The Highly Skilled Migrant Programme (HSMP) was a scheme from 2002 until 2008, that was designed to allow highly skilled people to immigrate into the United Kingdom to look for work or self-employment opportunities. It was different from the standard UK work permit scheme in that applicants did not need a specific job offer in the UK. It has now been replaced by Tier 1 (General) of the new points-based immigration system for those who are already living in the UK with HSMP and Tier 2 for those who are currently living outside of the UK or living in the UK in a different immigration category.