UK
Tier-1 Visa

The UK Tier 1 Visa will allow you to live and work in the UK initially for three years and then this can be extended by an additional two years. After five years in the UK you can apply for permanent residency.

Under the UK Tier 1 points-based system, you must score 95 points to be eligible. Points are awarded for:

• 75 points for your attributes (age, qualifications, previous earnings, and experience in the United Kingdom).
• 10 points for English language.
• 10 points for available maintenance (funds).

Yes, there are some additional criteria that you must meet to be eligible for this UK Visa. Although these requirements do not gain points, they are prerequisites for an application:

• Proficiency in English.
• Proof of your will to continue working in your chosen field of employment.
• Proof that you can support yourself without using UK public funds.
• Proof of your intention to make UK your main home.
• Evidence you have never been convicted of any criminal offenses.
• Evidence you have never gone bankrupt.

No, there are no age restrictions on applying for this UK Work Visa. However, you will gain points for age only if you are under 31 years old.

No, anyone nationality can apply for this visa.

You will need to provide documents in support of each of the requirements of the Tier 1 Visa. All the documents should be originals and be relevant and directly appropriate to the particular criteria they are supporting. If any documents are issued in another language, they should be translated by a certified translator recognised by the British High Commission or Embassy.

You will need to provide:

• The UK Visa application form completed and signed by you.
• Your application fee.
• Documents showing your qualification(s).
• Documents showing relevant work experience. The position(s) held should demonstrate either graduate, senior or specialist level experience. Only full-time employment qualifies.
• Documents showing your earnings and salaries.
• Documents showing your English skills level.
• Documents proving that you have enough funds to support yourself in UK.

Everyone working in the UK needs to have a UK National Insurance Number (NIN). Applying for an NIN can be a difficult process if you’re new to the UK and it can take up to 2 weeks to process. Visa First can start organising your NIN application before you arrive in the UK to help speed up the process. Apply for your UK NIN Number today.

Visa First is partnered with Traveltowork and can help fast track the process of setting up your UK bank account – which can take up to 6 weeks. Traveltowork is partnered with the UK’s leading banks including Barclays, HSBC and Lloyds TSB and can set up a UK bank account for you. This service costs AU$75. Apply to open a UK bank account today.

Thousands of customers choose Visa First to organise their UK work visas every year because:

• We make getting the visa you need fast and hassle-free.
• We are the only company with an online visa status engine which allows you to check the status of your visa 24/7. Check your status now.
• We’re visa experts and have organised over 130,000 visas for people like you.
• Our visa guarantee means no visa – no fee!
• We don’t just do visas, we sort out everything you’ll need overseas – from accommodation, bank accounts, airport pick up, jobs and much more.

Apply for your UK Visa with Visa First today.

If you lodge your Tier 1 points-based visa application from within the UK you will need to apply for leave to remain in the UK once your application is approved. Leave to remain permits you to stay in the UK as a skilled person and it needs to be submitted before your current status in the UK expires.

If you lodge your application under the Tier 1 points-based system from outside of the UK, you will need to apply for UK entry clearance once your application is approved. Entry clearance permits you to enter the UK as a skilled person and you should apply for it within three months of receiving your Tier 1 approval letter.

Chat Live with our staff about entry clearance if you have any further questions.

Yes. Once the application process for your UK Visa is complete you will receive your documents back. If you need your documents back before this time, please contact us so that we organise to get them to you.

The MBA provision is being removed under the Tier-1 points-based system, but transitional arrangements will apply to visa applicants who enrolled in an eligible MBA course before 30 June 2008, and submit their visa application within 12 months of completing the qualifying MBA. If you enrolled in an MBA course after this date you will not be eligible to claim points under the MBA transitional arrangements, but you may be able to claim points for the qualification under the attributes required for Tier-1 (General) Migrants.

You can score 75 points under the MBA transitional arrangements. These points are available to initial applicants only.
If you are making a UK Visa application under the extension requirements of the Tier-1 (General) System you are not eligible to claim points under the MBA transitional agreement even if you are already in the UK under the:

• Highly Skilled Migrant Programme; or
• Self-Employed Lawyers' concession; or
• Writers, Composers and Artists provisions of the immigration rules.

If you have graduated from an MBA programme but the institute you attended is not on the list of eligible institutes at the time of your graduation you will not be entitled to apply under the MBA provision. If you still wish to apply under the Tier 1 points-based system then you should complete the standard sections of the application form.

If you have graduated from an MBA programme from an institute that is on the list of eligible institutes, but you graduated before the list was published, you will not be entitled to apply under the MBA provision. If you still wish to apply under the Tier 1 points-based system then you should complete the standard sections of the application form.

The MBA provision within the skilled migrant scheme is only available to MBA graduates. If you have graduated from any other course at one of the eligible institutions you are not entitled to apply under the MBA provision. However, you can still make a standard application for the Tier 1 Visa.

The list of 50 eligible institutions is reviewed and re-published by the Treasury each year. If you have graduated from an institution that was on the list at the time of your graduation but the institute has since been removed from the list, you will still be entitled to apply for the Tier 1 MBA Provision.

Yes you can apply for UK skilled migrant status as long as you are not in the UK as a tourist or visitor.

Fill out our online UK visa application today.

Yes, you will need to send us your original, valid passport.

For UK migration visas, unfortunately the UK immigration office does not specify timelines for visas as it depends on their workload. We would advise waiting until your visa is approved before booking your travel to the UK.