The HSMP visa was the Highly Skilled Migrant Program (HSMP) that has now been phased out. This visa program was designed to allow highly skilled individuals from other countries to migrate to the United Kingdom to look for work or self-employment opportunities. This was different from other standard United Kingdom work permit programs in that with the HSMP visa, individuals did not need specific job offers within the United Kingdom. The HSMP visa has now been replaced with the Tier I program that awards visas on a new points-based immigration system. Under this new points system, immigrants are given points based on education, prior work experience, age, past earnings, and the ability to speak English.