UK Visas and British Citizenship

UK visas and your immigration status:  If your current visa expires before 31 July 2020 , and you are not planning to remain in the UK, you can request the above extension until 31 July 2020 (but you have to ask for it, ie it's not automatic).  If your current visa expires before 31 July 2020 , and you are planning to stay in the UK long-term , you can make an online application for that - by 31 July 2020. Even if you couldn't switch under the normal circumstances, you will be able to do so now. Examples: from a visitor status to a Spouse visa; from a visitor status to a Tier 4 student or Tier 2 work visa.  The latest extension, up to 31 July 2020, will be applied automatically to those who had already extended their stay until 31 May 2020 under the previous provision (in which case you don't have to ask for it, it will be done automatically).   Tier 2 migrants working for the NHS as a doctor, nurse and other eligible occupations:   if yo...

Advice from Gov.UK for visa customers and applicants in the UK, visa customers outside of the UK and British nationals overseas who need to apply for a passport affected by travel restrictions associated with coronavirus. https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-advice-for-uk-visa-applicants-and-temporary-uk-residents

This post is referring to the UK Government's announcement here:  https://www.dailymail. co.uk/news/article-8122789/ Coronavirus-Rishi-Sunak- announces-three-month- mortgage-payment-holiday.html We are not mortgage advisers and this is not a financial or legal advice. This is a post from me, Natalia Andrews, a property investor as well as an immigration lawyer, and I am doing this in response to our immigration clients, asking for some advice during the uncertain times of COVID-19. For details, or if you are in financial difficulty, you need to seek a professional financial advice.  Mortgage Holiday - you will still owe this money!  My bank, Halifax, confirmed that they were offering a mortgage holiday for 3 months, same as other banks did. They warned, however, that you would still owe this money. They aren't cancelling these payments but adding them to the loan, so you will be paying it later. Most likely, in small instalments, so you probab...

We are asked what the UK Government is doing to help small businesses and workers. As many of our customers are business owners or employed by such, here is a summary as it stands at the moment. Please remember it can change at anytime.  The main point is that the Government is taking measures, and we believe there is no need to worry whether the current extraordinary situation will affect your immigration status in terms of meeting the visa rules. These circumstances will be taken into account when your visa application is considered in the future.  If you run your own business:    A migrant-run business will be eligible for support. This is not ‘public funds' and won’t breach an endorsement on your visa (if applicable to your situation).  There will be exemption from business rates for 12 months and grants for those who don’t pay business rates. Broadly, it will be applicable to businesses in retail, hospitality and leisure. You...

We would like to reassure you that all our immigration work continues as normal. UK visa and Citizenship applications are prepared and processed electronically. Whether you are applying for a UK entry visa to come here, or applying inside the UK to remain or settle. All cases are now considered by the UK authorities “behind the close doors”, meaning the visa officers are not seen face-to-face. When decision has been made, we will be notified by email. When working with us at 1st 4Immigration, you can submit the documents to us online without leaving your home. This is already a standard practice for our customers residing outside the UK and increasingly common for those applying inside the UK. We use Dropbox, email and similar providers. If you prefer, you can of course post us paper documents and we will scan them. For a consultation appointment, we work via What’s App, Skype, email, phone. Our face-to-face appointments are also currently running as normal but we can change yours t...

Dear customers of 1st 4Immigration, We would like to reassure you that all our immigration work continues as normal. UK visa and Citizenship applications are prepared and processed electronically. Whether you are applying for a UK entry visa to come here, or applying inside the UK to remain or settle. All cases are now considered by the UK authorities “behind the close doors”, meaning the visa officers are no longer seen face-to-face, as was the case with same-day service in the past. When decision has been made, we will be notified by email. When working with us at 1st 4Immigration, you can submit the documents to us online without leaving your home. This is already a standard practice for our customers residing outside the UK and increasingly common for those applying inside the UK. We use Dropbox, email and similar providers. If you prefer, you can of course post us paper documents and we will scan them. For a consultation appointment, we work via What’s App, Skype, email, ph...

We are UK’s #1 Business visa one-stop shop: immigration lawyers and business plan writers under one roof! We help to obtain an endorsement and secure a UK business visa. We have a wide network of affiliated professionals to set you up in business: accountants, web-designers, bankers, employment lawyers and many others. We help with: - UK Start-up visa - UK Innovator visa - UK Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) visa – open for Graduate Entrepreneur visa holders until 5 July 2021 - Representative of Overseas Business visa - Funding from a bank, investor or venture capital fund or an accelerator programme from your endorsing body  Why choose 1st4Immigration?    - OISC-accredited immigration firm at the highest level 3 - 10+ years of immigration experience and 1000s successful cases - Specialist in business visas – we are Immigration Entrepreneur - We work directly with our clients (visa applicants) and we also write plans for the clients of ...

Summary  UK Innovator visa replaced Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) category in 2019. It is open to everyone with a suitable business idea, including European citizens coming to the UK after Brexit from 1 January 2021. You may be an experienced entrepreneur outside the UK or may be only planning your first ever business – you can also join a British company that is already trading and help to develop it with your investment and innovation. This visa is issued for 3 years, leads to settlement in the UK after minimum 3  years  (typically 5 years) and to British  Citizenship after 5-6 years.  Endorsement - approval of your business idea The first step is to secure endorsement of your business idea. Y ou can pitch your business plan to a business organisation that is on the UK  Government list of the designated endorsing bodies for an Innovator visa.  Most of them require participation in their own acceleration programme (such as  Tech Nati...