English Language And Maintenance Requirements For A Tier 2 Visa Application

To make a Tier 2 Visa application, amongst other requirements, meeting the English language and maintenance requirements is one of the most basic and yet important one.

Meeting the English language requirement means that satisfy the entry clearance office or decision maker that you have good knowledge of English language.Maintenance requirement on the other hand means that you have satisfied the entry clearance and/or decision maker that you can support yourself in the UK without recourse to public funds.

English language requirements

You must meet the English language requirement (10 point to be claimed)

You must provide the specified documents to show that you have a good knowledge of English to the required standard of CEFR B1 level. There are three ways in which you can show you meet the English language requirement.

These include:

• being a national of a majority English speaking country; or
• passing an English language test approved by the UKVI (IELTS or Trinity College) at B1 level of the Council of Europe's Common European Framework CEFR; or
• holding a degree that was taught in English and is equivalent to a UK bachelor's degree or above.
• You can also meet the English language requirement, without the need to provide evidence, if you were last given permission to stay in the UK: you currently have, or you were last granted a permission to stay in Tier 2 (General) under the rules in place before 6 April 2011; or you qualify under the transitional arrangements.
• You can meet the English language requirement without the need to provide evidence if you have ever been given permission to stay:
• under the Tier 1 (General) category, Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) category or as a Businessperson or under Tier 1 (Post Study Work) category; or
• as a Highly Skilled Migrant under the Rules in place on or after 5 December 2006; or
• under the Tier 1 (Graduate Entrepreneur) category, having then provided evidence of having a knowledge of English equivalent to level B1 of the Council of Europe's Common European Framework for Language Learning or above; or
• under the Minister of Religion category (not Tier 2 (Minister of Religion)) under the rules in place on or after 19 April 2007; or
• under the Tier 2 (Minister of Religion) category, having the provided evidence of meeting the English language requirement; or
• under the Tier 2 (General) category under the rules in place on or after 6 April 2011, having provided evidence of having a knowledge of English equivalent to level B1 of the Council of Europe's Common European Framework for Language Learning or above; or
• as a Tier 4 (General) student where the Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies used to support your application for that grant was assigned on or after 21 April 2011.

If you are applying for Tier 2 (Minister of Religion), the Certificate of Acceptance of Studies must also have been assigned for a course of at least degree level study.

You must score at least 10 points for English language (Appendix B of the Immigration Rules).

You can also meet the English language requirement, without the need to provide evidence, if you were last given permission to stay in the UK:

• You currently have, or you were last granted a permission to stay in Tier 2 (General) under the rules in place before 6 April 2011; or
• You qualify under the transitional arrangements.

You can meet the English language requirement without the need to provide evidence if you have ever been given permission to stay:

• Under the Tier 1 (General) category, Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) category or as a Businessperson or under Tier 1 (Post Study Work) category; or
• As a Highly Skilled Migrant under the Rules in place on or after 5 December 2006; or
• Under the Tier 1 (Graduate Entrepreneur) category, having then provided evidence of having a knowledge of English equivalent to level B1 of the Council of Europe's Common European Framework for Language Learning or above; or
• Under the Minister of Religion category (not Tier 2 (Minister of Religion)) under the rules in place on or after 19 April 2007; or
• Under the Tier 2 (Minister of Religion) category, having the provided evidence of meeting the English language requirement; or
• Under the Tier 2 (General) category under the rules in place on or after 6 April 2011, having provided evidence of having a knowledge of English equivalent to level B1 of the Council of Europe's Common European Framework for Language Learning or above; or
• As a Tier 4 (General) student where the Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies used to support your application for that grant was assigned on or after 21 April 2011. If you are applying for Tier 2 (Minister of Religion), the Certificate of Acceptance of Studies must also have been assigned for a course of at least degree level study.

You must score at least 10 points for English language (Appendix B of the Immigration Rules).

Maintenance Requirements

You must meet the maintenance requirement (10 points to be claimed)

• You must have at least £945 of personal savings which must have been held in your bank account for a consecutive 90 day period prior to the date of application;
• Your employer can certify the maintenance for you, this must be confirmed on your Certificate of Sponsorship. Please note, only A-rated (Premium), A-rated (SME+) or A-rated sponsors can certify your maintenance;
• If you are applying together with your dependents, you must show that you have an extra £630 of personal savings for each family member to support, which must have been held for a consecutive 90 day period prior to the date of application.

Please note, the family member can also rely on his/her own personal savings. Your sponsor might also be able to certify the maintenance for your dependents.

You must score at least 10 points for maintenance.

If you hold certain types of visas, you may also qualify for an exemption from some Tier 2 visa requirements. As everybody's circumstances are different, we are happy to discuss your case with you without charge over the phone or in person. Submit an online enquiry or call us now on 02037442797 to speak with a qualified immigration lawyer.