Nigerians Who Lives In The UK and Earn Less Than £35K Will Be Deported

Nigerians, from next month, non-EU migrants
in the UK earning less than £35,000 will be
deported.
The new Home Office policy, which comes
into force on April 6, applies to all overseas
workers who have been in the UK for five
years on a Tier 2 visa.
If they can’t prove that they’re earning
more than £35,000, they will be denied
settlement and will face deportation.
Teachers, IT professionals and journalists
could all be badly affected.
A petition launched at the beginning of the
year called for the threshold to be reconsidered
– it gathered more than 100,000 signatures
and was debated in parliament last week.
So what’s actually changing?
To settle in the UK as a skilled worker, non-
EU migrants need to have a Tier 2 visa. For
this you need:
An offer for a job in the UK that pays at
least £20,800
Have had at least £945 in your bank account
for 90 days
A certificate of sponsorship from your
employer (which can cost between £536 and
£1,476)
To pay a £200 annual healthcare surcharge
To prove your English language proficiency
After five years on this visa, skilled workers
are able to apply for ‘indefinite leave to
remain’ – and this is what is about to
change.
From April, anyone applying for indefinite
leave to remain will need to earn at least
£35,000.
Nurses are temporarily exempt from this
threshold, along with PhD-level jobs and any
professions that have been on the official
‘shortage occupation list’ while the person
has been living here.
However, the earnings threshold could be
applied to migrant nurses in the future.
Teachers aren’t exempt (unless they are
professors in certain disciplines). Even David
Cameron’s mum has lost her job because of
Tory cuts
In fact, the Home Office’s own analysis of
the policy in 2012 revealed that the new
threshold would have a significant impact on
teachers, IT professionals and marketing
managers.
What if I’ve been in the UK for more than
five years?
Then you won’t be deported – the new rule
doesn’t apply to anyone who entered the
country on a Tier 2 visa on or before April 5
2011.
I’ve been here for a decade, will I be
deported?
No – as long as you’ve been living here for
10 continuous years, you can apply for
indefinite leave to remain with no salary
threshold.
So if you came here in 2006 as a student visa,
then moved directly onto a skilled workers’
visa, you can apply to settle here regardless of
how much you earn.
The only condition is that you can’t have
left the UK for more than 180 days at a time,
or 540 days in total.
I’m here on a marriage visa, will I have to
leave?
No, the changes only apply to people on a
Tier 2 visa.