How to get access to the UK
As a young European worker or student who is motivated to gain work experience in the UK, Brexit may have inevitably discouraged you. Actually, you shouldn’t loose ambition.
New instructions: types of VISA
Clearly, an ID card will no longer be enough to cross the Anglo-Saxon border, or to legally reside there. However, the new procedures do not impose any prohibitions, only new instructions. We will briefly outline here some of the distinctions between the various types of visa that you should be aware of for your first steps towards the United Kingdom.
First of all, what you need to know is whether or not you were already resident in the United Kingdom on 31 December 2020. If you were already resident by that date, you will only need to apply for the EU Settlement Scheme. Otherwise, you will have to go to the Visa Application Centre (by appointment on GOV.UK) in your country and apply for a specific visa, which will be issued if and only if you meet certain requirements for the so-called ‘points system’. If you are coming to the UK to study, this is the right procedure for you!
Additional services & special VISA eligibility routes
In addition, depending on the period you spend in the United Kingdom, you may have to apply for services in addition to residence, such as access to the National Health Service.
Further diversification applies to the visa logic based on the reason you are traveling to the UK. Skilled Worker route eligibility, Skilled work: Health and care visa, Dependants and Global talent.
The latter relate to travel motivated by work dynamics. For example, Skilled Worker route eligibility is a type of visa for which you can apply if and only if you have been employed in the UK and your employer vouches for you to the Home Office.
Equally interesting is the case of Global Talent. As the name suggests, this type of visa is reserved for those who can demonstrate that they are potential leaders in the fields of academia or research, arts and culture, and digital technology. How do you prove this? Obviously, the government looks at the documents you provide, which will undoubtedly include a job offer, or a research grant approved by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).