{"id":539154,"date":"2021-12-26T09:00:09","date_gmt":"2021-12-26T07:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=539154"},"modified":"2021-12-26T07:27:14","modified_gmt":"2021-12-26T05:27:14","slug":"how-to-switch-to-a-skilled-worker-visa-in-the-uk-under-new-rules","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/trending\/539154\/how-to-switch-to-a-skilled-worker-visa-in-the-uk-under-new-rules\/","title":{"rendered":"How to switch to a Skilled Worker visa in the UK under new rules"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Under new rules, workers in the UK who hold a student, youth mobility scheme or intra-company transfer visa are now allowed to switch to a Skilled Worker visa without having to leave the UK, says Darren Faife, managing director, business immigration at Sable International.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sableinternational.com\/blog\/how-to-switch-to-a-skilled-worker-visa-from-a-study-youth-mobility-or-ict-visa-in-the-uk\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Faife<\/a> takes a closer look at the conditions needed to make this switch.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Switching visas<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The Youth Mobility Scheme visa, previously known as the T5 Youth Mobility Scheme visa, is often referred to as the UK working holiday visa and is a great way to gain international work experience as well as travel throughout the EU. This visa allows young people (aged 18-30) from certain countries to live, work and travel in the UK for up to two years.<\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019re in the UK on a working holiday visa and secure sponsorship for a job, under the new Skilled Worker route, which came into effect on 1 December 2020, you are now able to switch into the Skilled Worker route from within the UK.<\/p>\n<p>You will need to meet the following requirements:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>You are aged 18 or over<\/li>\n<li>You have a valid certificate of sponsorship for the job you\u2019re planning to do<\/li>\n<li>The job offer is for a genuine vacancy<\/li>\n<li>The sponsor has paid any required immigration skills charge<\/li>\n<li>The job is at the appropriate skill level<\/li>\n<li>You will be paid a salary that equals or exceeds both a general salary threshold and the \u201cgoing rate\u201d for the occupation.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>How a Student visa can lead to a Skilled Worker visa<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Like the Youth Mobility Scheme visa, if you\u2019re in the UK on a Student visa (previously the Tier 4 (General) student visa), you can now switch to a Skilled Worker visa from within the country.<\/p>\n<p>Students with this visa can switch more easily to a Skilled Worker visa because they will enter the job market under the new entrant regulations. The advantage of being considered a new entrant to the job market is that there is a much lower salary requirement.<\/p>\n<p>Usually, someone with a Skilled Worker visa is required to earn a salary which equals or exceeds both a general salary threshold (\u00a325,600) and 100% of the \u201cgoing rate\u201d for the occupation.<\/p>\n<p>A new entrant, however, only needs to be paid a salary which equals or exceeds both \u00a320,480 per year and 70% of the going rate for the occupation. This is a significantly lower figure and will permit new entrants to be paid a lower salary.<\/p>\n<p><strong>New entrant requirements:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Anyone under the age of 26 years old, would be considered a new entrant to the job market.<\/p>\n<p>Other considerations include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Your most recent visa was a Student visa.<\/li>\n<li>That visa expired less than two years before the date of application.<\/li>\n<li>In that Student visa, or any previous Student visa, you were sponsored to study one of the following courses (not any other qualifications of an equivalent level):<\/li>\n<li>a UK bachelor\u2019s degree<\/li>\n<li>a UK master\u2019s degree<\/li>\n<li>a UK PhD or other doctoral qualification<\/li>\n<li>a Postgraduate Certificate in Education<\/li>\n<li>a Professional Graduate Diploma of Education<\/li>\n<li>You completed (or are applying no more than three months before you are expected to complete) the above mentioned course, or you are studying a PhD and have completed at least 12 months of study in the UK towards the PhD.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>The Graduate visa \u2018stepping stone\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>After successfully completing your course, you can switch from a Student visa to a Graduate visa, which allows you to stay in the UK and work, or look for work, for two years. If you have a PhD or other doctoral qualification, you will be able to stay for three years.<\/p>\n<p>You can apply for a Graduate visa if:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>You\u2019re in the UK<\/li>\n<li>Your current visa is a Student visa<\/li>\n<li>You studied a UK bachelor\u2019s degree, postgraduate degree or other eligible course for a minimum period of time with your Student visa<\/li>\n<li>Your education provider has told you you\u2019ve successfully completed your course<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>With a Graduate visa you can:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Work in most jobs (except as a professional sportsperson)<\/li>\n<li>Look for work<\/li>\n<li>Be self-employed<\/li>\n<li>Continue living in the UK with your partner and children, if they\u2019re eligible<\/li>\n<li>Do voluntary work<\/li>\n<li>Travel abroad and return to the UK<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The Graduate visa cannot be extended, but you can switch to a Skilled Worker visa which is a route to indefinite leave to remain.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Intra-company transfers and the Skilled Worker visa<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Under these new post-Brexit rules, workers who are currently in the UK on a Intra-company transfer (ICT) visa can now switch to a Skilled Worker visa from within the UK. This was previously not possible, and you were subject to a 12-month cooling-off period where you would have to return home before being able to apply for a Skilled Worker visa.<\/p>\n<p>This cooling-off period also applied to Tier 2 (General) visa holders when your visa expired. If you got a new job and required a new Tier 2 visa, you would have to wait until 12 months had passed before applying for a new visa, if you had already left the UK.<\/p>\n<p>In December 2020, the Tier 2 (General) visa was replaced by the points-based Skilled Worker visa. Under the new rules, you can apply for a new Skilled Worker visa from within the UK before your current visa expires.<\/p>\n<p>Unlike an ICT visa, a Skilled Worker visa gives you the opportunity to apply for indefinite leave to remain (ILR) after five years.<\/p>\n<p>Workers on an ICT visa will have to prove the following in order to qualify for a Skilled Worker visa:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Your job must meet the eligibility criteria.<\/li>\n<li>You can speak, read, write and understand English<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>These new rules afford visa holders, who previously had no means to remain in the UK if they wished, the chance to do so. The Skilled Worker visa is a much-coveted visa that presents a route to indefinite leave to remain and possibly citizenship, and the wealth of opportunity that comes with it.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em>By Darren Faife, managing director, business immigration at Sable International<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>Read: <a href=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/trending\/532238\/new-options-open-for-south-africans-wanting-to-move-to-the-uk-2\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">New options open for South Africans wanting to move to the UK<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Under the new rules, workers in the UK who hold a student, youth mobility scheme or intra-company transfer visa are now allowed to switch to a Skilled Worker visa without having to leave the UK, says Darren Faife, managing director, business immigration at Sable International.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":521326,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[26,12372],"class_list":["post-539154","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-trending","tag-headline","tag-sable-international"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/539154","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=539154"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/539154\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":547924,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/539154\/revisions\/547924"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/521326"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=539154"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=539154"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=539154"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}