UK Visas and British Citizenship

"1st 4Immigration was a huge help to us and really made the application a lot easier". This came from Connal, an Australian national. He applied for an EEA Family Permit in Australia with our help from the UK with checking all the documents, forms and drafting letters. Our client applied on the basis of being married to an Italian citizen, they were both living in Melbourne. Our initial advice was that Connal did not need a visa to come to the UK. As a spouse of an EU citizen he would gain his rights automatically from the European law, without having to apply for a ‘visa stamp’. Australian nationals are known as non-visa nationals, ie they do not need a visitor visa to come in the UK, so this is sufficient for an airline to let one on a plane. Once in the UK, border control officers know the European immigration law and would allow a spouse of an EU citizen in (providing they are travelling together or EU spouse is already in the UK). However, in this case our c...

This is for those who are looking to apply using European regulations. Those who had UK visas issued before 2007 under the Immigration Rules should read below. Citizenship rules are the same, in general, for Bulgarian and Romanian nationals as for other European nationals. However, 2013 is the first year they can apply because Bulgaria and Romania joined EU on 1 st January 2007. This is if they want to use their rights under European law.   So, one of the conditions is to have a status of a permanent resident, which Bulgarian/Romanian nationals can achieve after 5 years of exercising European Treaty rights in the UK, such as working, being self-employed, studying, being self-sufficient etc. Bulgarian/Romanian nationals do not have to apply for permanent residency (unless they want to, voluntarily). They ‘achieve’ this status automatically after 5 years of exercising Treaty rights in the UK. So, the first time Bulgarian/Romanian nationals could qualify for permanent residen...

Yes and No.   Yes, because a new limit is more generous than the old one: new limit is 180 days outside the UK in EACH year. Old limit was 180 days in the wole 5 years. No, or rather ‘not always’ or ‘not for all’ or ‘not necessarily’. This new limit on absences came in force on 13 December 2012 and perhaps, like with all new rules, the UKBA will soon find they had not covered all situations. Business absences: OK if within the limit of 6 months in each year, some applicants need a letter from employer(s), though we advise all our clients to provide such letters. Holidays: OK if within the limit and it is clear that the main residency remained the UK, including between the jobs. The rules don’t say how to evidence that the main home remained in the UK (such as when travelling between 2 jobs, or having left one job and before starting/looking for another one), so we advise each client individually based on our vast experience of applications under the old rules when...

“Huge thank you for all your help and patience". This testimonial came from Tracey who we helped secure a visa for her husband, they applied in Nicaragua. In this case we claimed exemption from the Financial Requirement (£18,600) because the Sponsor, a British spouse, was in receipt of Disability Living Allowance. Receiving disability-related benefits makes a Sponsor exempt, she/he only needs to meet the old requirement of ‘adequate maintenance’. In this case Sponsor’s income, including DLA, was sufficient to meet the Maintenance rule, and accommodation was provided by Sponsor’s father. For an advice or to make your application as successful please contact us: info@1st4immigration.com or visit www.1st4immigration.com

One of the most commonly asked question! Variation includes 'Do I have to transfer my ILR to a new passport?' Or 'Do I have to do anything with my Biometric Residence Permit (visa card) if my passport has expired?'. The short answer would be 'No, you don't have to. You can travel with both passports'. UK visas don't expire if passport has expired (bar one exception I can think of, below). If your passport has expired but you have an ILR stamp in the old one (Indefinite Leave to Remain, permanent residency), then you don't have to do anything. You can just travel with both passports. Or you can transfer an ILR to a new passport if you want to, though now it will be a visa card and not a stamp in the passport. If your passport has expired but you have a limited leave to remain (visa but not a permanent one) in the old passport, then again you don't have to do anything. You can just travel with both passports. Or you can transfer to a n...

We have seen many people recently approaching us, believing (wrongly) that from October 2012 level of English language proficiency for spouses and partners of UK citizens has gone up from the very basic level of A1 to a higher level of B1.  Firstly, it is the 'wrong October' - the new level, B1, is proposed to come in force from next October - October 2013. Until then the rules remain the same as now - A1 level in Speaking and Listening. Proposed change - from October 2013 - is for those spouses/partners who are applying for settlement in the UK.  The problem (and confusion) here is a word 'settlement'. It has 2 different meanings of 'settlement' when applying for UK visas for spouses and partners.  Meaning 1: When applying from outside the UK 'settlement' visa means a visa which allows to come to the UK 'with the view of settlement'. In other words, for good, to settle, to stay here and not expected to leave the UK (unless voluntarily). This ap...

One of the most common questions at the moment! We have created this training course for immigration advisers (and a general information material for everyone to read), you can read extracts below and contents (list of subjects covered) on our website. For the price of our standard advice session you can download and instantly read it here, in your own time from any computer, and then refer anytime you need . Download now. Or visit www.1st4immigration.com www.1st4immigration.com Extract 1: Before 6 April 2012 migrants could study in the UK for a degree and then almost automatically switch from a Tier 4 Student visa to a Tier 1 Post-Study Work visa, which was for 2 years (we will call this visa Post-Study Work or PSW in this course). This category, Post-Study Work, is now closed, so the current students find themselves in a position of needing an advice of what other visa options they have after completion of their degree course in order to stay in the UK. Before...