UK Visas and British Citizenship

In this article in The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/dec/30/spanish-uk-resident-fears-insurance-loophole-will-force-her-to-leave , a Spanish national, Maria Luisa, was worried whether she would qualify for permanent residence status in the UK (such applications are very popular at the moment due to the uncertainly over Brexit). She has been living in the UK for the past 16 years and is married to a British national. According to this article, Maria Luisa was worried that she took some time off work, approximately a year, when she had a child and returned to work 4 years ago; she has been working since. The main point here is that European / EEA citizens do not just get residency rights in the UK beyond the initial 3 months (as it is widely believed). Instead an EEA citizen is expected to be exercising Treaty rights, such as working. Those who are not working can be classed as “self-sufficient”, and this includes EEA nationals coming to the UK to study. ...

“I attended the two days weekend OISC Level 1 training, it was conducted very professionally and as promised the content was simplified and easy to understand. The course was well structured and well organised and the trainer went through the content at a steady pace with room for questions. Daniel, our trainer made us all feel completely at ease to ask any questions, however basic or silly they seemed. The facilities at the venue are great and you even get a lunch voucher on the first day. Notes are provided so you can study them before and/or after the course. I enjoyed my training and left happy and satisfied with no cause for complaint. I look forward to further training with 1st 4immigration.” Saima 1st 4immigration provides 2 days OISC Level 1 training course at our office in the City of London. This is a classroom course delivered by our OISC registered immigration adviser, who deal with UK immigration applications on a daily basis. This course is accredited by the OISC a...

The couple said in the article they even had to move to Australia for 6 months while waiting for the cash to “spend” 6 months on a bank account. The Guardian article on Supreme Court ruling for spouses of UK citizens is here: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/feb/22/supreme-court-spouse-rule-in-one-word-we-are-devastated     We had already explained a solution for the 1 st couple (Brazilian / British where the British husband was struggling to find a job in the UK while still living in Brazil): http://1st4immigration-visas.blogspot.co.uk/2017/02/the-guardian-article-on-supreme-court.html   Here is our general advice to the 2 nd couple mentioned there, with the husband being from Australia.       Based on the article, it appears The couple used the Savings option. It is well-known that one mist keep amount of £62,500 (or equivalent) in the bank for 6 months, with the balance not falling below this even by £1 even for 1 day. ...

Following last week’s decision by Supreme Court to back the income requirement of £18,600 for a Spouse / Partner /Fiancée visa, The Guardian followed up with 2 examples of how 2 couples were affected: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/feb/22/supreme-court-spouse-rule-in-one-word-we-are-devastated Here is our general advice to them. It may not be exactly the magic solution but it would allow them to achieve their goal. From the immigration law professional point of view, our advice to the 1st couple (Brazilian / British) is for the British husband to come to the UK on his own, find employment paying min £18,600 per year, work for 6 months and then sponsor Monica for a Spouse visa (Monica could come as a visitor during those 6 months before returning to Brazil to apply for a "proper" Spouse visa). This can be any job, or can be more than one job if the salary from the 1st job isn't high enough. Once Monica has her Spouse visa, Martin could quit that job (i...

The story of the minimum income for a Spouse/Partner visa is very much alive even almost 5 years since it was introduced in July 2012. Last week’s decision of Supreme Court to back the threshold of £18,600 was widely reported in the press, such as in the Daily Mail: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4248506/Supreme-Court-throws-foreign-spouses-case.html or The Guardian : https://www.theguardian.com/law/2017/feb/22/supreme-court-backs-minimum-income-rule-for-non-european-spouses or The Telegraph: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/02/22/supreme-court-ruling-due-challenge-foreign-spouse-income-limit2/   We are waiting to see how the policy guidance is going to be changed by the Home Office (UK Visas and Immigration). The threshold, in principle, remains are £18,600 for a spouse/partner, more if children are also applying for a visa. On the other hand, as they say “The devil is in detail”, it will be all about how it is applied. Generally, it is moving towards the ...

“I have used 1st 4Immigration and its sister firm MultiTravelVisas on multiple occasions over the last 8 years for visa requirements for me and my family. Professional service, comprehensive advice, courteous team and competitive fees. I will continue to use them for future requirements.” Manish, Indian national  In this interesting case the client was switching from Tier 1 General to Tier 2 General. Why? Why would one be switching from a visa that allows to work for anyone in the UK (including for yourself) to a visa that ties him to the employer (Tier 2 sponsor)? The answer is the client couldn't qualify for ILR in Tier 1 General route before April 2018 because he spent too much time outside the UK, so had to find another category to allow him to reach ILR. He could now combine time spent on Tier 1 General visas with time spent on Tier 2 General and apply for ILR in due course in the future. For an individual advice or to make your application as successful please cont...

“My spouse visa was recently up for renewal. I had used 1st Immigration for my first application and had had a good experience so decided to use their services again. As before, they provided an excellent service, answering all my queries quickly and courteously, and assisting in correcting an error the Visa centre had made with my previous visa. My visa application renewal was successful and I have no hesitation in recommending their services to prospective clients.” Nadya, Russian national In this case we were submitting a Spouse visa extension application, i.e. the 2nd visa after the first 2.5 years in this category. We used same-day service and it went well on the day! For an individual advice or to make your application as successful please contact us: info@1st4immigration.com or visit  http://www.1st4immigration.com. If you are an Immigration Adviser or a Solicitor please visit our immigration Training and CPD website:  www.1st4immigration.com/training ....

Most EEA nationals, who come in the UK to study, are not aware about the fact they are supposed to have comprehensive sickness insurance. It doesn’t affect their day-to-day life here until they apply for permanent residence (has been a popular immigration application since the Brexit vote in June 2016). Who is exempt? The one and only exemption is for the EEA citizens who were issued with a Registration Certificate to confirm their status as a student before 20 June 2011. It could have been a standard certificate based on the fact one was studying. It could have been a Yellow Card for Romanian/Bulgarian students. The date of 20 June 2011 is significant because this is when this rule (of having sickness insurance) was implemented for EEA students. Controversially, and many would say unfairly, it was applied retrospectively to all EEA students even for the time they spent in the UK, studying, before 20 June 2011 when insurance was not even required. So, those who did apply and...

We are often asked this question, especially by those who do not wish to leave the UK for too long and be apart from their British spouse. Here we are covering a situation where a foreign spouse is in the UK in the capacity of a visitor (on a visitor visa or just with an airport stamp for 6 months). Also, a situation where the couple are travelling and are looking to apply for a Spouse visa at the end of their travel, say in Spain.   (Here we are not covering a situation where a foreign spouse is in the UK on a visa like Tier 4 student, this is a different matter).     So, to start with, visitors cannot switch to a Spouse status inside the UK. Instead they have to apply from outside the UK, but where? Such an application must be made either in the country of your nationality or in the country where you have a valid resident-type visa, such as a work visa or permanent visa or a family visa etc (but NOT a visitor status). For example, if you are Australian, tra...

“I would like to say a huge thank you to Sebastian and Multi Travel Visas for their help in obtaining a Schengen visa from the French Embassy. I contacted many agencies but was turned away with one saying that "no one could help me and that there's no way I'd get a visa". Well, Sebastian and his colleagues have proved them wrong and I got a 2 year multi entry visa from the French Embassy in 2 working days (visa issued in 1 working day, received it in the post on the 2nd day)! Needless to say, I am extremely satisfied with their service and would not hesitate to recommend them to anyone who needs help with Schengen visas. Thank you again, Sebastian!” Nina, Chinese national It is possible to obtain a French Schengen visa within 3-4 working days from the date of appointment for most nationals, such as South African, Thai, Filipino, Russian, Indian, Chinese and most others. We can also assist with the German and Portuguese Schengen visas. The good thing about...

“ Very efficient and good service! Would use them again! ” Demi, Chinese national  It is possible to obtain a French Schengen visa within 3-4 working days from the date of appointment for most nationals, such as South African, Thai, Filipino, Russian, Indian, Chinese and most others. We can also assist with the German and Portuguese Schengen visas. The good thing about applying through French Embassy is that they tend to issuer longer, multiple-entry, visas. Although you have to go through a very stringent process of application, you may have a visa lasting for several years.  Contact us at Multi Travel Visas: French Schengen visa:  http://www.multitravelvisas.co.uk/schengen-visa-france.php German Schengen visa:  http://www.multitravelvisas.co.uk/schengen-visa-germany.php Portuguese Schengen visa:  http://www.multitravelvisas.co.uk/schengen-visa-portugal.php Fast UK passport renewal through the Passport Office in London):  htt...

“Really good service and I would recommend their service to anyone preparing for Visa.” Saif, Iraqi national In this case we were submitting a Spouse visa extension application , ie the 2nd visa after the first 2.5  years in this category. We used same-day service and it went well on the day! For an individual advice or to make your application as successful please contact us: info@1st4immigration.com or visit  http://www.1st4immigration.com. If you are an Immigration Adviser or a Solicitor please visit our immigration Training and CPD website:  www.1st4immigration.com/training . We have a weekend OISC Level 1 course as well as a Points-Based System course and we also have online training courses, including Online OISC Level 1 course and courses focusing on Spouse/Partner visas. All our training courses are CPD-accredited with CPD credit accepted by OISC.

When you are applying for your 1 st Spouse visa, you need the most basic A1 level. This is true whether you are applying outside the UK or switching from another category inside the UK. After the 1 st Spouse visa you will need an extension. At the moment at that stage you would still need the same A1 level, so at the moment you wouldn’t need to worry about this rule at all. From May 2017, however, you would need to demonstrate a higher A2 level when applying for extension. This new rules, having to prove A2 level, applies to those whose current Spouse / Partner visa expires from 1 May 2017 onwards – even if applying for extension before that!   You can read more on this here in the earlier post: http://1st4immigration-visas.blogspot.co.uk/2017/02/new-a2-english-language-requirement.html After that you could normally apply for a permanent visa. This is where an even higher B1 level would be needed. For an individual advice or to make an application please contact us:...

The new requirement for spouses and partners of British citizens to prove the higher, A2, level of English when applying for a visa extension in this category has been known for a while. What makes it interesting is the way it will be implemented. Unusually, the Rules were changed in the way to prevent the migrants rushing to extend their Spouse/Partner visas before the changes have been implemented. Traditionally, the new Rules affect those who make an application after the changes. Just as traditionally, people usually rush to make an application before the changes – to benefit from the old Rules. In this case, however, the changes affect those spouses / partners, whose initial Spouse/Partner visas expire from 1 May 2017 onwards – even if they are making an application before 1 May 2017! We also have a post, describing all levels of English exams and when each level is needed for a Spouse / Partner visa: http://1st4immigration-visas.blogspot.co.uk/2017/02/updated-english-...

5 years and 10 years refer to the number of years a migrant needs to spend in the UK, in the given category, to qualify for permanent residency. So, in the 5-year route one needs 5 years and in the 10-year route twice more, ie 10 years. It means if you get a visa in this route, you'd need 5 or 10 years respectively from the date of the first visa. It does not relate to the number of years preceding to the first application in this route. When does each of them apply? 5-year route is for a migrant who is applying as a Spouse/Partner, or as a Parent, of a UK citizen under the Appendix FM and who is able to meet all the requirements. This is also known as application “within the Rules”. It means one can meet all the requirements, be it applying at the right place (ie switching from another category when it is allowed), meeting the Financial or English language requirements or otherwise.    10-year route applies to the applications under FLR(FP) category, as a Spouse/Part...

This is one of the most commonly asked questions when it comes to a UK Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) visa. There seems to be confusion over how much one needs. If you could apply with GBP 50,000 why would you be worried about 200,000? Here is our clarification. The main amount is £200,000 (200 000 British Pounds), which can be your own money (visa applicant’s own money), can be given to you by your family or unrelated sponsor, or can be loaned to you or your business by a bank. In some limited cases it is possible to apply with “only” £50,000 but only if the funds are from the following sources (the list is exhaustive): ·           UK-based Venture Capital firm. ·           Government Department. ·           UK Seed Funding Competitions. ·           You are switching from a Tier 1 (Graduate E...

“Great and helpful service! I have used them more than once and application has gone smoothly every time.”  Pieter, South African national It is possible to obtain a French Schengen visa within 3-4 working days from the date of appointment for most nationals, such as South African, Thai, Filipino, Russian, Indian, Chinese and most others. We can also assist with the German and Portuguese Schengen visas. The good thing about applying through French Embassy is that they tend to issuer longer, multiple-entry, visas. Although you have to go through a very stringent process of application, you may have a visa lasting for several years.  Contact us at Multi Travel Visas: French Schengen visa:  http://www.multitravelvisas.co.uk/schengen-visa-france.php German Schengen visa:  http://www.multitravelvisas.co.uk/schengen-visa-germany.php Portuguese Schengen visa:  http://www.multitravelvisas.co.uk/schengen-visa-portugal.php Fast UK passport r...