Tier 2 Visa - General Skilled Worker

The Tier 2 General work permit category caters for medium and highly skilled workers immigrating to the UK. In order to make an application for a Tier 2 work permit (general) you are required to have a confirmed offer of employment from a licensed UK employer/sponsor and a valid certificate of sponsorship.

Tier 2 General Points Assessment
If you are seeking to immigrate to the UK under the Tier 2 General visa category you are required to achieve a minimum score of 70 points from the following five areas of assessment.

Points are awarded as follows:

Sponsorship

Job on the shortage occupation list - 50 points
Job that has met the resident labour market test 30 points
Switching from the post-study worker category – 30 points

Qualifications
A PhD qualification - 15 points
A Master's Degree - 10 points
A Bachelor's Degree - 10 points
An NVQ level 3 qualification - 5 points

Prospective Earnings
In excess of £24,000 - 20 Points
£22,000-23,999 - 15 points
£20,000-21,999 - 10 points
£17,000-19,999 - 5 points

English language
To submit a successful application you must achieve a score of 10 points for your English language skills.

There are three ways you can score points for English language:

Be a national of a majority English speaking country; or
Pass an English language test from an approved English language test provider; or
Hold a degree that was taught in English and is equivalent to a United Kingdom bachelor's degree or above.
Maintenance
To meet the maintenance requirements and achieve the required score of 10 points you must show evidence that you have available funds of £800 which have been in your bank account for at least three months prior to the application being made.

Alternatively, if your potential employer is an A-rated sponsor they can provide you with a letter that will cover you for meeting the maintenance requirements.

Tier 2 General Visa – duration
If you are granted permission to stay in the UK as a Tier 2 General skilled worker, you will be able to live and work in the UK for a maximum time of three years, or the time given in your certificate of sponsorship, which ever time is shorter. At the end of this period if you want to stay you will need to apply to extend your stay as a skilled worker.

Tier 2 General Visa – spouse and dependents
Tier 2 visas can lead to Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) and as such the Tier 2 visa category makes provision for the spouses and common law, civil or unmarried partners of the applicant and any dependent children to immigrate to the UK at the same time as the main Tier 2 visa applicant.