UK Visas and British Citizenship

Multi Travel Visas o ffers bespoke Russian visa service. It is very fast and convenient and a visa applicant can submit an application - and biometrics - at our office in the City of London (Monument area). This service allows us to act as a visa centre and collect the biometrics (fingerprints) at our office in the City of London , which is easily accessible by all transport links. Under this procedure we prepare an application form, check the documents, order a visa invitation if needed. Then, rather than going to the visa centre and queuing there for hours, we will provide a biometric kit at our office. Conveniently, you would have a 1 – 1.5 hour window to come to our office (the day/time pre-arranged as convenient). Right here, on the spot, and without queuing, you will be able to provide the biometrics (fingerprints), we will ‘submit’ your documents and pay the application fees to the official staff operating the biometric kit (here at our office). If there are any issue...

The current EEA Regulations have a provision for both of the above but what is the difference? The EEA law in general can be a minefield, with the ever-changing Regulations in the way of various Amendments rather than all rules in one documents. Here we explain retained right versus derivative rights. RETAINED RIGHT OF RESIDENCE: In some cases a family member of an EEA citizen can retain a right of residency in the UK. The most common example is a non-EEA spouse who can remain in the UK following the divorce. There are requirements to meet, such as having been married for 3 years and actually being divorced on the date of application (plus more rules, this is just an example). Unmarried partners can’t retain the right, though, only spouses and civil partners, ie ‘married partners’.    The main difference is this: those who retain a right of residence can eventually apply for a permanent residency status. Those who have a derivate right – can’t. DERIVATIVE RIGHT OF ...

This is one of our very popular posts, where we explain how to use the Immigration Rules and where to find something you may be having doubts about or hearing different answers from different people. So, spouses of UK citizens only need the basic A1 level when applying for an initial visa or for an extension (but   not for ILR). There is a common myth that it is a B1 level but it is wrong. Here it is in the Rules: we go to Appendix FM https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-rules-appendix-fm In Family Life as a Partner we have a section called Section EC-P: Entry clearance as a partner and then a sub-section called English language requirement : “E-ECP.4.1. The applicant must provide specified evidence that they- ... (b) have passed an English language test in speaking and listening at a minimum of level A1 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages with a provider approved by the Secretary of State;” The same can be found in the s...

“ Joanne, you were very efficient and I am really happy with the results! I was really happy to recommend you (to my employer for immigration-related matters)”. This came from Priscila, a Brazilian national, who came to us to extend her 3-year Discretionary Leave to Remain. Since it was issued under the old rules before 9 July 2012 and was for 3 years, we were able to submit an application to extend it for further 3 years. The next step, after 3 more years, will be Indefinite leave to Remain (permanent residency), which can now be done on same-day service as from 6 th April 2015. The process described above is different from those getting the first discretionary visa from 9 July 2012 onwards. Under the ‘new rules’ a discretionary leave, private life or family life leave is issued for 2.5 years at a time, so one would need 10 years (3 extensions) to qualify for ILR, as opposed to 6 years under the old rules. For an individual advice or to make your application as succe...

A business plan was made compulsory for initial applications from 6 April 2015.   Over the past several years we’ve been dealing with the Entrepreneur visa applications for our clients. As a part of each application, we have to read client’s business plan, ask to make changes and generally, to include the information relevant to the Entrepreneur visa rules as well as based on the questions a client may be asked at a interview (from our experience of clients’ visa interviews). Our experienced allowed us to develop an approach to creating the business plans from a Tier 1 Entrepreneur visa point of view. Instead of using standard templates, we focus on what the visa officers want to see, ie on what a migrant will be required to do while holding this visa: investment of £50,000 or £200,000 and what your client is going to spend it on. For example, paying yourself a salary is not counted, yet it is very common for clients to do this.     Another example will be includ...

"Really good to be able to talk about practical issues around delivering PBS service." This came from Sally, who attended our PBS training course in May 2015. Sally was a solicitor and had plenty of knowledge on the immigration matters, such as spouse and family visas. She wanted to gain knowledge of the Points-Based System to help her to work on the PBS cases. As a practicing OISC-accredited immigration firm, we are 1 st 4Immigration work on Points-Based System applications on a daily basis and with great success. This includes Tier 1 Entrepreneur applications and Tier 2 Sponsor Licence applications. We also help with a business plan, which was made a compulsory requirement from 6 April 2015. Points-Based System has become a popular subject within our OISC Level 1 training course (both online course and a classroom one), so we started offering it as a separate course from March 2015, after we were told by the Level 1 attendees that they were there mainly for the P...

“Thank you so much again for all your help - Your knowledge of the requirements for extending our visa was evident, and really appreciated - we wish we had come straight to you months ago! I have already passed your name on to another friend”. This came from Cameron and Darnelle, nationals of New Zealand, who applied to extend their Entrepreneur visa and a dependent visa respectively. There are many requirements related to an extension in this category and it can be tricky to navigate! We successfully proved that the £200,000 of the funds have been invested as a director’s loan and that at least 2 full-time jobs for settled people have been created (in this case it was 3 people whose working hours totalled to the equivalent of 2 full-time jobs lasting for 12 months). The next step, after 2 more years of hard work in running a business, will be Indefinite leave to Remain (permanent residency). For an individual advice or to make your application as successful please contact us...

A very informative and practical 2-day weekend course at our office in the City of London!  1st 4Immigration Ltd is a practicing OISC-accredited immigration company, OISC ref F200800152. After many years of experience – and hundreds of successful cases – we are sharing our experience to help you to prepare for your OISC Level 1 assessment and accreditation or, if you are already practicing, to increase your knowledge. You can read Testimonials on our immigration cases here. TRAINING DATES: Weekend 20 - 21 June 2015, OISC Level 1 (in time for an OISC exam on 23 June).   Weekend 26 - 27 September 2015 (in time for OISC exam on 28 September). Weekend 24 - 25 October 2015 (in time for OISC exam on 29 October). Weekend 14 - 15 November 2015 (in time for OISC exam on 23 November). Weekend 12 - 13 December 2015 (in time for OISC exam on 17 December). Our tutors are our very own OISC-accredited practicing immigration advisers who handle the real c...

We are asked this question almost every day! The purpose of a Spouse/Partner visa is for the foreign partner to reside in the UK with their British/settled spouse/partner. So, are there limits on how many days you (or your British spouse) can spend outside the UK while on this visa? Some think it is 90 days, others – 180 days per year. Both are wrong. The former is the old limit for work visas and the latter is the current limit for the visas under the Points-Based System. Neither applies to spouses and partners. The answer is: there is no specified limit on absences. In other words, there is no minimum number of days, such as “180 per year”. The only rule is that the UK remains your main home and each case has to be assessed on its merit.   How does it work in practice? In our immigration practice we have to assess each case individually. For example, a case where a British spouse was sent, by their UK employer, to work in Hong Kong for 6 months, while remaining an employee...

It may be tempting to look at the Appendix B of the Immigration Rules, it is called English language after all. However, Appendix B is for the initial applications and extensions under the Points-Based System and it is no good for ILR applicants. The right place is Appendix KOLL, Knowledge of Language and Life, which applies only to ILR applicants, in all categories including in the PBS routes: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-rules-appendix-koll It is easy to see how you can meet the English requirement, such as by passing an acceptable test or using a degree taught in English. The real question is whether you have to meet this requirement again, if you already met it before, which applies to almost al Tier 1 migrants and to many Tier 2 migrants, particularly in the Tier 2 (General) sub-category. In other words, the question is “Do I have to pass English test again?” The answer is in the Appendix KOLL: “2.2 For the purposes of paragraph 2.1, an...

Multi Travel Visas Ltd can assist with renewing a UK passport using same-day or 1 week service at the Passport Office in London, with the authorisation from you as per the government requirements. We can submit applications on next working day after receiving your documents, there is no need to wait for an appointment. We may also be able to submit on the same day if we receive your documents before 12pm (Midday) and they are in order. We can also help if for some reason you are unable to apply yourself. If you don't have time to travel to a Passport Office yourself we can apply on your behalf (you don't have to come to London). If you are living/working abroad you can courier documents to our London office and we can submit them promptly for same-day service. This includes if your passport has run out of pages or if you need to renew not only yours but also/or your child's passport urgently.  Example: British expats living or working in the USA, the Middle East, Asia an...

Multi Travel Visas Ltd is an accredited agency with the official French visa centre in London, we have many years of experience of working with French Consulate. We use a separate system of appointments and can provide an appointment sooner than available for the public. FRENCH SCHENGEN VISA: It is possible to obtain a visa within 4 working days from the date of the biometric appointment for most nationals, such as Filipino, South African, Russian, Indian, Chinese, Turkish and most others. It takes longer for some nationals, up to 3 weeks, a list is available on our website: http://www.multitravelvisas.co.uk/schengen-visa-france.php   GERMAN SCHENGEN VISA: German Schengen visa takes 5 working days from the date of appointment. No biometrics, no personal attendance needed! Furthermore, spouses and family members of UK/EU citizens don't have to book tickets/accommodation before applying for this visa. This is the best Embassy to apply for a Schengen visa for spou...

As a Spouse/Partner/Fiancée visa is one of our most common visa categories (with the 100% success rate so far!), we are often asked this question. A Spouse/Partner Entry Clearance (visa issued outside the UK) is issued for 33 months, that’s 2.5 years plus 3 months. It starts from the date of decision, not the date of travel. The 3 months are given for extra flexibility, so a foreign spouse doesn’t have to rush and arrive in the UK as soon as they have a visa. And most people would not make any travel arrangements until their visa has been granted, which may sometimes take as much as 3 months (but there is a Priority Service for applications in some countries, such as the USA, Australia, New Zealand and many others). So, the 3 extra months are already added to address this issue. However, it does not mean you have to enter within those 3 months. You can enter later, as long as you enter within the validity of the visa. If you do delay your entry for more than 3 months it mea...