UK Visas and British Citizenship

We are often asked by the clients when to extend a Tier 1 General visa? When is the earliest?  Answer: You can extend your Tier 1 General visa anytime, as early as you want (but before it expires). There is no rule on extending it only within last 3 months or within 28 days on the current visa, as many people tend to think. Tier 1 General extension can be anytime, it just may be more sensible not to extend too early.  If you extend earlier than 3 months before your visa expires then your new visa will start on the day of decision, in other words, you'd lose some time on your current visa. If you are planning to apply for an ILR based on the two Tier 1 visas then you'd be short of time and would have to do another extension, which in most cases is unnecessary.  However, if you had other visas before Tier 1 which can be combined with Tier 1, such as HSMP or Work Permit or some (only some!) Tier 2 Intra-Company Transfer visas, then you probably won't need another extension. I

As you probably heard from 9 July 2012 those who want to bring a spouse, fiancée or a partner to the UK need to earn at least £18,600. However, there are exceptions to this rule, such as for those who are in receipt of disability-related benefits.for example, if you receive a DLA (Disability Living Allowance) or AA (Attendance Allowance) then the new rule of £18,600 in earnings does NOT apply to you. However, you still need to meet the old Maintenance requirement, which is based on your income compared to your rent/mortgage. For more information book our Advice Session now! Www.1st4immigration.com or email: info@1st4imigration.com

Just wanted to say a heartfelt thank you for all your hard work. We got the visa today its such a relief. Its been such a long journey and difficult journey but we and our families are so happy we have reached a happy conclusion. And now we can start planning a wedding! Thank you for all your help. We will definitely recommend you to others and we will be using you I am sure in the not so distant future! " This is a feedback from Miss T, applying for a visa for her Fiancee in Nigeria. In this case clients were refused a visa first, before coming to us, so when we assisted with the 2nd application it has been successful. Contact us via www.1st4immigration.com for a consultation or for a successful application.

This is one of the most frequently asked questions. Here are the answers: 1) Spouses of British citizens do NOT need to wait for 12 months after receiving an Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR). They (spouses of Brits) do need to have 3 years of residency in the UK, and need an ILR (whenver it was issued), comply with the absences limit and be free of unspent criminal convictions. However, there is no rule of waiting for 12 months after an ILR. This also covers civil partners (spouses of the same sex) but does NOT apply to unmarried partners and does not apply to spouses of people who are not British but have an ILR. This paragraph only applies to spouses (married) of the British citizens. 2) Everyone else (ie all except spouses of British citizens) DO need to wait for 12 months after they have received an ILR. Plus all other requirements (5 years of residency, absences within the limit etc) and also, on top of all that the one needs to wait 12 months after the date when an ILR was i

This is a dilemma faced by people who are approaching the end of their 2 year Spouse/Partner visa in the UK as a Spouse/Partner of a UK citizen or of a settled person. Most should qualify for Settlement on SET(M) form, ie for the permanent residency. But what if you have some concerns that you won't qualify? Can you extend and get another 2 year visa using an FLR(M) form? The normal process is applying for a Permanent Residency. Extending a Spouse visa (ie getting another Spouse visa for 2 years) is not 'normal' unless you have a good reason for it, which you have to explain in your application. For example, you have not passed the Life in The UK Test, so the only option is to extend. I am often asked if absences from the UK matter and some people think they have 'too many days out' and believe they should apply for an extension because of that. Abcences from the UK matter a lot less if you are a spouse/parter of a UK citizen or of a settled person. If you heard

A child born in the UK is entitled to become a British Citizen one his/her parent(s) become settled in the UK, ie once parent(s) get an ILR or in case of EEA nationals after exercising Treaty rights for 5 years. You can apply via Registration process, which would take on average 3 weeks. We have dealt with many successful applications and would be happy to help. Www.1st4immigration.com

I am often asked: "Can I apply for an ILR when my current visa is about to expire but I am short of, say, 3 months? I don't want to pay for an extension only to apply for an ILR 3 months after that." My answer: If your issue is that you delayed your entry to the UK (ie did not enter as soon as your visa was issued) then it is not a problem if you are applying on the basis on 5 years on work visas. You are allowed to count your 5 residency from the date of visa issue (not date of entry to the UK) as long as that delay (between visa issue and arrival in the UK) is no more than 3 months. However, if you are applying on the basis of 10 years in the UK then you need to have a full 9 years and 11 months of residency in the UK, with no breaks between the visas. You need 10 years but you can apply within 28 days before that. Sometimes we see clients who are only a few months short of 10 years and face a prospect of applying for another extension (which is not cheap) only to a

If I were Theresa May I would bring back highly-skilled Tier 1 General visa category tomorrow with immediate effect (well, maybe with some notice to allow for orderly queues at Embassies abroad). I would lower passmark back to 75 for initial entrants and make earnings points lower, like they were before April 2010. However, I would add something in my opinion useful, such as extra points for someone working in an occupation on UK Shortage Occupation List, I mean actually having worked and not 'having a qualification'. I am very concerned that we would not have enough people who have skills, ambition, hunger for money/success and are willing to work, such as Indian IT consultants or Chinese finance professionals, also teachers and doctors, where would we be now without them? Ms May, if you are reading this - please bring back Tier 1 General/HSMP!

When extending Tier 1 General you can use earninsg from anywhere in the world, does not have to be from the UK only. But you cannot use a multiplier (an uplift). We provide advice sessions and whole applications including fast Premium service, for which we get appointments every week. www.1st4immigration.com

Same-day Indefinite Leave to Remain in the UK, we submit applications to Croydon twice a week without appointments! We submit on Tuesdays and Fridays, you don't have to attend Croydon at all. For those holding currently Tier 1, Tier 2, Spouse/Partner visa, Work Permit, HSMP under Judicial Review. http://www.1st4immigration.com/

Old Work Permit holders need to meet new requirements on salary under Tier 2 code of practice when applying for an ILR (even if your salary now is higher than at your work permit application in 2006-07). We've had such a case recently and had a clarification from the UK Border Agency.