Tier 5

Tier 5 - temporary workers category of the points-based system.
If you are planning on applying after November 2008 you will need to apply under either the temporary workers category or the youth mobility scheme within the points-based system. The temporary workers category will be made up of five sub-categories.

Temporary workers - creative and sporting

The creative and sporting sub-category allows you to come to the United Kingdom for a maximum of 12 months to undertake short-term, temporary work. It is for individuals who currently obtain short-term work permits in the creative and sporting sectors. You will need to show you have the support of an approved sponsors and have sufficient funds to maintain yourself. You will be expected to leave the United Kingdom when your permission to stay ends.

You will need to score 40 points from the sponsorship and maintenance categories.

You must score 30 points in this category. You must show that you have a valid certificate of sponsorship issued by an licensed sponsors.

If you want to come to the United Kingdom under the creative and sporting sub-category, your potential employer will only issue a certificate of sponsorship if you:

• are seeking entry to the United Kingdom to work or perform in the United Kingdom in the relevant sector;
• are not intending to establish yourself in business in the United Kingdom;
• will not threaten the resident labour force; and
• will comply with the conditions of your stay and you will leave the United Kingdom when your permission to stay ends.

If you want to come to the United Kingdom as a sportsperson, your sponsor must be a:

• sporting body,
• sports club;
• event organiser; or
• other organiser operating or intending to operate in the sporting sector.

If you want to come to the United Kingdom as a creative worker, your sponsor must work within the creative industry, for example a:

• national body;
• event organizer;
• venue;
• agent; or
• Other similar organisation.

Maintenance
You must score 10 points in this category. You must show that you are able to support yourself while you are in the United Kingdom. You can do this in two ways:

• you can show you have at least £800 in savings that you will be able to use while in the United Kingdom; or
• your certificate of sponsorship has been issued by an A-rated sponsor and your sponsor will certify that you will not claim benefits while in the United Kingdom

Temporary Workers- Religious workers.

The religious workers category allows you to come to the United Kingdom for a maximum of 24 months to undertake short-term, temporary work for a recognized religion. While in the United Kingdom you will be allowed to undertake religious work as recognized by the religion but cannot be involved in preaching or pastoral work.

You will need to show you have the support of an approved sponsors and have sufficient funds to maintain yourself. You will be expected to leave the United Kingdom when your permission to stay ends.

You will need to score 40 points from the sponsorship and maintenance categories.

Sponsorship
You must score 30 points in this category. You must show that you have a valid certificate of sponsorship issued by one of our licensed sponsors.

If you want to come to the United Kingdom as a religious worker, your potential employer will only issue a certificate of sponsorship if you:

• are qualified to do the job in question;
• do not intend to take employment for the sponsor except as a visiting religious worker or a religious worker in a non-pastoral role;
• will not claim benefits while in the United Kingdom;
• will be filling a genuine vacancy that cannot be field with a suitable qualified member of the resident labour force; and
• will comply with the conditions of your stay and you will leave the United Kingdom when your permission to stay ends.

In order to issue a certificate of sponsorship to you in this sub-category, your potential employer must be a religious institution and must satisfy our requirements for registration as a sponsor under this category.

Maintenance
You must score 10 points in this category. You must show that you are able to support yourself while you are in the United Kingdom. You can do this in two ways:

• you can show you have at least £800 in savings that you will be able to use while in the United Kingdom; or
• your certificate of sponsorship has been issued by an A-rated sponsor and your sponsor will certify that you will not claim benefits while in the United Kingdom

Temporary workers - charity workers

The charity workers sub-category allows you to come to the United Kingdom for a maximum of 12 months to undertake short-term, temporary work as a volunteer. You will need to show you have the support of one of approved sponsors and have sufficient funds to maintain yourself. You will be expected to leave the United Kingdom when your permission to stay ends

Points assessment
You will need to score 40 points from the sponsorship and maintenance categories.

Sponsorship
You must score 30 points in this category. You must show that you have a valid certificate of sponsorship issued by one of our licensed sponsors.

If you want to come to the United Kingdom as a charity worker, your potential employer will only issue a certificate of sponsorship if you:

• intend to undertake voluntary fieldwork directly relating to their purpose;
• will not be paid or otherwise remunerated for your work;
• will not take up a permanent position; and
• will comply with the conditions of your stay and you will leave the United Kingdom when your permission to stay ends.

In order to issue a certificate of sponsorship to you in this sub-category, your potential employer must (unless they are based in Northern Ireland) be a registered, excepted or exempt United Kingdom charity according to the relevant legislation in force in its part of the United Kingdom. In Northern Ireland the organisation must have obtained charitable status for tax purposes from HM Revenue & Customs.

Maintenance
You must score 10 points in this category. You must show that you are able to support yourself while you are in the United Kingdom. You can do this in two ways:

• you can show you have at least £800 in savings that you will be able to use while in the United Kingdom; or
• your certificate of sponsorship has been issued by an A-rated sponsor and your sponsor will certify that you will not claim benefits while in the United Kingdom

Temporary workers - government authorized exchange

The government authorized exchange sub-category allows you to come to the United Kingdom for a maximum of 24 months to share knowledge, experience and best practice.

You will need to show you have a certificate of sponsorship and have sufficient funds to maintain yourself. You will be expected to leave the United Kingdom when your permission to stay ends.

You will need to score 40 points from the sponsorship and maintenance categories.

Sponsorship
You must score 30 points in this category. You must show that you have a valid certificate of sponsorship. Unlike under the other categories within Tier 5, potential employers will not be able to act as sponsors themselves within the government authorized exchange sub-category. This applies even if the employer or organisation is a sponsor under the other Tiers or sub-categories of this Tier.

This sub-category is aimed at sharing knowledge, experience and best practice. The government authorized exchange cannot be used to fill job vacancies or to provide a route for unskilled labour. You will only be issued with a certificate of sponsorship in this category if:

• you will be taking part in a work experience scheme;
• you will not be filling a genuine vacancy;
• your employment will be in addition to the normal staffing requirement;
• you will be undertaking skilled work at NVQ level 3 or above;
• your employment will conform with relevant United Kingdom and European legislation.

Certificates of sponsorship for the government authorized exchange sub-category will be issued by an overarching body that runs and administers the scheme. The overarching body will have the support of a United Kingdom government department. The supporting government department will be responsible for ensuring the overarching body will satisfy our requirements for registration as a sponsor under this category.

Maintenance
You must score 10 points in this category. You must show that you are able to support yourself while you are in the United Kingdom. You can do this in two ways:

• you can show you have at least £800 in savings that you will be able to use while in the United Kingdom; or
• Your certificate of sponsorship has been issued by an A-rated sponsor and your sponsor will certify that you will not claim benefits while in the United Kingdom.

Temporary workers- international agreement

The international agreement category allows you to come to the United Kingdom for a maximum of 24 months to provide a service that is covered under international law. The services covered by this sub-category include:

• General Agreement of Trades in Services (GATS) and similar bilateral agreements;
• employees of overseas governments;
• employees of international organizations;
• Private servants in diplomatic households.

You will need to show you have a certificate of sponsorship and have sufficient funds to maintain yourself. You will be expected to leave the United Kingdom when your permission to stay ends.

You will need to score 40 points from the sponsorship and maintenance categories.

You must score 30 points in this category. You must show that you have a valid certificate of sponsorship issued by one of our licensed sponsors

Private servants in diplomatic households
If you want to come to the United Kingdom to work as a private servant in a diplomatic household, your potential employer will only issue a certificate of sponsorship if you:

• are aged 18 or over;
• will be employed as a private servant by a member of staff of a diplomatic or consular mission or an international organisation who enjoy certain privileges under United Kingdom or international law;
• will work full-time in domestic employment;
• will not take any other employment with that sponsor; and
• will leave the United Kingdom when your permission to stay ends.

Employees of overseas governments or international organizations
If you want to come to the United Kingdom to work as an employee of an overseas government or an international organisation, your potential employer will only issue a certificate of sponsorship if you:

• will be under a contract of employment with them;
• will not take any other form of employment with that sponsor; and
• will not change to a different category of work within the international agreement sub-category after entering the United Kingdom.
• a member of the World Trade Organisation; or
• has a bilateral agreement with the United Kingdom or the European Union; or
• a member of the European Union.

General Agreement of Trades in Services (GATS)
If you want to come to the United Kingdom to work under GATS, your potential employer will only issue a certificate of sponsorship if you:

• will undertake work in accordance with the terms and conditions of the relevant international agreement; and
• work for the employer who was awarded the contract or will be providing services to the United Kingdom client (where relevant).

Maintenance
You must score 10 points in this category. You must show that you are able to support yourself while you are in the United Kingdom. You can do this in two ways:

• you can show you have at least £800 in savings that you will be able to use while in the United Kingdom; or
• your certificate of sponsorship has been issued by an A-rated sponsor and your sponsor will certify that you will not claim benefits while in the United Kingdom

Youth Mobility scheme

The youth mobility scheme allows young people to come and experience life in the United Kingdom for up to two years. Young United Kingdom nationals will also be able to benefit from similar opportunities in participating countries. If your country joins the scheme and you meet the criteria to participate in the scheme, you will be free to do whatever work you like during your stay in the United Kingdom except for business and professional sport, or work as a doctor in training.

You will need to be:

• a national of a participating country; or
• a British overseas citizen; or
• a British overseas territories citizen; or
• a British national (overseas);

and, (except for British overseas citizens, British overseas territories citizens and British nationals (overseas)), will need to be sponsored by your national government.

You will also need to be aged between 18 and 30 years of age and have sufficient funds to support yourself from when you first enter the United Kingdom until you start earning.

You may not participate in the youth mobility scheme if you have dependent children or have previously spent time in the United Kingdom as a working holidaymaker.

 When the Tier 5 - youth mobility scheme is introduced, the following immigration categories will close to new applications:

• au pair scheme;
• British Universities North America Club (BUNAC) scheme;
• Gap year entrants;
• Japan: Youth Exchange;
• research assistants to Members of Parliament;
• working holidaymakers scheme.

If you are currently in the United Kingdom under one of these immigration categories,.

The separate au pair arrangements for Bulgarian and Romanian nationals remain unaffected by these changes.

To be eligible to apply to come to the United Kingdom under Tier 5 - youth mobility scheme you will need to be:

• a national of a country participating in the scheme; or
• a British overseas citizen; or
• a British overseas territories citizen; or
• a British national (overseas); and
• Pass a point assessment.

You can score points by:

• holding a valid national passport for a participating country and, where necessary, a certificate of sponsorship issued by your government; or
• being a British overseas citizen, a British overseas territories citizen or a British national (overseas);
• meeting the age requirement for the scheme; and
• Showing you have sufficient funds to maintain yourself in the United Kingdom.

The youth mobility scheme will be open to all countries that meet the qualifying criteria set by the BIA and each participating country will receive an annual allocation of places on the scheme.

Criteria will relate to:

• level of immigration risk;
• returns arrangements; and
• Reciprocal opportunities for United Kingdom nationals.

We will publish a list of the countries that qualify together with the number of places we have allocated to each country. This will be reviewed every year. The number of places allocated to the country will depend on the level of immigration risk and the number of United Kingdom nationals entering that country under similar arrangements. There will be a minimum of 1000 places allocated to each country.

Previous entry clearance to the United Kingdom
If you have previously spent time in the United Kingdom under the working holidaymaker scheme or a youth mobility scheme you are not entitled make a new entry clearance application to the youth mobility scheme.

You must score 50 points from the sponsorship, age and maintenance categories.

Sponsorship
You must score 30 points in this category.

• You have a valid national passport for a country with Deemed Sponsorship status. These are countries we deem to be lowest risk. OR
• you have a valid national passport of a country that meets the qualifying criteria for the youth mobility scheme and have been issued a certificate of sponsorship by that country OR
• You can show you are a British overseas citizen, British overseas territories citizen or British national (overseas). If you fall into this category, you will not need any formal sponsorship.

Age
You must score 10 points in this category. You will be awarded these points if you are aged between 18 and 30 at the time your entry clearance becomes valid of use.

Maintenance
You must score 10 points in this category. You must show that you have at least £1600 that you can use to support yourself while in the United Kingdom