UK Visas and British Citizenship

I call it my “Other way around principle’. Do not look on the Rules for a category you’re now in. You’ll find how to switch to your current visa, which you already have. It works “other way around” – look in the Rules of the category you’re looking to switch to.    Each category has a section called Requirements for a Leave to Remain. Then you’ll see a point saying around the lines “The applicant must have or have been last granted a leave (that’s a term for a visa) as a ….” and the name of the categories which allow to switch. If you find your current visa there then you can switch, if not then not. If there is no section for a Leave to Remain then no one can switch to that category (example is a Tier 5 Youth Mobility Scheme). Here are some common examples from our practice: EXAMPLE 1: Switching from a Tier 4 Student visa to a Tier 2 General sponsored work visa inside the UK. The category you’re switching to is Tier 2 General, so this is where we need to...

2-day weekend courses, every month, at our office in the City of London. Multi Travel Visas Ltd and a sister company, 1st 4Immigration Ltd, are both accredited by The OISC, ref F201100418 and F200800152 respectively. After many years of experience – and hundreds of successful cases – we are offering to share our experience with you to help you prepare for your OISC Level 1 assessment and accreditation. You can read Testimonials on our immigration cases here. TRAINING DATES (we have a class every month) - all available to be booked now. Weekend 31 January - 1 February 2015 Weekend 28 February - 1 March 2015 Weekend 21 - 22 March 2015 Weekend 11 - 12 April 2015 Weekend 16 - 17 May 2015 Weekend 27 - 28 June 2015 Our tutors are our very own OISC-accredited practicing immigration advisers who handle the real cases during the week and teach on weekends. You can read about them on the Tutors page.   Unlike most traditional courses, ours is conducted using plain language and does no...

For example, if you used employment income when your spouse/partner was coming to the UK,   does it mean you have to keep the same job? Do you have to keep working at all for the duration of the Spouse/Partner visa? Or, if you used a Savings Category (D) and held £62,500 for 6 months, does it mean you have to keep the money until the next application? The above are very common questions in our practice. The answer is: every application is considered based on the financials at the time of that application, so you can certainly vary the method of achieving the Financial Requirement threshold (£18,600 income or £62,500 savings). So, if you used savings of £62,500 when your spouse secured his/her initial Spouse visa, then after 2.5 years you can use a different method, such as earnings from your job – as long as it meets the Financial Requirement and you can provide the Specified Evidence (specified documents in the format the UK Visas and Immigration wants them). Moreover, it...

Online OISC LEVEL 1 Course. CPD 16 Hours. Including a mock Level 1 Assessment and real case studies from a practicing OISC-accredited immigration company. This is a most requested training course and you can now download our OISC Level 1 training course to your computer and study in your own time - to prepare for your OISC accreditation and Level 1 Assessment. No need to travel to a classroom, no need to wait for the next date. You can start your immigration training right now!   As we are a practicing OISC-accredited immigration company, we have designed this basic level course to be of practical help for those who are preparing for OISC accreditation at Level 1 and for compulsory Level 1 Assessment. Or perhaps to those who are planning to open a UK immigration consultancy based overseas. It would also be of interest for practicing advisers and immigration lawyers as well as for community group advisers, council or Citizens Advice Bureau workers, voluntee...

The short answer is No. We should just as well smash a very popular theory that one gets an Indefinite Leave after 5 years in the UK. It’s not true. One gets an Indefinite Leave (permanent residency, we’ll call it ILR from now on) after spending a specified number of years in the UK in the eligible category. Or sometimes – eligible categories. Some categories can be combined while others can’t be. Tier 2 General visa can be combined with Tier 1 General but can’t be combined with a Spouse/Partner visa. Spouse/Partner visa now can’t be combined with any other visa at all, so your qualifying period for an ILR will start all over again if you switch to a Spouse/Partner visa (currently, it is 5 years, so ‘your’ 5 years will start all over again). This is a matter of the Immigration Rules, so fortunately, there is no need to guess. each category of the Rules has a list of what can be combined (and can’t be, if it’s not on the list). You may find useful our earlier post on ‘Help ...

This post would be of interest to the migrants but we also teach this skill (how to use the Rules) in our immigration training, which we provide for our fellow advisers, solicitors or those who’re preparing to become an adviser. Judging whether you have spent enough time in the UK to qualify for an Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR from now on) is a matter of the Rules. The Rules ‘simply’ say it and if they don’t then you can’t combine. Here are the most common examples from our practice: EXAMPLE 1: can I combine Tier 2 and Spouse visas? Go to the Rules relevant to the last category, in our case Spouse visa, so we go to the Appendix FM: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-rules-appendix-fm Under the Section R-ILRP , then in Eligibility: “E-ILRP.1.3. The applicant must have completed a continuous period of at least 60 months with limited leave as a partner...” So, we need 60 months (5 years) with a Spouse visa, nothing about Tier 2! In other words, a ...

For example, if you   are switching from a Tier 4 Student visa or from a Tier 1 General visa or from a Tier 2 visa, you need to prove English language proficiency at minimum A1 level (in Speaking and Listening). Most likely you needed a higher level for your student visa (A1 is the most basic level). You had proved English at a much higher level if you   have a Tier 1 visa. And you had probably proved English at minimum A1 level if you’re switching from a Tier 2 visa (except for some on Intra-Company Transfer visas). So, wouldn’t be logical to just say you had proved it before and are relying on it now, in your FLR(M) application?   It would be logical but it won’t be within the Rules. If your previous visa were in the same category, ie a Spouse/Partner/Fiancée visa, and you’re extending in the same category then Yes, you can rely on the fact you had proved English language requirement earlier (assuming those visas were immediately before the current one).   ...

2-day weekend courses, every month, at our office in the City of London. Multi Travel Visas Ltd and a sister company, 1st 4Immigration Ltd, are both accredited by The OISC, ref F201100418 and F200800152 respectively. After many years of experience – and hundreds of successful cases – we are offering to share our experience with you to help you prepare for your OISC Level 1 assessment and accreditation. You can read Testimonials on our immigration cases here. TRAINING DATES (we have a class every month): Weekend 6 - 7 December 2014 – book now! Weekend 31 January - 1 February 2015 Weekend 28 February - 1 March 2015 Weekend 21 - 22 March 2015 Weekend 11 - 12 April 2015 Weekend 16 - 17 May 2015 Weekend 27 - 28 June 2015 Our tutors are our very own OISC-accredited practicing immigration advisers who handle the real cases during the week and teach on weekends. You can read about them on the Tutors page. Unlike most traditional courses, ours is conducted using plain language and does ...