Changes to Tier 1 PBS April onwards

But nothing in this world prevents the holder of a T1 visa from simultaneously applying for a blue card and then having the freedom to work anywhere in Europe. 

Ah, gotcha... or some other resident of the UK (such as my self) needing to get ability to work in Europe prior to having and EU Citizenship.  I never wanted to have to have a battle about working for a UK company elsewhere in the EU.  A big gray area that I would rather not broach.  Luckily all my work has been UK based so far.

The proposed eligibility changes will only affect Tier 1 (General).  No changes have been announced in the eligibility for Tier 1 (Post Study Work) in itself, which gives you up to 2 years to switch into Tier 2 -- and remember you can switch from PSW to Tier 2 after six months in the same job, if you wish. 

I know, what I'm saying is that instead of being able to do the Post Study work to Highly Skilled Tier 1 visa, my option is restricted to going into Tier 2 only, which is what I'm a bit angry about. I ask this as a genuine question to anyone who would know: how many employers are really that willing to pay £1000 to sign up to a register of sponsors, particularly if they have to in order to hire only one person? Not only that, but my other main concern is that if Tier 2 is restricted to skills shortage jobs only, where does that leave me? I know that if you're switching from Post Study Work into Tier 2, you don't have to have a skills shortage job OR meet the residental labour market test provided you worked with that employer for 6 months, but if they suddenly decide that EVERYONE has to abide by a skills shortage only job, then the Post Study Work visa becomes a two-year stay of execution for any undergraduate in the UK, which will be especially hard-hitting on  those of us already here who were relying on having a way to work once we finished. And to all of you in the US watching this unfold online, my sympathies!

Muffin, I think PtC and historyenne have offered excellent perspective. I agree that two years is better than no years and that you might be able to extend after all. I completely understand about having to uproot and move all over again for something that may not be able to be permanent; I've done it several times over the past few years.

Even though it might get tougher for me to stay permanently, I'm making the decision to apply for Tier 1 in June 2010. Assuming I don't get laid off as a teacher because of the Florida budget crisis, I want to get one more year of teaching experience under my belt and save $ like my life depended on it. I also have to wait, because I don't have a full year of being paid at the salary that I will claim for points. Even with the proposed changes to salary and degree requirements, I would still make the point cut because I'm young and I do have a master's. As soon as next year's teaching contract is through, I'm gone. All of these changes are making me too nervous to wait any longer than absolutely necessary.

i already have my tier 1 approved and will be moving over in a few months, but these changes are making me nervous about what the job search climate will be like for me as an american  

Hie all
I am new to this forum, I stumbled upon this forum when I was frantically searching the web for more detail about the proposed Tier 1 requirements. I am/was planning to put in my application end of April. I have done my IELTS, UK Naric and been keeping my payslips and bank statements for a year now, I even bought a lockable briefcase to keep these documents and now this crap.

My situation is as follows: I have a Bachelor of engineering which I was planning to use to apply (also got UK Naric approval) and a Master of Business Administration (MBA).

My question is can I use this MBA as a masters degree? If anyone knows please advice or if you can point me to where I can find the answer I would appreciate it.

I am glad I didn't hire an agent coz the poor soul would have been a murder victim 

Breeza, of course you can. And you don't even need to pay NARIC. If you go to the Naric drop down menu on BIA site, simply choose "Masters degree", then "business, administration, etc." (Don't get confused looking for MBA.)

But if you're eligible to apply now (you say you've been saving your payslips for a year), why not go ahead and apply now?

Wow, I almost completely missed this thread. 

I can't believe they are raising the requirements with such little warning! I feel so lucky (and yet nervous) to be qualified to apply before the cut off. I intended to apply around March 15th but I'm bumping that up to March 1 for my own sanity. I really hope the new people on the site read this... I'm thanking my lucky stars I am paranoid enough to read this board daily for fear of this very sort of thing! 

LadyAnglesey - Thanks a lot you really saved my day coz I had no clue what to do next. I missed that on the BIA website.

My next question is to do with maintenance funds:

I am in South Africa and our currency is the Rand. I have been building up my savings and I had about 3500 pounds equivalent in Jan. My daughters got sick both at the same time to the extent of them being hospitalized and I had no choice but to use some of my savings to cover the medical costs. I now have a balance of approximately 2850 pounds which I plan to top up in a couple of weeks. Will this be a problem for me in terms of not keeping a constant balance or what matters is that at any given time it does not fall below 2800 pounds?

I am using the oanda website to check whether my savings are still within the minimum because the BIA website does not mention anything on converting the savings to pound sterling. For those of you outside the UK may you please clarify this issue for me.

Thanks guys!!!!!!!!!!

First, a matter of pendatacy, BIA no longer exists and the merged parts of several differnt functions was created called UKBA. 

From UKBA's website:

cash savings in a account overseas (we convert the amount to pounds sterling using the rate which appears on the OANDA website, which you can finds on the right of this page, and the date on your bank statement), that have been in your account for at least three months before your application.

I am pretty sure this means they will take the final balance on your maintenance funds, convert it and if your balance fell below that point at any point over the previous 3 months, it would not qualify.  Your bank statement must be dated within 1 month of your date of application, which should be considered when you submit biometrics or make your payment, whichever comes later.  Not if one always comes later then the other in SA.  In the states, biometrics is always after payment, so biometrics is the date of the application for the US.

kitsonk - Thanks I guess it means I should start counting another three months from when I top up my account. Thing is the forex rates fluctuate a lot here in SA so keeping for example a balance of R50000 which could be fine today, might not be enough in three months time so I thought if I reach the minimum amount 2800pounds I continue banking more cash to guard from rate fluctuations  but I get the sense now.

Correct me if I am wrong:

Say I put in R46000 which is the equivalent of ₤3100, I leave it at that until the three months period is over and I have submitted my application.

Thanks a lot!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

When submitting the application is it necessary to state (or show evidence of) the address you will be staying at when you first arrive in the UK eg relatives or a hotel booking.

Yes, it is worth considering ring-fencing the funds, just because they are particular about this point.  For those from the US it has been rather easy, but you have a currency that flutuates too much, but if you are comitted to coming to the UK, you might want to consider getting a GBP funded account that you would eventually use as your UK bank account setup, putting the funds into that, knowing that they will be in there at the right amount for a period of time and just wait.

One other important thing to note is that don't ring-fence into the safety of something like a savings bond (or a Certificates of Deposit in the US) or some other sort of mechanism that isn't cash.  They are very particular that the funds must be in cash.

Garry has recently mentioned some other sort of financial account, that is in foreign currency but pegs itself at a certain exchange rate.  I don't know the details of it, but that might be worth considering as well.

For Tier 1, I don't think having an address is necessary.  The assumption is that you will have to move to the UK and settle and look for work, which is in part what the maintenance funds are for, but others may know better then I.

Kitsonk _ Thanks mate I would have liked to do that but the forex controls are so tight here because of crime and money laundering schemes so I would create a whole lot of problems for myself . I will try it though I might be lucky.

Kitsonk _ Thanks mate I would have liked to do that but the forex controls are so tight here because of crime and money laundering schemes so I would create a whole lot of problems for myself . I will try it though I might be lucky.

I forget...  I work for a large SA company and I know that the financial stuff is so tight there.  There is also that situation where the financial institutions maybe liable for a credit if they extend credit to someone who can't repay, making loans and the like ever so much more fun!

Thing is the forex rates fluctuate a lot here in SA so keeping for example a balance of R50000 which could be fine today, might not be enough in three months time so I thought if I reach the minimum amount 2800pounds I continue banking more cash to guard from rate fluctuations   but I get the sense now.

this is fine.  you can continue adding money into your account over the three months, you just have to make sure you don't go under 2800 pounds.