The Points Based System of immigration in the UK, introduced in its current form two years ago, has undergone an additional clarification, with an announcement made on August 21st 2009.
The UK Border Agency has confirmed that spouses of PBS applicants have had their minimum age requirement slightly lowered, with both partners (husband, wife or civil partner and the PBS applicant) needing to be 18 years old, as a minimum.
The 18 year old minimum requirement refers to the date which the applicants are due to arrive in the UK, which is clearly open to some interpretation as to the length of time to allow the application to be granted. We shall report more on this issue as it becomes clearer.
Points Based System applicants are given points dependant on their education, skills, age and previous salary. The UK Border Agency has made it clear that unskilled workers are not required in the UK from outside of the European Economic Area, although skilled workers are still in demand, with further details as to those skills which are currently defined as ‘in demand’ available on the Border Agency website. In terms of previous salary, applicants are required to have been earning the equivalent of £40,000 in their home country, or office country of permanent residence.
