WWICS Blog

UK Permanent Residency Rules Change
Posted on : 25 April, 2011

In tune with the changes to the UK immigration rules, the Government of UK has also changed rules for the Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) in the UK.

Known as the Permanent Residence or settlement in the UK, Indefinite Leave to Remain in the UK is one of the pre-requisites before an applicant can become a naturalized British Citizen.

As per the revised rules for the ILR, certain new thresholds have been added:

Assessment of the past criminal record of the applicant - as per the new revised rules, when an applicant applies for ILR, he/ she must now be clear of the ‘unspent convictions’.

New Income Requirement: - As now defined by the UK Border Agency, a new income requirement for Skilled and Highly Skilled migrants has been added. As per the revised rules, the Tier 1 (General) migrants ought to meet the same income criteria, which existed when they last extended their Tier 1 visa. Further, all the applicants who have been work permit holders or had fallen in the Tier 2 (General) or Tier 2 (Intra company transfer) should be being paid the ‘appropriate rate’, which has been decided on by the UK Border Agency.

Requirements of English Language- the Life in the UK test must be passed by the applicants in the Tier 1, Tier 2 routes in place of the English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) test, with citizenship course unless they fall under the transitional arrangement.

Accelerated Route- all the migrants who meet the enhanced criteria and fall under the Tier 1 (Investor) and Tier 1 (Entrepreneur), would be given an ‘accelerated route’ to settlement in the UK.

“The latest changes in the UK immigration rules clearly bring out that the UK aims at attracting the best immigrants,” said Col B S Sandhu (Retd), CMD, WWICS Group. He said that UK has always been a popular immigration destination and the immigrants are attracted to the UK since the country provides the best of facilities, income and lifestyle opportunities.

The revised changes in the UK immigration rules were brought in effect on the 6th April, 2011.