I thought I'd take my opportunity on the Visa Bureau Blog to say a few words about the transition from the HSMP to the new Tier 1 General Skilled Migration programme here in the UK.  It's occupied a lot of our time!  It usually does whenever the Home Office makes a major change like this.

Our UK caseworking team and our online editorial team worked hard to make sure that the UK Visa Bureau website was up to date as soon as the change from the old HSMP went ahead.

The changeover has certainly been an interesting experience!  Aside from the days of research, writing and caseworking, the biggest challenge has been getting the message out to clients.  The HSMP, it seems, was a very well known programme.  It was an easy "brand" to remember, and it described exactly what the programme was after - highly skilled people who wanted to live and work in the United Kingdom.  It was so well known that people continue to refer to the new Tier 1 programme as the HSMP.

It's an easy confusion to make.  Both the Tier 1 General Skilled Programme and the HSMP are essentially the same.  Both use a similar points test with similar education, occupation and income requirements, and both are meant to attract highly skilled migrants to the UK.

We've been working to help educate our clients and prospective clients on the changeover.  Our site now has detailed information on the Tier 1 programme, and we make sure that we talk callers to our freephone line through the changes.

But, if people still want to call it the HSMP, that's fine by me.

- Tom Blackett is the Online Editor for the UK Visa Bureau.

©Visa Bureau 2003-2009

Visa Bureau takes no responsibility and cannot be held accountable for action taken as a result of any information or comment provided on this blog, and we recommend that you always seek a number of opinions before making a decision regarding your migration or visa application. Please refer to the Visa Bureau terms of use for more information.

If Amanda and her team were excited about the new changes to the Australian working holiday visa last week, then it is the New Zealand Visa Bureau's turn to breathe a big sigh of relief.  After many months of consultation, the UK Government has finally decided to continue running the New Zealand ancestry visa program and allow free access for Kiwis for up to six months.  Phew!

The British Home Office are having a big clean-up of their immigration system, and have been looking at the policies of other countries, mainly Australia, to base their new "simplified" structure on.  Although they're more interested in a new "Path to Citizenship", where migrants have to "earn" their right to become a UK citizen, they were also looking to restrict access to the UK for Commonwealth citizens.

Here in the New Zealand Visa Bureau, we all feared the Home Office would listen to suggestions to restrict the six month visa-free access to three months, or cancel rights to get a five year UK ancestry visa.   Thousands of New Zealanders live, work, and play in London already - city life just wouldn't be the same without the Kiwi contingent! 

Luckily for New Zealanders, the doors have stayed open.  Those who have grandparents born in the UK can still apply for a five-year working and residency visa, and the six month visa-free access is out there for the taking. 

Apparently, PM Helen Clark has been batting for New Zealand so that young Kiwis can keep flying to the UK.  In a press release, she told the country she understands how important it is for young people to have an OE in the UK, and went directly to Gordon Brown to ask him to reconsider.  

And so she should.  The New Zealand Immigration policy has been more than welcoming to UK citizens.  UK travellers also have six month visa-free access to New Zealand, and Brits on a working holiday visa are entitled to 23 months in NZ (everybody else in the working holiday program only get 12 months!). 

Imagine having that much time to see all the breathtaking sights New Zealand has to offer, or watch the adrenaline-pumping activities in the country's adventure capital Queenstown change to match the season.  You could even catch a full live season of the Super 14s Rugby Union competition, or just chill out in a batch for six months on the Coromandel. 

It's no wonder Britons make up the second largest source of tourism for the Land of the Long White Cloud – I think they're getting a pretty good deal!

Thanks to the announcements this week from Ms Clark, it gives me great pleasure to tell our NZ and UK clients they can still go on their well-deserved holiday to the other end of the world, just as their brothers, sisters, mates, parents (even myself) have done before them.  It just wouldn't be fair if the fun stopped here!

- Andy Harwood is the CEO of the Visa Bureau.

©Visa Bureau 2003-2009

Visa Bureau takes no responsibility and cannot be held accountable for action taken as a result of any information or comment provided on this blog, and we recommend that you always seek a number of opinions before making a decision regarding your migration or visa application. Please refer to the Visa Bureau terms of use for more information.