UK Visas and British Citizenship

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 20 - 21 June 2015, OISC Level 1 (in time for an OISC exam on 23 June).   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...

As always, the answer is in the Rules. If you are studying in the UK on a Tier 4 Student visa, you may consider to applying for a Tier 1 Entrepreneur visa when have completed your course. In our practice we are often asked whether a student can switch to an Entrepreneur visa inside the UK, ie without leaving the country. In most cases, the answer is No and here is where to find out: Look in the Immigration Rules, in this case we are going to Appendix A, Attributes: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-rules-appendix-a   , section called Attributes for Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) Migrants: “36A. An applicant who is applying for leave to remain and has, or was last granted, entry clearance, leave to enter or leave to remain as: (i) a Tier 4 Migrant ... (and former student categories) will only be awarded points under the provisions in (b)(ii) or (b)(iii) in Table 4.” So, now we are going to the Table 4: Table 4: Applications for entry clearance or leave t...

This post is directed at those who are considering making an initial application for a Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) visa to establish or take over a business in the UK. This post applies whether you are switching inside the UK (if eligible) or applying for an Entry Clearance outside the UK. The visa applicant needs to show access to the funds of GBP 200,000, which can be on his/her name or can be on the name of the third party, such as a sponsor or a parent. A very common scenario in our practice is when the parents transfer the funds to the applicant’s ban account. Strictly speaking, if the funds are on the applicant’s own bank account, they become his/her and not the third party’s. So, the question we are often asked is: do I need to provide evidence from the third party, such as a declaration and a letter from a lawyer. The answer is: if the funds have been held by the applicant for more than 90 days then no, there is no need of any evidence where the money has come from (unless ask...

“ Dear Lucy, I got the (Entrepreneur) visa, until September 2018 which I'm really happy about. Thank you very much and (to) your company, I really appreciate what you did and now I know that I made a right decision to ask your advice.” This came from Marina, who applied for an Entrepreneur Entry Clearance in Russia and has now secured her initial visa for 3 years, plus extra 4 months when you apply outside the UK, to give you more flexibility with the travelling dates to the UK (so you don’t have to rush and travel the next day). In this case Marina relied on the funds (£200,000) provided by the third party, Marina’s father. We asked to provide the relevant documents, such as a letter from Marina’s father (the third party) and a letter from a practicing legal representative in Russia. As we have had many applications from Russia and Ukraine (and we can read the documents in Russian), we were able to advise Marina that in Russia she should a[approach a notary (notarius) to prepa...

Normally, in order to qualify for permanent residency under the EEA Regulations, an EEA national must have exercised Treaty rights in the UK for 5 years, such as working, being self-employed or being self-sufficient (which includes students) – or a combination of those. Yet there is one exception, based on an EEA national worker who ceased activity. If an EEA national worked in the UK (for less than 5 years) but then ceased activity, then he/she qualifies for permanent residency immediately.   The above also applies to a non-EEA family member of the above and it applies if a family member became such after the EEA worker has ceased activity. For example, an EEA national ceased activity in 2012 and obtained permanent residency, then married a non-EEA national in 2014. In this example, a non-EEA national will gain the right of permanent residency upon marriage! That’s without even 1 year in the UK! There is of course a ‘catch’. There is a definition of a ‘worker who has ...

This post would be of interest to Romanian, Polish and other A8 and EU2 nationals, considering an application for permanent residency in the UK (or for British Citizenship if they are applying straight for Citizenship without applying for permanent residency first, which is allowed for the EEA nationals). In the past, when assessing eligibility for permanent residence under the European Regulations, we could only count the time spent in the UK under the Regulations before a country in question joined the EU. For example, Romania joined on 1 January 2007, so we would only count from then. Some migrants did reside in the UK before that but on the visas under the Immigration Rules, such as a Work Permit or the old Highly Skilled (HSMP) visa or a student visa. The point is that residence under the EEA Regulations derives from the European law while residence under the UK Immigration Rules derives from the UK law. Normally, we can’t combine them! We could not use such a combination...

“Oh my God!! I had to read your email a few times (when we told the application had been successful), to make sure I wasn't reading it wrong!! That is the best news I've had in a while! First of all, I just want to say thank you so much to everyone (please pass on a big thank you to Natalia), it's been such a relief to have someone advise me on the documents to be submitted and to know I'm doing the right thing. Thank you ever so much and I will surely be back in touch for a (British) passport application.” This came from Adina, a Romanian citizen whom we helped to secure permanent residency under the European law, EEA(PR) application, following at least 5 years of exercising treaty rights in the UK, in this case working. This application took only approx 5 weeks, which is very soon bearing in mind the official processing time is ‘up to 6 months’. The next step will be to apply for British Citizenship and British passport (but it is voluntary). For an individu...