New Immigration Points System From 2008

New points based Migration system to start in the New Year
Home Office Press Release
18 April 2007

Immigration Minister Liam Byrne, today unveiled the timetable for introducing the UK's tough new Australian-style points based system for migration, during a fact finding visit to Sydney.

The new scheme, which will be phased in from early 2008, will enable the British Government to manage migration to the UK more effectively, tackle abuse and attract the most talented workers into the UK economy.

The new system, which will allow migrants to come to the UK under one of five tiers replacing more than 80 existing routes of entry, will begin its rollout at the beginning of 2008.

tier 1 - highly skilled, e.g. scientists or entrepreneurs;

tier 2 - skilled workers with a job offer, e.g. nurses, teachers, engineers;

tier 3 - low skilled workers filling specific temporary labour shortages, e.g. construction workers for a particular project

tier 4 - students; and

tier 5 - youth mobility and temporary workers, e.g. working holiday makers or musicians coming to play a concert.