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GLOSSARY

Points based system definition

Published by a LexisNexis Immigration expert

What does Points based system mean?

A system of immigration control introduced in the United Kingdom from 2008 under which the immigration rules provide for the necessary acquisition of specified points in some or all of the following categories in order to fulfil requirements for entry clearance, leave to enter, leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain: attributes, English language and maintenance.

The Points Based System nominally comprises five tiers (not all of which are operational). Tier 1 accommodates exceptionally talented migrants, entrepreneurs, investors and post study workers; Tier 2 accommodates skilled workers with a job offer and includes sub-categories for ministers of religion, sportspersons and intra-company transfers; Tier 3 has not been implemented, but was originally designed for low-skilled workers filling specific temporary labour shortages; Tier 4 accommodates students, including a general sub-category and one for child students; and Tier 5 accommodates temporary worker migrants and the youth mobility scheme.

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Sponsoring an International Sportsperson

Sponsoring an International Sportsperson The International Sportsperson route is for elite sportspeople and coaches aged 16 or over: • who are internationally established at the highest level, and • whose employment will make a significant contribution to the development of their sport at the highest level in the UK Sports players and coaches have limited options in terms of immigration categories as the Skilled Worker, Global Business Mobility and Scale-up routes specifically exclude these occupations from eligibility, while most other most work, investment and study routes have conditions prohibiting employment as a professional sportsperson or coach. Dependants in most work, investment and study routes are also subject to the same restriction. The International Sportsperson route was introduced from 11 October 2021 by Statement of Changes in Immigration Rules HC 617, and replaced T2 Sportsperson, and the sporting element of T5 (Temporary Worker) Creative or Sporting Worker. These two routes had been revamped as simplified routes for the post-Brexit immigration system, between 1 December 2020 and 10 October...

Late payment penalties—income tax, capital gains tax and corporation tax

Late payment penalties—income tax, capital gains tax and corporation tax FORTHCOMING CHANGES relating to late payment and late submission penalties: As announced at Spring Budget 2021, Finance Act 2021 provides for substantial changes to the regimes for late payment and late submission penalties for VAT and income tax. For VAT, these changes (alongside changes aligning the late payment interest rules for VAT with those for income tax) take effect from 1 January 2023 (see Practice Note: VAT penalties). However, for those within income tax self-assessment, the changes are expected to come into effect as taxpayers become mandated to Making Tax Digital (MTD): from 6 April 2026 for those with business or property turnover of over £50,000 per year; from 6 April 2027 for those with business or property turnover of over £30,000 per year; and (as announced at Spring Statement 2025) from 6 April 2028 for sole traders and landlords with qualifying income over £20,000 per year. This is subject to limited exceptions and deferrals. fTaxpayers...

Discover our 9 Practice Notes on Points based system

Immigration White Paper - some further indications on timing, and who settlement reforms could affect

Although the Immigration White Paper published on 12 May 2025 gave few indications on the timing of the planned/proposed measures, a press release issued on the same day stated that the policies outlined in it ‘will be delivered over the course of this Parliament to strengthen the UK’s immigration system, with the first changes set to be introduced in the coming weeks’. It separately added that the government ‘will publish further reforms to the asylum system and border security later this summer, building on measures in the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill currently progressing through Parliament’. In another clarification, as regards whether the proposed reform to extend the standard time taken to settlement to ten years in Points-Based System routes (with the possibility of a reduction on time using a points-based approach) a technical annex published alongside the White Paper which attempted to model the possible impact on numbers of the changes stated that ‘a number of those currently in the UK are likely to leave due to it...

Immigration White Paper heralds significant changes to UK immigration system

The government has published its long-anticipated White Paper on legal migration ‘Restoring Control over the Immigration system’, which announces some very significant changes across the immigration system, with the state aim of reducing net migration and ‘bringing back control’. In the work sphere this includes raising the skill level for Skilled Worker back to the Tier 2 graduate level and making all ‘Points-Based System’ routes ten-year routes to settlement (with a new ‘points-based’ approach for reducing this based on ‘contributions to the economy and society’). There are various measures aimed at reducing the level of work immigration generally, with strategies for forcing employers to train and invest in the domestic labour market rather than ‘rely on’ overseas workers. The paper also announces wide-ranging reforms to study routes, English language requirements, ‘earned’ settlement/citizenship, and enforcement. It also provides that a new family immigration policy will be set out at the end of the year (including extending financial requirements to other dependant visas), and that new legislation will be brought forward in an attempt...

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