UK Visas and British Citizenship

Last time we covered the levels of salaries that sponsors (employers) have to pay those migrants they are about to sponsor under Tier 2 sponsored visa to work for them in the UK. In fact, Tier 4 migrants, ie students, make very attractive candidates for the employers to sponsor. Why? Here are a few benefits of being a Tier 4 visa holder switching to Tier 2. Benefit #1 : employers don’t have to advertise the job to settled workers before hiring a Tier 4 migrant. They still have to have a genuine vacancy, which you are qualified for, but there is no need to try and find a local worker first for 28 days. Particularly useful for generic non-specialist vacancies.   https://www.gov.uk/uk-visa-sponsorship-employers/job-suitability Benefit #2 :  employers can offer you a New Entrant level of salary. This level is lower and hence, makes them more willing to sponsor you.  They will have to increase your pay at the extension stage but after that, you may become an indispensabl...

If you currently have a UK Tier 4 Student visa, you must be wondering what to do after completing your course. We have a dedicated webpage on our website:  http://www.1st4immigration.com/whats-next-after-tier-4.php Please note: below is only a simplified summary. For individual advice please book our Advice Session, which can be conducted over email or face-to-face at our office in the City of London. Option 1: Tier 2 (General) sponsored work visa. You need to be offered employment by a licensed Sponsor (employer) and a Certificate of Sponsorship. There is no need for the employer to advertise your job. Minimum skill level NQF6, minimum salary £20800 or as on the Code of Practice, whichever is higher. More on salaries on our post here:  http://1st4immigration-visas.blogspot.ru/2018/01/whats-next-after-tier-4-student-visa.html The outcome is a visa for up to 3 years (can be longer but the rules will be stricter than above). You can only work for your sponsor. Same-day service ...

Last time we covered the levels of salaries that sponsors (employers) have to pay those migrants they are about to sponsor under Tier 2 sponsored visa to work for them in the UK. In fact, Tier 4 migrants, ie students, make very attractive candidates for the employers to sponsor. Why? Here are a few benefits of being a Tier 4 visa holder switching to Tier 2. Benefit #1 : employers don’t have to advertise the job to settled workers before hiring a Tier 4 migrant. They still have to have a genuine vacancy, which you are qualified for, but there is no need to try and find a local worker first for 28 days. Particularly useful for generic non-specialist vacancies.  https://www.gov.uk/uk-visa-sponsorship-employers/job-suitability Benefit #2 :  employers can offer you a New Entrant level of salary. This level is lower and hence, makes them more willing to sponsor you.  They will have to increase your pay at the extension stage but after that, you may become an indispensa...

If you currently have a UK Tier 4 Student visa, you must be wondering what to do after completing your course. We have a dedicated webpage on our website: http://www.1st4immigration.com/whats-next-after-tier-4.php Please note: below is only a simplified summary. For individual advice please book our Advice Session, which can be conducted over email or face-to-face at our office in the City of London. Option 1: Tier 2 (General) sponsored work visa. You need to be offered employment by a licensed Sponsor (employer) and a Certificate of Sponsorship. There is no need for the employer to advertise your job. Minimum skill level NQF6, minimum salary £20800 or as on the Code of Practice, whichever is higher. More on salaries on our post here: http://1st4immigration-visas.blogspot.ru/2018/01/whats-next-after-tier-4-student-visa.html The outcome is a visa for up to 3 years (can be longer but the rules will be stricter than above). You can only work for your sponsor. Same-day service – ...

This post covers most scenarios, whether you are a Tier 4 student trying to switch, switching a sponsor, applying for permanent residency etc. A Tier 2 sponsored work visa is a popular way for students to remain in the UK at the end of their course, we are providing this much needed (we feel) clarification: how much is the minimum salary in this category? If you found a sponsor (employer), how much should they offer you? Your starting point should always be the Code of Practice , which is here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/immigration-rules/immigration-rules-appendix-j-codes-of-practice-for-skilled-work Each occupation code says how much you should be offered. Beware of the catch – those salaries are based on the certain number of working hours. If your hours differ, your salary may need to be amended accordingly (but usually still subject to some minimum). You will see New Entrant level and Experienced level. The Code of Practice explains when to use them. For example, Tier 4 mi...

Not a day goes by without mentioning an Australian-style points-based system for migrants.   How strange since the Points-Based System has been existing in the UK since 2009. Here is a link the Immigration Rules, Part 6A, called, unsurprisingly: “The Points-Based System” https://www.gov.uk/guidance/immigration-rules/immigration-rules-part-6a-the-points-based-system The current Points-Based System is, well, points-based; it was created circa 2008 and implemented in stages during 2008-200, and back then it was also portrayed as “Australian-style”. The system, called PBS for short, has Tiers (Tier 1, Tier   etc), with Tier 1 covering entrepreneurs and investors, and previously highly skilled migrants (which was closed by Theresa May in 2011). Entrepreneurs need £200 000 to invest into their business in the UK while Investors need £2 million to invest to the UK government bonds and UK companies. Tier 2 covers sponsored employees, meaning only those migrants with the sk...

Previously, we wrote ( http://1st4immigration-visas.blogspot.co.uk/2016/03/whats-new-from-april-2016.html ) that from April 2016 Tier 2 sponsors would have to advertise a job if they wish to sponsor a Tier 4 student visa holder to remain in the UK to work for them. This is known as Resident Labour Market Test (RLMT). Today the Home Office confirmed the changes which would be implemented during 2016-2017 in the Tier 2 category. Those changes will be implemented beginning from autumn 2016.   This was in their response to two reviews of Tier 2 policy by the independent Migration Advisory Committee (MAC). Here we quote from the Home Office communication document: “ We will not implement the MAC’s recommendations that students switching from Tier 4 to Tier 2 should be included in the annual limit and be subject to the Resident Labour Market Test. We recognise the importance of maintaining our excellent offer for international students looking to undertake skilled work in t...

We were asked to summarise the changes to the Immigration Rules, which took place on 6 April 2015, so we re-posted a summary from 2 March and added some more, such as the new NHS surcharge. These are what we think are the most important changes: 1)              The NHS surcharge (immigration health surcharge). Applies to all visa applicants who are applying for a visa from 6 April 2015 either for an entry visa to the UK (Tiers, Spouse/Partner/Fiancée, ancestral etc) or for a leave to remain in the UK, including extending in the same visa category or switching to a new one. It doesn’t apply to those applying for a visitor visa, ILR or British Citizenship and won’t apply to Australian and New Zealand citizens. The charge is £200 per year (£150 for students) and is payable for the whole duration of the visa at the point of application (refundable if application is refused). 2)       ...

We have made a ‘big news story’ about the forthcoming changes in the Rules from 6 April 2015. Yet this change, already in force from 2 March 2015, is also very important, albeit affecting no as many migrants (the Rules apply to all while appeals only apply to those who were refused a visa).    For applications submitted from 2 March 2015 there will be no right of appeal at all under the Points-Based System (PBS) categories (except for appeals on the limited grounds such as discrimination based on race, which won’t apply to 99.9% of the migrants). The full appeal right of appeal was already removed earlier for applications outside the UK, instead there was an option of an Administrative Review. Then in October 2014 a right of appeal was removed altogether for in-country Tier 4 Student applicants. Now on 2 March 2015 it has been removed for all other in-country applications under the Points-Based System, including Tier 1 Entrepreneur category (which needed appeals more th...

This may compliment our previous post on working after a refusal of a visa and during the appeal. However, many migrants may not, fortunately, have to deal with a refusal while knowing your rights while waiting for a visa affects almost everybody. The answer lies in the rule called Section 3C leave (of the Immigration Act 1971). If you have a visa which is about to expire, and submit a new application inside the UK before this visa expires, Section 3C “extends” your previous visa for as long as it takes to make a decision. It does not matter if your visa expires and you have not heard from the Home Office (UK Visas and Immigration) – because you applied on time. In this case your status remains the same as before, with the same conditions, including the rights to work.    Let’s consider a very common example, we also used it in the previous post to decide hat happens in case if your visa has been refused: you are on a Tier 4 Student visa   which e...

These are common questions and the answer lies in the rule called Section 3C and 3D leave (of the Immigration Act 1971). If you have a visa which is about to expire, and submit a new application inside the UK before this visa expires, Section 3C “extends” your previous visa for as long as it takes to make a decision. It does not matter if your visa expires and you have not heard from the Home Office (UK Visas and Immigration) – because you applied on time. In this case your status remains the same as before, with the same conditions, including the rights to work.    If your new application is refused, and there is a right of appeal, and you submit an appeal on time (within the deadline on your refusal letter), then your status again remains the same as on your old visa. The one which you had before your refusal and it will continue until you have heard a determination on your appeal. This will be under Section 3D.    Let’s consider a very common example: ...

"1st 4Immigration has been truly amazing! They have helped secure our future which is completely priceless. Me and my partner met over 12 months ago whilst studying on Student VISA in the UK. Our relationship went from strength to strength and we wanted to remain together. We were however concerned with the complications of gaining a VISA extension following our decision to get married. We both understood that the Home Office had increasingly made it difficult to get VISAs and so we did not want to take any risks / chances that our VISA application would not be approved. We sought the help and support of 1st 4Immigration and we were NOT disappointed! 1st 4Immigration assisted us every step of the way and ultimately helped to transfer our Student Tier 4 Visa into a Spouse VISA. A dream come true. Furthermore, our circumstances were rather atypical. Neither of us had full-time permanent jobs and so the financial requirements element was certainly a challenge. However 1st 4Immigr...

"My wife and I have been to numerous solicitors in London who had all been keen on lining their pockets with some demanding money even before they asked me my name. 1st 4Immigration has been a surreal experience when compared. Joanne has been straightforward and precise and I took over the case and it was just a breeze from that point on. I cannot thank 1st 4Immigration enough for their time and their prompt and polite service."     This came from Ajith and Kathryn, a British - Indian couple who were applying to secure a Spouse visa for the Indian husband. Before coming to us, this couple were (wrongly) advised to make an application for which they were not meeting the requirements at the time. It was before they got married, so the only alternative way would have been applying on the basis of living together for 2 years which was not achievable. Unfortunately - and predictably in our opinion - the application was refused and the couple were advised to submit an a...

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...