HSMP Application Fees Increased from 1st April
2005
HSMP Application Fees have increased from £150
to £315 from 1st
April 2005. If you are an in-country applicant, the fees
for FLR(IED) are have also increased substantially from
£121 to £335.
Review procedure for HSMP has also changed and you can now request
for Review of Refusal decision only twice.
Total
number of HSMP First Applications submitted in 2002, 2003, 2004
and 2005
HSMP
Approvals Statistics up to October 2005
HSMP Applications and Approvals up to June 2004
UK Immigration – 5 year strategy on Immigration &
Asylum. How will it affect you?
UK Home Secretary Mr. Charles Clarke announced UK’s 5 year
plan on Immigration & Asylum titled 'Controlling our borders:
making migration work for Britain' which includes following major
reforms to UK’s Immigration policies:
- The emphasis is to ensure that only those who benefit Britain
can come to the UK to work or study
- To start a Points based system similar to HSMP for Work Permits
and Student Visas
- To make Employers responsible for reporting if the Work Permit
holder leaves the job
- To make Educational Institutes and Colleges responsible if
the Student does not report for studies or leaves before completing
the course
- To phase out the low skills scheme like sector based scheme
and seasonal agricultural workers schemes in view of inclusion
of 10 more countries in the EU since the citizens of these countries
have complete freedom to come to the UK to seek work.
- Highly Skilled individuals like Doctors, IT Professionals and
Finance Professionals will be welcome to come to the UK even when
they do not have a job in hand and they would be free to find
jobs on arrival.
- Permanent Resident status will be allowed after 5 years in
place of current 4 years and that too after test of English and
knowledge about UK.
- To restrict the sponsorship of family dependents
- Stricter Fines for Employers employing illegal workers
These new changes will come into effect over next few months but
it is worth noting the recent changes to various UK immigration
/ visa schemes:
- From 1st October 2004 there have been some changes to the rules
regarding in-country applications and switching status from one
visa category to another. Students can not now switch to Work
Permit or HSMP unless they have completed the Graduate or Masters
Degree for which they were granted initial student visa.
- From 8th February 2005 Working Holidaymaker visa scheme is
changed and employment incidental to holidays is only to be allowed
with maximum 12 months cap to employment under this visa.
- There have been changes to rules related to getting married
in the UK to stop sham marriages
If you are already in the UK under HSMP, Work Permits, Working
Holidaymaker or Student visa or if you are planning to apply under
any of the above schemes these changes may affect you. We at HSMP
Services Limited will update the site content regularly to include
these changes from time to time and you should visit the site at
regular intervals. If you would like to ask questions related to
your personal circumstances you can visit contact
us page on www.hsmp-services.co.uk and submit your question
and we will try to provide you the answers.
Important change from 1st april for application
for extension of stay under HSMP
From 1 April 2004 there will be changes to the way limited Leave
to Remain (LTR) applications are made. From this date, this will
affect individuals who are applying for limited Leave to Remain
in the UK in the immigration categories of HSMP:
Extension of stay under Tier 1 (General) Highly Skilled UK (including
dependants)
HSMP applications made within the UK
Form FLR(IED) needs to be completed and submitted with the fees
of £ 335-00
HSMP Processing Delays (Date Posted:
22-Feb-2004)
We reproduce the text as mentioned on official
HSMP web site.
"Due to an unexpected increase in the number of HSMP applications
received, it is no longer possible to meet the current published
timescales for assessing complete applications. The HSMP team estimates
that cases that are submitted with full supporting evidence will
be assessed within 4 weeks of receipt. Please note, we do not acknowledge
receipt of applications.
In order to maximise processing efficiencies within the team, customers
are kindly requested to restrict telephone and email enquiries to
those of utmost urgency. All progress checks should be made beyond
the 4 week timescale stated.
Fax requests for urgent treatment should be restricted to those
accompanied with evidence of an imminent employment start date.
Should you require the return of your passport for urgent travel,
fax requests should be made to the appropriate In-Country Team."
Latest changes to Tier 1 (General) Highly Skilled UK
Home Office, UK has announced the changed HSMP (Tier 1 (General) Highly Skilled UK) scheme which will replace the old HSMP scheme with effect
from 05 December 2006. Old HSMP scheme is suspended for 4 weeks
from 8 November 2006 and no fresh applications under HSMP are accepted
till 05 December 2006.
Based on this announcement, we have created an online HSMP
Points Calculator where you can undertake self-assessment of
your case and find out for yourself if you would qualify under New
HSMP Scheme. It is likely that you may qualify now, while you may
not have qualified under the old HSMP scheme.
The recent changes in the HSMP scheme are as follows:
- Qualifying threshold is increased for all applicants to 75
points.
- Points for Work Experience removed except for Bonus 5 points
for UK work experience or full-time studies in the UK.
- No points are available for Skills of Spouse / Partner.
- Special Assessment according to age is modified.
- Points for Significant Achievement removed
- Special treatment to Medical GPs removed
- English Language proficiency of IELTS Band 6 compulsory.
Check Out
the Latest Changes to HSMP
Mandatory Entry Clearance
for all Persons wishing to come to the UK for more than 6 months
From 13 November 2003, all work permit holders coming to the UK
for more than 6 months will have to obtain entry clearance before
they travel. Click here for further
details.
What is entry clearance?
Entry clearance is a visa or entry clearance certificate that you
are given so you can travel to the United Kingdom. You must apply
for entry clearance to the British Embassy, High Commission or other
British Diplomatic Mission (known as British Diplomatic Posts) in
the country where you live.
Introduction of Charging
for the Consideration of Tier 1 (General) Highly Skilled UK (HSMP)
Applications
From 31 October 2003, Work Permits (UK) will introduce charging
for the consideration of HSMP applications.
How much will it cost?
The fee for the consideration of a HSMP application is £150
per application from 31 October 2003. This fee will apply for initial
HSMP applications and reviews of decisions made under the HSMP arrangements.
There will be no charge for extensions to HSMP permits, as there
is no consideration of the employment aspect of the application.
For further details visit:
Get
More Details...
Tier 1 (General) Highly Skilled UK APPLICATIONS - Backlog
The Tier 1 (General) Highly Skilled UK (HSMP) Team is receiving a
significant and unexpected increase in applications. This increase
has led to a backlog of applications waiting to be considered.
For further details visit:
HSMP
Application Backlog
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Tier 1 (General) Highly Skilled UK - UK for Skilled Professionals
