As part of their effort to keep their economy globally competitive, the UK has revised their system on skilled migration and as a part of their 5 tier point based migration system, wherein the 1st tier allows highly skilled individuals who score the required points, or higher, to immigrate to the UK without any sort of sponsorship from a potential employer. These highly skilled individuals include scientists, doctors, engineers, MBA’s as well as other educated workers. If you are able to speak English and have earned the equivalent of a bachelor’s degree and is able to show that you were able to earn a decent income in your country, then the Tier scheme is right for you.

Since the year 2002, the United Kingdom has actively encouraged skilled migrants to move to their country. At first, it was through the HSMP and now the Tier 1 visa for highly skilled migrants. Tier one replaced the HSMP on June 30, 2008.

Tier one is relatively similar to the HSMP except for the removal of the MBA provision which enabled those who have MBA’s coming from a specific list of universities to automatically get 75 points. The requirements for a person’s ability to speak English have also become stringent.

If you want an extension, you would need to score 75 points using the current point system which was in place during the time of your extension request. However, the requirements for the English language proficiency would be waived and the extra points for work experience in the UK would be given if you were not able to receive the score before. To qualify for that, however, you should’ve been able to earn at least 16,000 GBP during your 12 month past earning assessment period.