UK Visas and British Citizenship

After years of our practical experience - and many successful cases! - 1 st 4Immigration is now offering to share our extensive knowledge with other advisers and solicitors. We do not just teach the Rules - we practice them on day-to-day basis! OISC Level 1 Training Course, Saturday 17 th December. OISC Level 1 Training Course with 8 hours CPD, Saturday 5 th January. OISC Level 2 Training Course with 8 hours CPD, Saturday 28 th January. Training is at our office building Royal Mint Court at Tower Hill in Central London or via Skype. Level 1 course includes a mock Level 1 Assessment. Level 2 course includes examples of scenarios used at Level 2 exam. All courses include examples from our real cases and a Questions&Answers session (prepare your questions in advance to win a prize!). An author of the best question/case study emailed in advance would receive a voucher to redeem against our service for Schengen visas, UK visas, visas to Russia, India, China, S...

Our most popular posting on Facebook in October, with over 200 impressions, was this: If you have a gap between UK visas it will affect your ILR application. Such as when you had a gap between work permits or Tier 1/HSMP, ie had to go back to your country and apply from there after your previous UK visa expired. Or applied for a visa here but was refused. In many such cases it means you would not qualify or an ILR based on 5 years on work permit/HSMP/Tier 1 General. We deal with ILR applications all the time and we can submit on Premium service without appointments twice a week. www.1st4immigration.com

"Wow I’m so happy and relieved!!!! Thank you so much for all your help! My application was really well done by you and I had a really good service." Emilie, Canadian national, switching from a Working Holiday visa to EEA2 (EEA Residence Card as an Unmarried Partner of a European citizen). Our clients have been in a relationship for several years but only lived together in London for 1 year and 10 months (2 months short for 2 years). We advised to aubmit an EEA2 application anyway because it would take up to 6 months to process it and also the basic rule is to be in a 'durable relationship' rather than strictly living together for 2 years. www.1st4immigration.com

While preparing this we have heard the latest Supreme Court judgement ruled that the minimum age for Fiancees, Spouses and Partners is to be lowered back to 18 yo instead of the current 21 yo. So, here are the proposals (not in force yet): 1) Main change is extending Spouse/Partner visas from 2 years to 5 years. That's 3 years longer to wait to qualify for an Indefinite Leave to Remain (permanent residency) and ultimately, a longer wait for a British passport. It is explained that a 5 year period would help combat sham marriages (and in some cases it probably would). But I believe it is simply an attempt to bring the rules in line with the Rules of European regulations. Under the EEA regulations spouses and all other family members of EU citizens get a 5 year visa first and only then apply for an ILR (permanent visas). I believe the UK Immigration Rules on Family Migration are going to be brought in line with the EEA rules, it was the same reason why Work/HSMP visas were extend...

Following a judgement of Supreme Court it is now possible to apply for a Fiancee, Spouse or Partner visa even if one (or both) partners are aged 18-20 years old. Until now only those aged 21 or more could apply. The judge ruled, I'd say predictably, that such an age restriction contradics Artile 8 of the European Human Rights Convention. Good news for the genuine young couples! Such visas are one of our main speciailities (based on my own experience also)   http://www.1st4immigration.com/

Multi Travel Visas (our sister company dealing with Schengen, Russian, Indian and other foreign travel visas) has sponsored Diwali Party 2011, organised by London Business School last Saturday 5th November at Radisson Blue Hotel in Mayfair in Central London. Party poster with MTV logo Our Multi Travel Visas team managed to make their way onto the stage (probably interrupting the dancers) and gave a speech on visas and immigration advice. They were cheered and applauded! Well, it is a useful information after all, even for party-goers.   It was a fantastic evening and it was great to see many of our customers there! MTV partying Team      www.multitravelvisas.co.uk www.1st4immigration.com

"My Mum has been refused an entry clearance twice in recent years, although we thought it was a straightforward case. I am her only daughter and a settled UK citizen and my mum is an elderly widow living on her own in compassionate circumstances in Ukraine. But without a professional advice and qualified legal guidance  we have applied for wrong types of visa and the documents we have submitted proven to be insufficient. We were very sceptical and disillusioned when contacted 1st4Immigration advisors, as we had lost our hope, but were so lucky to have received a professional efficient service. Natalia Andrews proved to be a top class professional who guided us through the whole process of collecting documents, meticulously checking every word and has written an outstanding letter to the Immigration authorities. Without her help and guidance, I doubt that our visa application would have been successful, especially now with the more toughe...