Tier 1 (General) is now closed to applications from abroad

22 December 2010

The UK Border Agency has stopped accepting Tier 1 (General) applications made overseas, from 00:01 on 23 December 2010. This is to ensure that we do not exceed the limit set by the UK government for approved Tier 1 (General) applications between 19 July 2010 and April 2011.

If you submitted an applications on or before 22 December 2010, this will be processed as normal. However, we have already announced that we will not decide any more Tier 1 (General) applications made overseas until January 2011.

Tier 1 (General) will not reopen for new applications overseas. If you have already obtained a Tier 1 (General) visa, your dependants can still apply.

Tier 1 (General) will remain open to applicants who are already in the UK until 5 April 2011. There will be transitional arrangements for some in-country applicants beyond 6 April 2011, and we will announce details of these in due course.

In November 2010, we published more information about the changes being introduced from April 2011.