Today, on 1 December 2020, applications for the new skilled worker visa opened. The new global system awards points for skills, having a job offer and speaking English.
It will also encourage employers to focus on training and investing in the UK workforce, driving productivity and improving opportunities for individuals, especially those impacted by coronavirus.
Applications are made online, and as part of this, people will need to prove their identity and provide their documents. Once someone outside the UK has gone through all these steps, they will usually get a decision within 3 weeks.
They will need to have enough money to pay the application fee (ranging from £610 to £1,408), the healthcare surcharge (usually £624 per year) and be able to support themselves (usually by having at least £1,270 available).
The visa lasts for up to 5 years before it needs to be extended.
Alongside the skilled worker visa, a number of other routes have opened today.
These include:
- Global Talent visa for people who can show they have exceptional talent or exceptional promise in the fields of science, engineering, humanities, medicine, digital technology or arts and culture
- Innovator visa for a person seeking to establish a business in the UK based on an innovative, viable and scalable business idea
- Start-up visa for a person seeking to establish a business in the UK for the first time
- the Intra-company Transfer visa, which is for established workers who are being transferred by the business they work for to do a skilled role in the UK
The Student route and Child Student route opened on 5 October 2020 to eligible international students from across the globe.
More information can be found here.