16 January 2003

This information is provided courtesy of Law-Now, CMS Cameron McKenna's free on-line information service.

www.law-now.com

Highly Skilled Migrant Programme to be extended indefinitely

The Home Office announced this week that the Highly
Skilled Migrant Programme (HSMP) would be extended
indefinitely. The HSMP, which was launched on 28 January
2002 as a one-year pilot programme, will have a new scoring
scheme from 28 January 2003. The main changes are as
follows:

EDUCATION

Points may be awarded for vocational and professional
qualifications.

WORK EXPERIENCE

25 points will be awarded for at least five years' graduate
level work experience.

35 points will be awarded for at least five years' graduate
level work experience which includes at least two years'
senior or specialist work experience.

50 points will be awarded for at least ten years' graduate
level work experience which includes at least five years'
senior or specialist work experience.

EARNINGS

The country codes will be changed and the salary
thresholds for all except the highest country code will be
reduced.

ACHIEVEMENT

15 points will be available for significant achievement.
25 points will be available for exceptional achievement.
These changes will allow many more people to apply for
the HSMP, especially people living in low-income
countries. For more information about the HSMP, click
or copy and paste the following link:

http://www.law-now.com/immigration/uk/highlyskilled.asp

Alternatively, please contact Julia Onslow-Cole at
julia.onslow-cole@cmck.com or on
+44 (0)20 7367 2733 or Kim Vowden at
kim.vowden@cmck.com or on +44 (0)20 7367 3146.

For information on other immigration matters, please
visit the Immigration Toolkit on the Law-Now site at
www.law-now.com/immigration