UK Visas and British Citizenship

The official visa fees will be increased - by a lot! The Government never says from when, to avoid people rushing with applications, but we strongly advise to submit as soon as possible!  Health charge will change from £624 per year to £1,035 per year. Per person. For children and students - £776 per year, up from the current £470 per year.  Visa application and Citizenship fees will be up by at least 20%. Current Spouse/Partner visa costs £1,548 from outside the UK or £1,048 inside the UK, so 20% will be significant. Although ‘at least’ could mean even more. Settlement (Indefinite Leave) is currently £2,404. All per person, including per child. Work and visit visas will be up by 15%.  If you are eligible - apply now!  If you are planning to apply for entry visa outside the UK, you can apply anytime, as long you can meet the requirements. If you are changing a category (switching) inside the UK, you can also do so anytime, you don't have to wait for the current visa...

While updating our training courses (we offer them to our colleagues in immigration law), we decided to summarise the main changes over the last 12 months: 1. Youth Mobility Scheme visa (working holiday) for New Zealand nationals is available to people aged 18-35 and is issued for 3 years. If you already have a visa for 2 years, you can extend it. For other eligible citizens (Australia etc) the rules remain the same: age 18-30 and duration for 2 years.  2. UK Ancestry visa is available not just to Commonwealth citizens but also to British Overseas Citizens, British Overseas Territories Citizens, British Nationals Overseas (BNO) and citizens of Zimbabwe. The main rule (for all) remains having a grandparent who was born in the UK.  3. Hong Kong BNO visa : adult children of BNO status holders, who were born after 1 July 1997, can come or remain in the UK in their own right, meaning the BNO status holders don't have to accompany them.   4. Work visa salaries went up to ...