The Points Based System

The UK's current system of immigration control is one that has grown and developed, historically, from the changes that have occurred post-war in Britain's relationship with the wider world. At one time, for example, there were separate sets of rules for Commonwealth nationals and those defined as aliens.

Immigration Rules (the successor to the earlier Immigration Service Instructions) began to be published, and the Rules themselves, particularly in recent years have undergone constant change, amendment and replacement. Home Office policy and guidance on the Rules is now published, and itself regularly updated. New work related schemes, specific to types of academic study, or regions of the UK, have been introduced. Against this constantly changing background, the Government declared, in 2005, their intention to completely rewrite the basis on which overseas nationals would be able to enter or remain in the UK. Their proposal was to create a points based system for those who wished to come to the UK for work or study, because, as the White Paper itself recognised, the whole system of immigration control has developed piecemeal over time. A consultation exercise with interested groups was undertaken, and in March 2006, their initial proposals were set out in more detail, in the White Paper "A Points Based System: Making Migration Work for Britain". Migration based on family relationships is outside the terms of reference for this exercise.

Essentially there will a framework containing 5 Tiers, into which all the work and study related categories currently in the Immigration Rules, as well as the Work Permit Scheme, will be subsumed.

The template for this overarching scheme was the Highly Skilled Migrants Programme, which has been in operation for several years, and many of the familiar elements and themes that make up this scheme will be effectively replicated in the way in which the hoped-for objective assessments are to be made under the new system. However, there are also some completely new ideas and concepts, which are to be introduced, such as the sponsorship certificate, or financial bonds and penalties. Even the possibility of holding "auctions" for certain types of work permission has not been entirely ruled out, although the idea is not to be proceeded with at the moment.

The broad outline of the Tiers, taken from paragraph 36 of the White Paper, are as follows:

Tier 1:
Highly skilled individuals to contribute to growth and productivity

Tier 2:
Skilled workers with a job offer to fill gaps in UK labour force

Tier 3:
Limited numbers of low skilled workers needed to fill specific temporary labour shortages

Tier 4:
Students

Tier 5:
Youth mobility and temporary workers; people allowed to work in the UK for a limited period of time to satisfy primarily non-economic objectives

Only persons admitted under Tiers 1 or 2 will be eligible to proceed, after the appropriate period of residence, to apply for settlement.

The system will introduce a series of factors to be taken into account in determining the number of points that can be achieved, based on attributes and skills. Weighting will introduced for different attributes in order to address differences that exist between applicants.

In Tier 1, no formal job offer is necessary, as is currently the case with the HSMP, but in Tiers 2 and 3, the formal job offer will take the form of a sponsorship certificate, and even this will have a variable points weighting, based on the profile of the sponsor. A Skills Advisory Body will be set up to advise on issues affecting the labour market, for the purposes of both Tiers 2 and 3. This will also encompass advising on regional differences within the UK.

Each Tier will contain within it, several sub-categories, intended to deal with existing business and employment categories that currently exist within the Rules.

The implementation of the whole scheme is dependent on testing of the proposals, introducing the compliance and inspection infrastructure, and developing proper IT systems. No firm date has yet been set for the introduction of the system, and in any event, it is to be phased in over time, Tier by Tier, although a provisional date of 2008 has been mentioned.

As each element of the scheme is introduced, we hope to publish a summary of the main points on our site. As before, you are welcome to contact us for further information.