The Channel Islands (Jersey, Guernsey, Herm, Sark, and Alderney) and the Isle of Man have their own immigration laws and policies, separate to those of the United Kingdom. For immigration control, we treat these islands as outside the United Kingdom.

If you are living within the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man, and have been granted permission to stay (leave to remain) there by one of the island authorities, you will not be able to make an application for leave to remain in the United Kingdom as a highly skilled worker directly from the islands.

In these circumstances, you can apply under Tier 1 (General) in two ways. These are:

1.        by returning to the country where you are normally resident (your home country) and applying for permission come to the United Kingdom (entry clearance) from there; or

2.        if your permission to stay on one of the islands is still current, you can come directly to the United Kingdom. Once you are in the United Kingdom, you may apply to switch into Tier 1 (General) provided the immigration category under which you were given permission to stay on the islands is one from which United Kingdom immigration law allows you to switch into Tier 1 (General). This is because, once you have travelled to the United Kingdom, we are able to treat the leave given to you under the island laws as if it had been granted by the United Kingdom authorities.