UK Visas and British Citizenship

Our most popular post ever! There are plenty of Rules governing children who are born in the UK, so we'll try to keep the answer simple. A child born in the UK does NOT automatically become British (unlike in America). Instead, it depends on child's parents status. 1) If child's parent (one or both) is British then the child will be a British citizen.   2) If child's parent (one or both) is not British, but has permanent residency in the UK, ie holds an Indefinite Leave to Remain or Permanent Residency under European law, then the child will be British also (even if both parents aren't British). This rule also applies if one parent is a European EU/EEA citizen and had acquired a PR status automatically before the child was born but (the parent) applied for a formal PR document later.   3) If the child's parents are both not permanent residents and hold visas, such as Tier 1, Tier 2 etc, then the child will NOT be Briti

A recent Daily Mail article caught our eye: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4410894/EU-couple-devastated-children-denied-UK-residency.html   A European (Dutch-Spanish) family made an application to the UK Home Office to confirm their status of permanent residents in the UK. This application, EEA(PR), has been one of the most common application since the UK voted to leave the EU in June 2016 Referendum. Many EU/EEA citizens and their family members panicked and wanted some peace of mind, hence getting this official document confirming their permanent status in the UK.   In this case both parents were granted a PR document. Their children (12 and 15 yo), however, were refused on the basis that they didn’t send enough evidence of children’s residency in the UK. Although this makes another dramatic   “good” news story headline We at 1 st 4Immigration believe it was probably the case of the Home Office just not ticking a couple of boxes. In other words, there was nothin

The timeline of Brexit events so far has been both interesting and concerning for Europeans living in the UK as well as for Britons living in Europe.   Firstly, we had a vote in June 2016, voting to leave the EU. The UK Government then took almost a month to publish a statement on the immediate effects on status of EEA citizens, which can be found here (updated now since its first publication in July 2016). At the time it was, and still is, simply saying not to worry and everything remained as before for the time being - quite rightly and legally accurate.   Yet it is not the past or present that is on the people’s mind – it is the future!     The Government triggered Article 50 (of the Lisbon Treaty) on 29 th March 2017 and again published the reassuring statement just over a week later, again telling the EU/EEA citizens not to worry for the time being while the UK remained a full member during the upcoming 2 years. That statement can be found here: https://www.gov.uk

In fact, there are only 6 levels: A1, A2, B1, B2, C1 and C2. A1 being the most basic and B1 the highest and hardest to score. As much as it may seem the UK Immigration Rules are making these levels hard to understand, it is actually a common European framework known as CEFR. So, there are the same levels in French or Spanish etc. Our of these 6 levels only 3 are used in the UK visa applications. Furthermore, there are 4 components at each level: Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing. Which level you need depends on the Rules applicable to your UK visa category. It is mentioned in the Immigration Rules for a given visa type. The Rules also say whether you need all 4 components or only some of them. For example, Spouses of UK citizens initially only need a most basic A1 level and only in Speaking and Listening. Tier 1 Entrepreneur migrants need a B1 level in all 4 components. Most migrants applying for settlement need a B1 level too but only in Speaking and Listening.

“It could not have been any better! I will always recommend your firm. I received excellent advice throughout the application process and I was particularly impressed with your thorough knowledge of immigration issues, efficiency, continuous monitoring, genuine caring, total compliance, and very good value for money, particularly when compared with law firms. (And in regards to the advisor Joanne) all I can say is I wish other people were as helpful, professional and caring, as you are!! Thank you very much for all you have done, and continue to do. I am sure your company must be very proud of you.”    We are, Ahmed, thank you for the kind words!    This is an interesting category, open to those born before 1983 to a British mother. Why only mother? Because before 1983 only fathers could pass their nationality to their children while mothers could not. What now seems like an unfair ‘irregularity’ in the law was ‘corrected’ in 1983 when anyone could claim British nationality (

From the point of view of immigration law practice this is a very big change and for many EEA nationals, and their family members, it means an additional visa application (extra fee, extra pack of documents etc).   The change is in the British nationality legislation, not in the EEA law, so it only affects those who are planning to apply for British Citizenship. On the other hand, many EEA nationals and especially their non-EEA family members plan to do exactly that.     EEA nationals and their direct family members (spouses, civil partners, children under 21 yo, dependent parents) gain automatic rights to reside in the UK, the right deriving from the European law. Subject to some conditions, such as exercising Treaty rights in the UK, but not subject to having to apply for a ‘visa stamp’. Visa stamp or not, they get their rights. It includes non-EEA direct family members, even though most still apply for a Residence Card.   After 5 years they qualify for permanent resi

The change is in the British nationality legislation regarding EEA nationals and their family members. It came in force on 12 November 2015 and has completely overhauled the way we used to work when helping EEA nationals and their family members to apply for British Citizenship. EEA nationals and their direct family members (spouses, civil partners, children under 21 yo, dependant parents) gain automatic rights to reside in the UK, the right deriving from the European law. Subject to some conditions, such as exercising Treaty rights in the UK, but not subject to having to apply for a ‘visa stamp’. Visa stamp or not, they get their rights. It includes non-EEA direct family members, even though most still apply for a Residence Card. After 5 years they qualify for permanent residency, EEA equivalent of Indefinite Leave, again automatically, without having to apply for a document confirming it (those who applied did so voluntarily). With ILR or without, it was possible to apply for

‘Born British’ means you are a British citizen at birth and can just apply for a UK passport (passport book). Registration means applying to the Home Office immigration department to be accepted as a British citizen, having met the specified requirements by law (ie it can’t be done by everyone), paying a fee (currently main fee £749), submitting the required supporting documents, waiting for a decision and then, if it’s successful, being given an official certificate (Certificate of Registration). Only after this can you apply to the Passport Office for a UK passport (passport book).   We also have a post about children and grandchildren born abroad to British expats: http://1st4immigration-visas.blogspot.pt/2015/10/children-born-outside-uk-to-british.html Another post is on ‘other way around’ situations, when a child is born in the UK to foreign parents: http://1st4immigration-visas.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/why-are-some-parents-being-told-your.html Furthermore, o

If you are one of the lucky Brits who are living or working in, say, New Zealand or America, what happens if you have a child born while you are there? You may think “Of course they are British because I am British!” Most Brits don’t think too much about it and just apply for their child’s passport to HM Passport Office (via the process for those residing outside the UK). Here we make your life a bit more complicated and explain what nationality law thinks about it. A child born abroad to a British parent is only British (as ‘born and British at birth’) if one of the parents is ‘British otherwise than by descent’. Examples of 'British otherwise than by descent': born in the UK to a British parent(s), born in the UK before 1983 to parents of any nationality (after this the law stopped automatic acquisition of nationality based on the place of birth, unlike, say, in America). You are also ‘British otherwise than by descent’ if you have naturalised, such as you came from India

This time we had it in both Romanian and English from our client Felix, who applied for British Citizenship without applying for permanent residency first (as allowed by the Rules and as we often assist with). In Romanian: “Am intrat in contact cu firma 1st 4Immigration Ltd in vederea obtinerii cetateniei Britanice si sunt foarte fericit cu alegerea pe care am facut-o! Mi-a fost recent confirmata aprobarea cererii si urmeaza sa finalizez formalitatile in cel mai scurt timp, odata cu depunerea juramatului. Am fost foarte multumit cu serviciile oferite de 1st 4Immigration, compania are o comunicare excelenta, profesionala si prompta pe e-mail, mi-au fost oferite toate detaliile si explicatiile cerute pentru a putea sa obtin documentele necesare aplicatiei si consultantii lor cunosc foarte bine legislatia relevanta. Anterior avusesem o consultatie cu o alta firma si, nemultumit si surprins de analiza lor (ce ulterior s-a dovedit incorecta), m-am decis sa caut o a doua opinie -

“Dear Christina, Thank you for all your help with my application for British Citizenship. It was a real pleasure dealing with you; I always found you to be very professional and courteous. You kept me informed throughout the process without me ever having to chase you for information. Your employer (that’s us – 1 st 4Immigration!) should feel very proud to have you as a team member as you are truly an asset to the company.” These lovely words came from Sanja, a South African national who started her stay in the UK on a Tier 2 work visa and then switched to a Spouse visa (also through us) when she married a British Citizen. That was under the old rules (before 9 July 2012), so after the 2 years we were able to apply for Indefinite Leave for Sanja and later for British Citizenship once Sanja has obtained an appropriate permission from the South African authorities in order to keep dual nationality. For an individual advice or to make your application as successful please contac

What‘s the difference between being ‘born British’ and ‘not British but can be registered’? We have so many enquiries about the children who were born in the UK to the foreign parents. The parents usually hope to hear “Your child is British because he/she was born in the UK”. Unfortunately, this would have been the wrong answer! Being born in the UK (as from 1 Jan 1983) does not make a person automatically British. Yet some children are born British, others can be registered and others have to wait until their parent(s) become British. If your child was born in the UK on or after you have had your Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) or permanent residency status under the European law. In case of the European law, there is usually no need to formally make an application for this status but enough to just qualify for it (but not in all cases). So, if at least one parent has a permanent residency status first, then a child born after that point will be British by birth. It means you

“I've just got my British Citizen Certificate today (certificate of Naturalisation)   and I would like give a big thank you to Ms Lucy and her colleagues for all your dedication with my application. My process wasn't simple, nevertheless Lucy analysed, requested, reviewed and organised all my documentation very carefully in order to make my application successful. She was very quick replying to any of my enquiries and I do believe her work was essential to make my application successful regardless of my odd situation. I highly recommend Ms Lucy Crompton and her colleagues in 1 st 4Immigration, they are very responsive, competent, professional and have a lot of experience.” This came from Guilherme , a Brazilian national who is married to a Portuguese national. We made an application for British Citizenship without applying for permanent residency first. This worked because non-EEA spouses of EEA nationals gain their permanent residency automatically from the law, based on

As it happens every year, the Home Office increases the immigration fees from 6 April, as the new tax year starts. If you are eligible for a visa or British Citizenship - apply before April to save money! The new fees usually come in force on 6 April, however, this year 4 – 5 April falls on a weekend and 3 April is Good Friday (a bank holiday!). That means the last working day with the old fees will be Thursday 2 April. When to apply and how to determine how much to pay? If you are planning to use same-day service your appointment has to be by 2 April. Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR, permanent residency): fee goes up by £407! Postal service fee is going up from £1,093 to £1,500 while the same-day service up from £1,493 to £1,900! Spouse/Partner visas, in-country applications, are another example of a substantial increase. Postal fee is going up from £601 to £956 (the difference is £355) while same-day service from £1,001 to £1,356! This applies to those switching to this visa (suc