Immigration Rules – Statement of Changes, March 2014

Mar 20, 2014

On 13th March 2014 a statement of changes to the immigration rules was presented to parliament.

The policy paper can be found on https://www.gov.uk

Changes to Immigration Rules include:

For Sponsored Workers under Tier 2

  • Allow Tier 2 (ICT) and Tier (General) applicants to be granted up to 5 years’ leave (rather than up to 3 years’) at a time;
  • An annual update to the minimum salary thresholds for appropriate salary rates for individual occupations (as set out in the codes of practice);
  • A rise in the minimum rate required to qualify for Tier 2 (ICT) Short Term staff. This has risen to £24,500;
  • A rise in the minimum rate required to qualify for Tier 2 (ICT) Long Term staff. This has risen to £41,000;
  • A rise in the minimum rate required to qualify for Tier 2 (General). This has risen to £20,500;

Cross-cutting PBS changes;

  • A rise in the rate of ‘maintenance’ fund thresholds for PBS migrant and their dependants in line with changes to the cost of living since the last update in 2012.
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