Since 1st December 2020, the new Immigration rule for indefinite leave to remain for Tier 2(General) migrants now applies the same as Skilled Worker. The applicant still needs to meet the requirement of validity, suitability and eligibility, however, other conditions have been eased.

The applicant must be in the UK on the date of application and they should not leave the common travel area whilst the application is pending or it will be treated as withdrawn. The applicant needs to provide a valid passport and travel document to prove their identity and nationality. The applicant must "meet" all of the validity requirements. If they do not do so, the application “may be rejected”.

Applicants must not fall for refusal under the general grounds. The reasons for refusal include certain criminal convictions, involvement in a sham marriage, false representations and owing money to the Home Office of the NHS.

The assessment of suitability relating to crime and the public interest has been comprehensively expanded in the newly amended Immigration rules. An application will be refused on mandatory grounds, including where the applicant’s presence in the UK is “not conductive to the public good”, because of conduct, character associations or other reasons, including convictions not serious enough to trigger the criminality rules.

In addition, if the applicant submits counterfeit documents or fills out an application with false information, an application will be refused as deception. An additional discretionary ground for refusal has been introduced where an applicant has been rough sleeping in the UK.

Rules on criminality have also been tightened. An application may be refused if a person convicted of a criminal offence, either a non-custodial sentence or an out-of-court disposal recorded on their criminal record.

The basic rule is that the applicant has to stay in the UK for five years to qualify for settlement. The five years can include time clocked up on any of the following routes, including the length of time you have stayed on a newly revised Skilled Worker or Tier 2 General visa only or on the visas below:

Applicants must not exceed 180 absent days from the UK in any 12 month period. (For a period of permission grant before January 11, 2018, the calculation method is different.)

However, it has become more flexible compared to the conditions for residence rules on previous Tier 2 work visa settlement. Previously, absences stay related to helping national or international humanitarian or environmental crises was not included in the 180-day limit. This exception has been extended to travel disruption such as natural disasters, military conflicts, or pandemic.

Personal circumstances will also not be counted. Overseas stay is permitted for compelling reasons, such as the life-threatening illness of the applicant, life-threatening illness or death of a close family member.

For example, if the applicant should have to stay abroad for seven months to take care of their terminally ill parents, the previous rule will disqualify the applicant, but under the new rule, these absences are allowed.

Applicants for settlement as a Skilled Worker need to pass the Life in the UK test unless an exemption applies. This means that unless the applicants are over the age of 65, or have a disability (physical or mental condition) that prevents them from meeting the requirement, they must pass the Life in the UK test at an approved educational institution.

This has been removed, recognising that applicants will have proved that they have an acceptable level of English when applying for the visa in the first place.

The minimum salary thresholds for settlement have generally reduced. Previous Tier 2 applications must have met a salary requirement that increased year on year, for example, £35,800 in 2019 and £36,200 in 2020. The revised Skilled Worker settlement salary requirement is ordinarily an annual salary of at least £25,600, and the going rate for the occupation code must be paid. The general salary threshold is now £20,480 per year if the applicant was most recently sponsored in a shortage occupation, a health or education occupation, or at some of the PhD-level occupation such as Chemical Scientist, Research and Development Manager or Higher Education Teaching Professionals.

The sponsor also needs to confirm that it requires the person applying for settlement “to work for them for the foreseeable future”. The sponsor must still be approved by the Home Office to sponsor Skilled Workers on the date of the decision. Previously there was scope for the application to be approved as long as the sponsor held a valid sponsor licence at the date of application.

Applicants have no need to submit payslips, bank statements, etc. for absences from their employers. However, this is still required in the application. Therefore, in view of the salary and sponsorship requirements, it would be sensible to include a letter from the sponsoring employer confirming the applicant’s employment status, as well as a recent bank statement and payslips even though these are no longer mandatory documents.

If the application is refused, you can apply for an administrative review. Also, the merit of administrative review depends on the reason for refusal. If the administrative review is refused, you will have to seek for an advice on the judicial review process or make a fresh applications.