UK Visas and British Citizenship

Another joke from comedian Jeff Stevenson ( http://www.jeffstevenson.co.uk/ ), this time from Facebook page (@Jeff Stevenson): Jeff had to renew his UK passport in October 2014 and had to attend the Passport Office twice (every time waiting for an appointment) because the paperwork wasn’t in order the first time. He subsequently joked that being on stage was the easiest part of his job! For us at Multi Travel Visas being on stage would be the scarier part but we deal with UK passport renewals every day, have lots of useful information based on our experience and can help you to make it less stressful. It is possible to renew a British passport within just 2-3 working days! It is actually same-day service at the UK Passport Office, so with an appointment available as soon as on the next working day the whole process is very fast. And if we have your documents by 12pm, and they are in order (or if you quickly arrange them to be in order, such as to bring new photos), then we c

I call it my “Other way around principle’. Do not look on the Rules for a category you’re now in. You’ll find how to switch to your current visa, which you already have. It works “other way around” – look in the Rules of the category you’re looking to switch to.    Each category has a section called Requirements for a Leave to Remain. Then you’ll see a point saying around the lines “The applicant must have or have been last granted a leave (that’s a term for a visa) as a ….” and the name of the categories which allow to switch. If you find your current visa there then you can switch, if not then not. If there is no section for a Leave to Remain then no one can switch to that category (example is a Tier 5 Youth Mobility Scheme). Here are some common examples from our practice: EXAMPLE 1: Switching from a Tier 4 Student visa to a Tier 2 General sponsored work visa inside the UK. The category you’re switching to is Tier 2 General, so this is where we need to look – Part 6

This immigration route, named after a person who filed a course case, can be used by non-EU family members of British citizens to secure a UK visa – but under the EU law. Normally, family members of EEA citizens, such as of Irish/French/Polish nationals, are applying using the European law. This is where they get an EEA Family Permit for 6 months outside the UK and/or a Residence Card for 5 years if applying inside the UK. However, very often British citizens, or rather their non-EU family members, are trying to apply for a visa using the same route. After all, the UK is in the EU and British citizens are the EU citizens, aren’t they? Those who do try it often get a shock of being told that this routes does not apply to family members of UK citizens, only to those of EU (non-UK) citizens. Why? Because there has to be ‘movement’ between the EU member states and ‘British in Britain’ represents no movement!   On the other hand, there is one way around it: Surinder Singh route. It

Who are family members and who are extended family members and what's the difference? Who needs to apply for a 'visa stamp' and who does not? What's the difference between a retained right of residence and derivate right? Do the family members have to live in the same country with the EEA national before coming to the UK? We have updated a Family Members page on our website, under the section on Visas Under European Law, to visit please click on the link here.   For an individual advice or to make an application please contact us: info@1st4immigration.com or visit www.1st4immigration.com   If you are an Immigration Adviser or a Solicitor please visit our immigration Training and CPD website: www.1st4immigration.com/training  

One of our most popular postings in the last couple of months, both here and on Facebook, was about the change in the Immigration Rules regarding switching to a Dependant visa inside the UK when the   main applicant holds or applying for a main visa under the Points-Based System (PBS). For example, when one of the partners holds a Tier 2 visa and the other holds a Post-Study Work Visa. In the past the 2 nd partner would have to apply from abroad for a Tier 2 Dependant visa, however, now it is possible to switch from a PSW visa (in this example) to a Tier 2 Dependant visa inside the UK. And it gets better – it can be done on same-day service at the UKBA. We usually work with their Croydon facility. Same rules apply to those switching to a Tier 1 Dependant visa. However, Dependants of Tier 4 (Student) migrants have a bit more restrictions, although those restrictions affect generally all Tier 4 Dependants, whether applying inside or outside the UK, such as that the course of t

Our most popular posting - with almost 1,000 views since the beginning of August 2012: 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 too. 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).   3) If the child's parents are both not permanent residents and hold visas, such as Tier 1, Tier 2, Work Permit etc, then the child will NOT be British, even though he/she was born in the UK. In such cases a child can be given a dependant visa on his/her parents. This can be done as a sep

Our most popular posting on Facebook in October, with over 200 impressions, was this: If you have a gap between UK visas it will affect your ILR application. Such as when you had a gap between work permits or Tier 1/HSMP, ie had to go back to your country and apply from there after your previous UK visa expired. Or applied for a visa here but was refused. In many such cases it means you would not qualify or an ILR based on 5 years on work permit/HSMP/Tier 1 General. We deal with ILR applications all the time and we can submit on Premium service without appointments twice a week. www.1st4immigration.com

Most popular posting in August, viewed by over 260 people, was: We get Premium Service appointments within 2 weeks for visas like Tier 1, Post-Study Work, Tier 2 and Spouse/Partner. We don't need appointments at all to submit Settlement (ILR) visa applications twice a week. http://www.1st4immigration.com/

With 169 people viewing on Facebook, our 3rd most popular posting in August was:   if your UK visa, such as student, has expired we can still apply for you for a visa such as Post Study Work on Premium Service. We get appointments every week. www.1st4immigration.com

Second most popular in August, with 196 people viewing, was: If you got an ILR but your spouse was on PBS dependant visa and had to apply for a Spouse visa (FLR M) now you can count period on dependant visas towards 2 years required for a spouse to apply for his/her ILR. Www.1st4immigration.com

Most popular posting in August, viewed by over 260 people, was: We get Premium Service appointments within 2 weeks for visas like Tier 1, Post-Study Work, Tier 2 and Spouse/Partner. We don't need appointments at all to submit Settlement (ILR) visa applications twice a week. www.1st4immigration.com