Please note that Tier 5 (Temporary Worker) – Creative and Sporting will continue, largely in its existing form, under the new system.

If you wish to engage EEA or Swiss nationals (and non-EEA nationals) from January, you will need to apply to become a licensed sponsor, if you are not one already. Becoming a sponsor normally takes eight weeks and fees apply. (You will not need to be a sponsor to engage EEA or Swiss nationals who have settled or pre-settled status.)

A number of other routes have also opened today:

Global Talent visa for people who can show they have exceptional talent or exceptional promise in the fields of science, engineering, humanities, medicine, digital technology or arts and culture
Innovator visa for a person seeking to establish a business in the UK based on an innovative, viable and scalable business idea
Start-up visa for a person seeking to establish a business in the UK for the first time
The Intra-company Transfer visa, which is for established workers who are being transferred by the business they work for to do a skilled role in the UK
The Student route and Child Student route opened on 5 October 2020 to eligible international students from across the globe.