UK Visas and British Citizenship

  We received some exciting news from the French visa centre - French Schengen visa applications are back! France has just lifted all restrictions on travel between the UK and France, meaning you can travel to France for any reason, including a good old holiday!  We need to act very fast to secure your appointment now,  to apply later and to travel in the next 6 months. The visa slots (appointments) are very limited while the interest in travel is at all times’ high. Once the ‘floodgates’ are open, the slots will go fast!  We can submit your application as early as 6 months before your travel date. If you are planning to travel in the next 6 months - and that covers the whole summer 2021 - please get in touch NOW while visa appointments are getting booked fast!  The following Requirements apply at the moment, which may change later, or may not: 1. The minimum stay in France  on your travel itinerary has to be 7 days because you will be required to self-isol...

    Annie, applied for the Hong Kong BN(O) visa:  Very professional and helpful Ingo: I'm a German citizen who applied for the UK nationality in 2020 (due to Brexit). Jules has been very helpful in getting my documents in order and expertly guided me through the process. I can only recommend their services as it takes a lot of the stress out of a somewhat intricate process. We are here to help if you wish to talk to an Immigration Lawyer or to start the process of preparing your visa application. We work with customers worldwide via What's App, Skype, Facebook, email as well as in person at our office in the City of London.  The best start is  to book an online consultation on our website here . As always, a consultation fee counts towards our full service!    1st 4Immigration  is one of the most experienced UK immigration law companies, OISC - accredited at the highest Level 3. We have been in business for over 10 years, our OISC reference i...

  Here we put a summary of what changed during the past 12 months in the Immigration rules and procedures for a UK Spouse and Partner visas. #1 Application inside the UK if your current visa is about to expire. You still have to submit a new application (online) before your current visa expires. However, you have more time to book an appointment for biometrics and provide your documents. And if you had to wait for a test centre to reopen to take English or Life on the U.K. test, you won’t be penalised for that and can submit it later. Generally, there are concessions on the documents that you cannot provide on time, so you could provide them later.   #2 Absences from the UK due to Covid travel restrictions. If you happened to stay abroad longer than intended because of Covid travel restrictions, it won’t affect your future U.K. visa applications or continuous residency, as long as it was for a reasonable time (consistent with the Governments’ policies). If your visa expir...

We received some exciting news from the French visa centre - French Schengen visa applications are back! France has just lifted all restrictions on travel between the UK and France, meaning you can travel to France for any reason, including a good old holiday! We need to act very fast to secure your appointment now, to apply later and to travel in the next 6 months. The visa slots (appointments) are very limited while the interest in travel is at all times’ high. Once the ‘floodgates’ are open, the slots will go fast!  We can submit your application as early as 6 months before your travel date. If you are planning to travel in the next 6 months - and that covers the whole summer 2021 - please get in touch NOW while visa appointments are getting booked fast!  The following Requirements apply at the moment, which may change later, or may not: 1. The minimum stay in France  on your travel itinerary has to be 7 days because you will be required to self-isolate during that tim...

    We now offer OISC Level 1 course livestream on Zoom and Skype 20 - 21 March 2021.    It is a 2-day course, 10.00 - 16.00 with breaks. CPD 10 hours. Price £250+VAT. It is live training (livestream), where you can interact with the tutor and ask your questions. You can check the date and book here: https://www.1st4immigration.com/training/   Main training topics:   - THE BASICS – CRUCIAL TO YOUR WORK! - IMMIGRATION RULES AND HOW TO USE THEM - VISITING THE UK - POINTS-BASED SYSTEM – WORKING IN THE UK - WORKING OUTSIDE THE POINTS-BASED SYSTEM - INDEFINITE LEAVE TO REMAIN IN PBS AND WORK CATEGORIES - STUDYING IN THE UK - SPOUSE, PARTNER AND FIANCÉE VISAS, FINANCIAL REQUIREMENT £18,600 - OTHER FAMILY VISAS: CHILDREN, STEP-CHILDREN AND ADULT DEPENDENT RELATIVES - EEA LAW AND BREXIT - BRITISH CITIZENSHIP   You can read the full Description hereby: https://www.1st4immigration.com/course/classroom-and-livestream-oisc-level-1-training-course-cpd-10-core-hour...

Overview of visa options that lead to Permanent Residency in the United Kingdom through studying and working. Student visa (formerly called Tier 4) is to come and study in the UK. If you study at a degree level at a UK university, you can work part-time 20 hours a week during the term, full-time on vacation and full-time for 4 months after completion of the course.  Study – Work – Settlement  You can switch to the new Skilled Worker visa after completion of a degree course, or even within 3 months before that! There are benefits for employers to hire Student graduates – they can offer a New Entrant salary, which makes it more affordable for the employers and makes sponsorship more likely for the migrants. Employers are also exempt from Skills Charge (another Government fee) when sponsoring graduates. After 5 years on this visa you can qualify for settlement. If you are a business, looking to hire and sponsor migrant workers, including graduates, please visit our page for UK ...

There is an exciting development in the UK immigration world - a return of what many of us remember as a Post-Study Work visa.  We remember it from before 2012, so after almost 10 years we are glad to see it back from 1 July 2021 under the new name - Graduate Route . It will be available to graduates from UK universities who have completed a degree level course (minimum Bachelor level).  Benefits:  This visa allows to remain in the UK for 2 years (3 years for Doctoral students) to work for any employer at any skill level as well as set up a business in the UK. It is also a useful visa to buy time, such as to look for sponsorship for a Skilled Worker visa, or to complete 2 years of living together for an Unmarried Partner visa.  Does it lead to settlement?  No, this visa itself doesn’t lead to settlement (Indefinite Leave) and doesn’t count as a part of the 5-year qualifying period. However, it gives 2 years to look for work, gain the relevant skills, find a Spon...

  Immigration work continues, UK visas are issued, visa centres remain open   Visa application centres inside the UK are classified as essential services, so you can still enrol biometrics (fingerprints) as part of your application for a UK visa, settlement or British Citizenship. The casework (considering your documents) continues by the UK Government remotely, with online submission of documents - a process that has been in place for 2 years now (since before Covid). Not forgetting Brexit! We have an exciting new Points-Based Immigration System for work visas that welcomes a wide range of skilled workers from all over the world (not just Europe). The new rules are more flexible, the process is faster. The rules are more technical, such as salary thresholds, but this is where we can help with our expertise. We are still expecting a return of Post-Study Work visas in summer 2021. Also, Hong Kong BNO visa commenced from late January 2021 and we have already processed some succe...