UK Visas and British Citizenship

  #1 More jobs (occupations) can be sponsored for a UK work visa.  Old rule: only degree-level jobs were allowed for a Tier 2 General visa. New rule: jobs at A level (RQF Level 3) are allowed for sponsorship under the new Skilled Worker visa.   #2 Switching from another visa category (without leaving the UK) has been made easier!  For example, you can now switch from a Tier 5 YMS visa to a Skilled Worker visa while in the UK, without interrupting your work. You can also switch from a family visa such as from a Partner visa to a work visa if your relationship has broken down and your employer wishes to sponsor you. Switching from a Student visa remains as before.   #3 To continue on the above, this deserved a separate point - switching from Tier 2 Intra-Company Transfer (ICT) is allowed from December 2020!  This is fantastic news for all those long-suffering Tier 2 ICT migrants, desperate to switch to a visa that leads to settlement in the UK. The ICT catego...

NHS doctor is threatened with deportation over basic visa mistake. How a basic, non-common-sense rule can stop from securing a UK visa. And why you shouldn’t worry if your refusal letter says “You must now leave the UK”.   Was it correct under the law to deny a visa? Bizarrely, yes, it was.   In this article, a Taiwanese junior doctor was refused a work visa because of a small mistake, a technicality. She applied under the sponsorship of the NHS (no less), to work as a much-needed junior doctor.   The problem:   It was Maintenance requirement. She must have had £945 held continuously for 90 days. She had it but the balance fell below £945 for a few days. A small mistake, a technicality, yet the outcome was a visa refusal and what newspapers called a ‘deportation letter’.   The rule of “held for X days” means the balance must not have fallen below the minimum amount even for 1 day even by £1. Although this situation is about a T...

School sends home a teacher because she has no right to work – her Indefinite Leave is in the old passport. If your passport expired, do you need to transfer your UK visa? Yes and No, there is no short answer.   Was the school correct in applying the law? Bizarrely, yes, they were.   If you have a biometric residence permit (BRP), a visa card that looks like a bank card, you don’t have to do anything until this visa expires. If, however, you have an old Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) sticker in your passport, then the answer becomes more complex.   In this article, a Trinidadian deputy headteacher (no less) has had her ILR since 1989, is married to a UK citizen and has British children. The immigration law does not require her to transfer ILR to a new passport, she can travel with both passports. It is employment law that was ‘the problem’ here.   Some relatively recent changes in employment law made it compulsory for non-EU citizens to h...