United Kingdom: Non-EU migrants earning less than £35,000 to
be deported
From next month, non-EU migrants in the UK earning less than
£35,000 will be deported. The new Home Office policy, which comes into force on
April 6, applies to all overseas workers who have been in the UK for five years
on a Tier 2 visa. If they can’t prove
that they’re earning more than £35,000, they will be denied settlement and will
face deportation. Teachers, IT professionals and journalists could all be badly
affected. A petition launched at the beginning of the year called for the
threshold to be reconsidered – it gathered more than 100,000 signatures and was
debated in parliament last week. So what’s actually changing?
To settle in the UK as a skilled worker, non-EU migrants
need to have a Tier 2 visa. For this you need: An offer for a job in the UK
that pays at least £20,800 Have had at least £945 in your bank account for 90
days A certificate of sponsorship from your employer (which can cost between
£536 and £1,476) To pay a £200 annual healthcare surcharge To prove your
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After five years on this visa, skilled workers are able to apply for
‘indefinite leave to remain’ – and this is what is about to change.
From April, anyone
applying for indefinite leave to remain will need to earn at least £35,000.
Nurses are temporarily exempt from this threshold, along with PhD-level jobs
and any professions that have been on the official ‘shortage occupation list’
while the person has been living here. However, the earnings threshold could be
applied to migrant nurses in the future. Teachers aren’t exempt (unless they
are professors in certain disciplines).
Even David Cameron’s
mum has lost her job because of Tory cuts In fact, the Home Office’s own
analysis of the policy in 2012 revealed that the new threshold would have a
significant impact on teachers, IT professionals and marketing managers.
What if I’ve been in the UK for more than five years? Then
you won’t be deported – the new rule doesn’t apply to anyone who entered the
country on a Tier 2 visa on or before April 5 2011. I’ve been here for a
decade, will I be deported? No – as long as you’ve been living here for 10
continuous years, you can apply for indefinite leave to remain with no salary
threshold.
So if you came here in 2006 as a student visa, then moved
directly onto a skilled workers’ visa, you can apply to settle here regardless
of how much you earn. The only condition is that you can’t have left the UK for
more than 180 days at a time, or 540 days in total. I’m here on a marriage
visa, will I have to leave? No, the changes only apply to people on a Tier 2
visa.
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