Why was this Tier 1 General category introduced ?

In an attempt by the UK government to attract the Crème de la crème of the work force from outside of the EEA (European Economic Area), to work and settle in the UK on a permanent basis, and to improve UK’s economy to compete with emerging global economies. This is part of the newly introduced five tier points based immigration system. This new Tier 1 category was launched in the UK on 29 February 2008

Who can qualify under Tier 1 General category ?
Only highly skilled individuals who score at least 75 points in the self assessment can qualify. You do not require a job offer from a UK employer in order to apply for this Visa. Once qualified you can immigrate to the UK without sponsorship from an employer.

What can I do once I get to the UK ?
You can either work for an employer or set up your own business and be self employed.

Is Tier 1 (General) Migrant the same as the HSMP (Highly Skilled Migrant Programme) ? if not What happened to the HSMP scheme?

As of 30th of June 2008 HSMP was replaced with the General section of Tier 1 Visa (within the points based immigration scheme UK).

It’s been made more difficult to obtain visa by

  1. removing the MBA provision which provided automatic qualification to those with MBAs from a list of specific universities.
  2. Making English language requirements much stricter.

On the positive side it’s been made much easier to obtain visa, by

  1. introducing a single application process for both Work approval and Visa. With the HSMP scheme you had to make (and pay for) 2 different applications, One for Work approval and another for Visa. This is the major difference between HSMP and Tier 1 General visa.

As far as this UK visa is concerned, Highly skilled individuals are people who

  • have earned a significant income, if income is from another country (if the amount will be converted into British Pounds (£) for assessment) and
  • are already employed in professional jobs (Engineer, Scientist, Doctor etc) and
  • can speak English and
  • have earned at least a bachelors degree or equivalent qualifications

How to score the necessary 75 points for Tier 1 General Visa UK ?
You must score at least 75 points in order to be apply for this visa.
Use the detailed points calculator at the Home Office website here http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/pointscalculator

There are 6 main categories under which you can score

  1. Age
  2. Qualifications
  3. Earnings
  4. UK experience
  5. English Skills
  6. Maintenance