subject: Overseas Tier 1 General to close [print this page] Overseas Tier 1 General to close Overseas Tier 1 General to close
The new Statement of Changes to the Immigration Rules (HC 698)
The first of the changes to the Immigration Rules will be to close the Tier 1 General category of the Immigration Rules to persons applying from outside of the UK.
The UK border agency has announced that as of 23rd December 2010, it will no longer accept Tier 1 General applications from overseas. This is in order to make sure that the limits set by the Government are not exceeded. Tier 1 general applications in the UK will continue to remain open until 5th April 2011. Transitional arrangements will be announced for those remaining in the UK beyond 6th April however, these are yet to be announced.
The second change to the Immigration Rules is to set an interim limit on the level of Tier 2 general applications. This will apply as of 21st December 2010 and has been set at 10, 832. This means that the number of certificates of sponsorship available to licensed Tier 2 general sponsors will be limited.
The changes were brought about following the Divisional Court's judgment on 17th December 2010 which effectively determined that I, in order for the Government's interim limit policy to have legal effect, the level of the limit needed to be specified in the Immigration Rules as opposed to the UK Border Agency guidance.
Previously in November of this year, the Home Secretary had announced that the Tier 1 general route will not continue and that the Tier 1 route will be focused mainly on entrepreneurs, investors and the exceptionally talented.
Changes are expected to be introduced in April of next year.
