Statement of Changes Explains Detailed Rules for New Immigration System

Visitors.

• The route will now permit study of up to six months. All study must be undertaken at an accredited institution, except recreational courses undertaken for leisure that last no longer than 30 days.
• It will also now allow drivers on international routes to collect as well as deliver goods and passengers in and out of the United Kingdom.
• It will remove the requirement for volunteering to be incidental to the main reason for the visit.

These changes will make it easier for individuals to enter the United Kingdom for short term study, rather than having to apply for a specific student visa. 

Criminality thresholds.

• The current system is being replaced with a single sentence-based threshold of 12 months.
• There are also new refusal and cancellation grounds on customs breaches and being involved in a sham marriage.
• A new discretionary ground will be added, under which those who breach customs provisions may be refused at the border, or have their existing permission cancelled.

• It will be mandatory to refuse visitors, and those seeking entry for less than six months, for the first time if the relevant criminality grounds apply.

Service providers from Switzerland. There will be a new immigration route for eligible Service Providers from Switzerland from December 1, 2020. 

This will enable companies or self-employed Swiss nationals to fulfil pre-existing contracts in the United Kingdom for no more than 90 days per calendar year.

Turkish nationals under European Communities Association Agreement (ECAA).

• The United Kingdom will no longer be internationally or domestically obliged to provide preferential treatment to Turkish nationals based on the ECAA at the end of the transition period.
• A new route (Appendix ECAA Extension of Stay) will largely replicate the existing ECAA arrangements to ensure that, from the end of the transition period, Turkish nationals and their family members currently covered by those arrangements remain subject to largely the same eligibility requirements as now. 

There will be no disruption to businesses as the Turkish nationals that are currently on ECAA leave will be able to apply for an extension on broadly the same terms as now. 

Student and Child Student rules.

• The maintenance levels are being amended in line with the current home student maintenance loans.
• The restriction on working as a postgraduate doctor or dentist in training will be removed from the conditions of leave for Students and their dependants to enable them to work in the National Health System, if their conditions of permission permit them to work.

The Short-term Study route.

• This route is being introduced for students who wish to come to the United Kingdom to study English Language courses for between six and 11 months, replacing the current route. The study must be at an accredited institution.
• Students who wish to come to the United Kingdom to study for six months or less may now do so under the Visitor route as mentioned above.

Institutions offering English language courses to European Economic Area (EEA) nationals for six to 11 months will need to amend recruitment practices to incorporate EEA students into their processes and ensure such students obtain a Short-term Study visa.

Global Talent rules. Changes have been made to the criteria for senior appointments and to the definitions of qualifying academic and research roles. 

This provides further clarity on the criteria and expands the definition of qualifying academic and research roles.

Finance requirement.

• The new rules no longer require applicants who have met the maintenance requirement on their current route to meet it again if they have been supporting themselves in the United Kingdom for more than a year.
• It will also allow applicants to rely on electronic bank statements without requiring that they be certified by the bank on each page.

The maintenance requirement only applies to the Student, Skilled Worker, Intra-company, T2 Minister of Religions and T2 Sportsperson, T5 (Temporary Workers), Start-up and Innovator routes. 

Hong Kong British National (Overseas) route.

• New rules have been introduced to reflect the government’s commitment to establish a Hong Kong British National (Overseas) route as set out in the Home Secretary’s Policy Statement in July 2020.
• The changes come into effect at the end of January 2021.  

• The introduction of a new immigration route for BN(O)s may increase migration to the United Kingdom.
• Both routes allow work and study in the United Kingdom and are routes to settlement.