UK Visas and British Citizenship

5 years and 10 years refer to the number of years a migrant needs to spend in the UK, in the given category, to qualify for permanent residency. So, in the 5-year route one needs 5 years and in the 10-year route twice more, ie 10 years. It means if you get a visa in this route, you'd need 5 or 10 years respectively from the date of the first visa. It does not relate to the number of years preceding to the first application in this route. When does each of them apply? 5-year route is for a migrant who is applying as a Spouse/Partner, or as a Parent, of a UK citizen under the Appendix FM and who is able to meet all the requirements. This is also known as application “within the Rules”. It means one can meet all the requirements, be it applying at the right place (ie switching from another category when it is allowed), meeting the Financial or English language requirements or otherwise.    10-year route applies to the applications under FLR(FP) category, as a Spouse/Partner

If you are considering making an application under a Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) or (Investor) category from outside the UK (known as Entry Clearance), from 1 September 2015 you will need to provide a criminal records check (ie a certificate) from each county where you lived for at least 12 months in the last 10 years (excluding the UK as this can be checked on the UKVI system). It will also apply to the adult dependants of the main applicant. If it may take a long time to obtain such a certificate in your country, you can avoid doing it by making your application in August. You can submit the online application form and pay a Home Office fee before 1 September for your application to be deemed as "submitted in August", even if your appointment to submit the documents and biometrics is some time after that. This is because of the term of ‘date of application’, which is based on the date of payment in the overseas applications. The general logic does not change, all v

We offer an intensive Saturday course at our office in the City of London. 1st 4Immigration Ltd is a practicing OISC-accredited immigration company, OISC, ref   F200800152. We are also a recognised CPD provider and can be found on the OISC list of the training providers. This course has a particular emphasis on Tier 2 General and Tier 1 Entrepreneur visa categories, applying for a Sponsor Licence and using Tier 2 Code of Practice as well as qualifying for an Indefinite Leave in these routes. It also covers (often forgotten in training) rules for family members of PBS migrants. You can earn 7 core CPD hours credit, subject to the successful completion of the test after the course. As a practicing company, we are offering to share our experience to help you deal with the applications of Points-Based System migrants, their family members and ILR applications based on PBS categories. You can read   Testimonials on our immigration cases here. Our tutors are our very own OISC-accredite

Our favourite expression is “the answer is in the Rules”. And it is, in this case in the Appendix FM: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-rules-appendix-fm   In Family life with a partner, then Section EC-P: Entry clearance as a partner, Section E-ECP: Eligibility for entry clearance as a partner, then in Financial requirements. In this case a list of those who are exempt will be in the below paragraphs: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ E-ECP.3.3... (a) the applicant's partner must be receiving one or more of the following - (i) disability living allowance; (ii) severe disablement allowance; (iii) industrial injury disablement benefit; (iv) attendance allowance; (v) carer's allowance; (vi) personal independence payment; (vii) Armed Forces Independence Payment or Guaranteed Income Payment under the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme; or (viii) Constant Attendance Allowance, Mobility Supple

This post is in response to numerous enquiries about the existing exception for partners and parents under the Appendix FM. This exception, mentioned in paragraphs EX.1 and EX.2, allows some migrants to bypass the rules, such as on the Financial Requirement £18,600 or English or even allows to switch inside the UK instead of having to apply abroad for an Entry Clearance. Of course, it sounds good that there is an exception from the rules. However, EX.1 paragraph, under the Section EX, is not a standalone rule, ie not a rule you can apply under. Instead it is used as a part of other sections in the Appendix FM. Those other sections tell you when it can be applied and what happens if it does apply (ie what rules can be waived) and what decision you may get (ie that it will be in the 10-year route). In this post we are concentrating on the rules for partners of UK citizens, rather than parents (a parent of a British child has an additional requirement not to eligible to apply as a

This post is for those who have a Tier 2 (General) visa and is wondering when is the best time to extend it. On one hand, you shouldn’t apply too early because you may be ‘short of visa’ when calculating your qualifying period for Indefinite Leave (permanent residency). On the other hand, you may wish to apply as soon as you can to secure your visa and put your mind at rest (and as often happens, go on a well-deserved holiday). There is a popular belief that you should apply within 28 days before your current visa expires but that rule is for ILR applications, not extensions. In fact, you can extend your Tier 2 visa within 3 months before it expires. On your Certificate of Sponsorship (COS) your employer has to put some dates for ‘Work start date’ and ‘End date’. These dates relate to your future visa, rather than the job, because you are already doing the job, not starting it. The ‘start date’ has to be within 3 months from the date of application for a visa (no later) and you

Advice session is often the first, and very important, step in the immigration process and is useful to assess your eligibility or to advise on the visa requirements. We have two options for a consultation: over email and at our office in the City of London. During August you can save money on having advice session at our current advice fee of £100 including VAT, including if you book in August but your appointment is later. From 1 September 2015 our advice fee will be brought in line with the average market price of £150 including VAT.   August is the time to discuss your case as well as have the incredible value for money! As always, advice fee will be counted towards our service fee, even if you are making an application months/years in the future. Whether your visa expires soon or in years’ time, it is never too early to have a consultation. You don’t have to be eligible to apply for a visa now, yet by having advice session in August 2015 not only can you save money, y

A very informative and practical 2-day weekend course at our office in the City of London!  1st 4Immigration Ltd is a practicing OISC-accredited immigration company, OISC ref F200800152. After many years of experience – and hundreds of successful cases – we are sharing our experience to help you to prepare for your OISC Level 1 assessment and accreditation or, if you are already practicing, to increase your knowledge. You can read Testimonials on our immigration cases here. TRAINING DATES:     Weekend 26 - 27 September 2015 (in time for OISC exam on 28 September). Weekend 24 - 25 October 2015 (in time for OISC exam on 29 October). Weekend 14 - 15 November 2015 (in time for OISC exam on 23 November). Weekend 12 - 13 December 2015 (in time for OISC exam on 17 December). Our tutors are our very own OISC-accredited practicing immigration advisers who handle the real cases during the week and teach on weekends. You can read about them on the Tutors page. Unlike most tradition

"Joanne, I am so happy to let you know that my mum has just got her visa today. No words can describe how grateful I am for all what you've done for us. Thank you, truly!” This testimonial (again for our adviser Joanne Wilson!) came from Nihal, who is on a Tier 4 student visa in the UK and who asked us for help to secure a visitor visa for her mother, so she could come and visit the UK from Morocco. The visa applicant in this case was working on the self-employed   basis in Morocco, so we advised to provide evidence of running a business, paying taxes in Morocco etc – and all worked well! For an individual advice or to make your application as successful please contact us: info@1st4immigration.com or visit www.1st4immigration.com   To read about our OISC-accredited adviser Joanne Wilson please visit this page: http://www.1st4immigration.com/about.php#advisers If you are an Immigration Adviser or a Solicitor please visit our immigration Training and CPD websi

"Joanne, I just wanted to let you know that my (Brazilian) wife's EEA family permit application was successful. Despite being submitted in Brazil, the application was handled in Columbia, and in total it took almost 4 weeks. Thanks again for your help preparing this application. We'll be in touch again soon when my wife arrives in the UK and we have to apply for the residence card.” This came from Manuel, a German citizen who asked us for help to secure an EEA Family Permit for his Brazilian wife to join him in the UK.   A family permit is often the first step for the non-EEA family members of EEA nationals. It is valid for 6 months but it allows to work, use the NHS etc (there is no immigration health surcharge for those applying under the European law).     The next step will be to apply for a Residence Card which will be for 5 years. There is no same-day service (unlike for spouses of UK citizens), however, the on the positive side, there is no Financial Requi