Be sure your Letting Agency is ready as the Brexit Transition ends

The Coronavirus has been the main topic of conversation for the last 8 months, pushing the previous hot topic to one side. Yet, in six weeks time, the UK’s transition out of the EU will have ended.

New immigration system: what you need to know. The UK is introducing a points-based immigration system from 2021.

On 13 July 2020, the government set out further details on the UK’s points-based system. These new arrangements will take effect from 1 January 2021, once freedom of movement with the European Union (EU) has ended.

It will treat EU and non-EU citizens equally and aims to attract people who can contribute to the UK’s economy. Irish citizens will continue to be able to enter and live in the UK as they do now.

Visa Application Process

New immigration routes will open later this year for applications to work, live and study in the UK from 1 January 2021.

When applying, applicants will be asked to provide biometric information. The process for this is:

EU, EEA and Swiss citizens

For most visas a digital photo of the applicants’ face will be required using a smartphone app. Finger prints will not be required.

For a small number of low volume routes (to be confirmed later this year) applicants will be required to go to an overseas visa application centre to have the photo taken.

Non-EU citizens

Applicants will continue to submit fingerprints and a photo at an overseas visa application centre.

Skilled workers

The points-based system will include a route for skilled workers who have a job offer from an approved employer sponsor.

From January 2021, the job offered will need to be at a required skill level of RQF3 or above (equivalent to A level). Applicants will also need to be able to speak English and be paid the relevant salary threshold by the sponsor. This will either be the general salary threshold of £25,600 or the going rate for the job, whichever is higher.

If the salary is less than this - but no less than £20,480 - one may still be able to apply by ‘trading’ points on specific characteristics against the salary. For example, if thea job offer is in a shortage occupation or have a PhD relevant to the job.

Details of how the points system will work are in the further details document.

There will not be a general route for employers to recruit at or near the minimum wage.

In order to sponsor migrants through the skilled worker route from January 2021, employers should apply now.

International students and graduates

A new graduate immigration route will be available to international students who have completed a degree in the UK from summer 2021. Students will be able to work, or look for work, in the UK at any skill level for up to 2 years, or 3 years for PhD graduates.

Checking an EU citizen job applicant’s right to work

New immigration system from 1 January 2021

A new immigration system will apply to people arriving in the UK from 1 January 2021 and EU citizens moving to the UK to work will need to get a visa in advance.

EU citizens applying for a skilled worker visa will need to show they have a job offer from an approved employer sponsor to be able to apply. If you’re an employer planning to sponsor skilled migrants from 2021, and are not currently an approved sponsor, you should consider getting approved now.

You can find more information on the UK’s new points-based immigration system on GOV.UK.

EU Settlement Scheme

EU, EEA or Swiss citizens and their family members who are living in the UK before 1 January 2021 need to apply to the EU Settlement Scheme to continue living in the UK after 30 June 2021.

You may want to share information with your employees about the EU Settlement Scheme using our employer toolkit.

GDPR and Data Protection

The UK left the EU on 31 January 2020. There is now a transition period until 31 December 2020 while the UK and EU negotiate additional arrangements.  The current rules will continue to apply during the transition period. The GDPR will be retained in domestic law at the end of the transition period, but the UK will have the independence to keep the framework under review

This guidance is designed to help small to medium-sized UK businesses and organisations keep personal data flowing with Europe (the EEA) at the end of the transition period. (The EEA is the EU plus Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein.)

If the transition period ends before the EU Commission makes an adequacy decision about the UK, most of the data protection rules affecting small to medium-sized businesses and organisations will stay the same.

The UK is committed to maintaining the high standards of the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) and the government plans to incorporate it into UK law at the end of the transition period.

If you are a UK business or organisation that already complies with the GDPR and has no contacts or customers in the EEA, you do not need to do much more to prepare for data protection compliance at the end of the transition period.

If you are a UK business or organisation that receives personal data from contacts in the EEA, you need to take extra steps to ensure that the data can continue to flow at the end of the transition period.

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