April 2010:
- Highly Skilled Migrant Programme
- Writer, Composer or Artist
- Self-Employed Lawyer
- Tier 1 (General)
You will have to score 75 points from Table 3 of the Appendix A of the Immigration Rules if you have been in the UK on one of the following visas between 6th April 2010 and 19th July 2010:
- Tier 1 (General)
- Highly Skilled Migrant Programme (HSMP)
- Writer, Composer or Artist
- Self-Employed Lawyer
You will have to score 80 points from Table 3 of the Appendix A of the Immigration Rules if you haven not been any of these visas and were given the Tier 1 General visa on or after 19th July 2010.