The Youth Mobility Scheme is an immigration route that allows individuals between ages 18 and 30 to experience life in the UK. The route is available only to citizens of certain countries. Under this route, you will have UK entry clearance for up to two years. The application must be made from overseas and you cannot bring any dependant on this route. The Youth Mobility Scheme route is NOT a route to settlement in the UK.
Indian citizens can now apply for the Youth Mobility Scheme route.
To qualify for the route, applicants from India must:
- Have an invitation to apply
- Make the application within the time period specified in the invitation
- Provide the Unique Application number given on the invitation
- Provide a police clearance certificate issued no more than 6 months before date of application
- Provide paperwork to prove their identity and nationality
- Provide evidence of sponsorship from India. The sponsorship documents cannot be older than six months. (Note: Under this scheme, sponsorship is limited to 3,000 places for Indian nationals)
- Hold a qualification equal to or higher than RQF level 6, or have at least 3 years of work experience at a job that is equivalent to an eligible occupation mentioned in the Skilled Occupations List
- Pay an application fee (£244 at present)
- Pay the Immigration Health Charge (£1,248 at present)
- Have minimum funds of £2,530 for a 28-day period and as specified in Appendix Finance.
- Must not have any children aged under 18 who are living with them or financially dependent on them
Under the Youth Mobility Scheme route, the following conditions will apply:
- No access to public funds
- No permission to study unless the individual is subject to the ATAS condition (Academic Technology Approval Scheme)
- No permission to work as a professional sportsperson (even a sports coach)
- Permission to be self-employed only if the individual does not own any premises other than his/her home from which they carry out the business, the value of equipment used for business is less than £5000, and the individual has no employees.
An Indian National applying for the Youth Mobility Scheme route needs to participate in a Home Office Ballot process. The Home Office selects individuals at random from a pool of applicants and those selected will receive an invitation to apply. Please remember that the ballot draw time is limited. So, enter the ballot only when you are ready to make the application.
How Aristone Solicitors can help
If you are seriously considering applying for the Youth Mobility Scheme, get in touch with us right away. We can give you legal advice on whether you qualify for the scheme and how you can qualify for the scheme. For example, we can help you know what strong evidence you can provide to support your application. If you do not qualify for this route, we can suggest alternative routes based on your immigration requirements.