UK Visas and British Citizenship

“ Thanks so much for all your help during this relatively stressful period. My partner and I both appreciate everything you’ve done. Feel free to tell everyone we think you are all awesome. This is based on the extreme care you all took by making sure everything we had was in order and staying patient when we weren’t at all with all out emails etc! And I will certainly recommend you to all my friends.”   This came from Adre, a South African national who applied to retain a right of residence under the European law following a dissolution of a civil partnership. We helped to apply on an EEA4 form and the applicant received permanent residency under the EU law after 4 months. 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 CDP website:   www.1st4immigration.com/tr...

We often hear from the clients: “I am employed but by my own company” or “My accountant says I am not self-employed, I have a limited company”. There are 2 definitions of a word ‘self-employed’, one for HMRC (the taxman) and accountants, another for UK Home Office and UK Border Agency, which is also used as a common sense definition.   UK Immigration Rules refer to self-employed people when it comes to meeting the points for Earnings in the Tier 1 General, Entrepreneur categories as well as when applying for an ILR based on them. Furthermore, rules on meeting the Financial Requirement under Appendix FM and FM-SE when it comes to applying for a Spouse/Partner/Fiancee visa.   For Home Office (UKBA) ‘self-employed’ means a person who works for him/herself, rather than working for someone else. This includes running a company or a shop as well as being a one-man-business. It also includes ‘contractors’ – workers who are employees in practice but who are self-employ...

This posting is for those who need to prove English language for an ILR (everybody from 28.10.2013 unless exempt) and for a Spouse/Partner/Fiancee visa.   Spouses, partners and fiancees of British citizens and ILR holders: need A1 level in Speaking and Listening.   Everyone applying for an ILR: need a B1 level unless exempt because of age or illness and unless already prove it in the previous application, such as Tier 1.   The Immigration Rules say only Speaking and Listening need to be demonstrated at the required level, however, many approved tests cover all 4 components including Reading and Writing. What to do?   In such tests you need to look at an overall score at the required level, such as A1 for spouses/partners and B1 for and ILR.   IELTS would be a good example, it   provides an overall score and this is the one you’d need for a visa.   For an individual advice or to make an application please contact...

  For our colleagues Immigration Advisers and Solicitors: Our online training course is accepted by The OISC and SRA, CPD ref number EJE/14IM.  What’s Next after Post-Study Work and Tier 4 Visas? 4.5 hours CPD credit.   Download from our website, study in your own time on any computer, iPad or iPhone, complete the test and we will award your CPD hours and send you a certificate.   Visit website now:  http://www.1st4immigration.com/training/whats-next-after-post-study-work-and-tier-4-visas-cpd.php   The course is offered by our company, 1 st 4Immigration Ltd, which is a practising immigration company, registered by The OISC at a highly respectable Level 2, based in the City of London.   We are also accredited by the UK Border Agency in Croydon and submit applications using Premium service for accredited representatives. We provide biometric appointments every week (ILR, Tier 1, Spouse/Partner etc) ...

Myth 1: “I can apply for an ILR (permanent residency) after 5 years of living in the UK”. Reality: you can apply for an ILR after 5 years on specified visas only, such as 5 years on Work Permit and Tier 1 General. Or 5 years on an Entrepreneur visa only (not combined with Tier 2 etc). This is because some categories are not even counted for an ILR, such as Student/Tier 4, Post-Study Work, most Tier 5 visas. The only way to qualify for an ILR based on residing in the UK alone is 10 years on any visas (or 20 years if illegal stay is involved). Myth 2: “I have a Tier 1 (or Tier 2) visa but I married a British citizen since then. Since we have been married for 2 years I can apply for an ILR on SET(M) form”. Reality: This is a very common misconception and such application will surely be refused by the Home Office. As above, an ILR is based on a number of years on specific visas. In case of spouses of UK citizens it is 2 years on Spouse visa only (under the old Rules) and 5 years on...

This posting is for those who now need to demonstrate English language ability at a B1 level when applying for permanent residency in the UK (Indefinite Leave to Remain) and who already had to prove English in the previous applications.   If your previous visa had a condition of proving English at a B1 level or higher then you don’t need to prove it again. Example would be a Tier 1 General visa (including extensions).   If your previous visa had a condition of English at a lower level, but you achieved a B1 or higher level anyway, then you only need to provide that evidence, ie document(s) you used in that previous application. This is especially important for spouses/partners of UK citizens: for an initial spouse/partner visa only a basic A1 level was required, however many spouses achieved a minimum B1 level at that stage. Now for an ILR a spouse needs a B1 level, so to avoid taking another English test tehre is a concession – to provide evidence (such as a t...

From the 1st day of 2014 all the current restrictions on work rights for Bulgarian/Romanian nationals will be lifted. This means there is no more need for a Blue or Purple card in order to seek employment in the UK. These rules don't affect those who are working as self-employed. Students will be able to work as much as they wish without having to apply for a Yellow card first (until now  students had to have a Yellow Card to work while studying and could only work part-time).  There is one small matter to remember: when a Bulgarian or Romanian citizen applies for permanent residency (or straight for British Citizenship) he/she has to show compliance with the restrictions applicable at the time. So, it means for the next 6 years we will be checking availability of Blue and Purple registration certificates during 2007-2013 even if they no longer apply now from 2014 onwards.  So far we have dealt with many immigration applications on behalf of Bulgarian and Ro...