UK Visas and British Citizenship

  Hire and sponsor migrant workers under the new Points-Based Immigration System from December 2020. It has been made easier - and better - for the British businesses to do so after Brexit. The new rules come in place on 1 December 2020, a whole month before the UK officially cuts its ties with the EU.   The 1st step in sponsoring (employing) migrant workers is a Sponsor Licence. Your business now needs it to employ people from both the EU and outside the EU, and the same visa rules apply to everyone.   If an employer does not have a Licence, they can apply for it and our company can help with the application and the entire process. Very often we are approached by a migrant (often on a Student or Tier 5 visa in the UK), whose employer is willing to sponsor them for a work visa. The process has been made faster due to abolishing of a resident labour test (no need to advertise a job to settled workers anymore) and also due to abolishing of annual limit (no need to wait for ...

  We have moved all our training online!  We now offer OISC Level 1 course livestream on Zoom and Skype 21 – 22 November 2020. It is a 2-day course, 10.00 - 16.00 with breaks. CPD 10 hours. Price £250+VAT. It is live training (livestream), where you can interact with the tutor and ask your questions. You can check the date and book here. You can read the Description here. We also continue to run our best-selling Self-study OISC Level 1 course, based on an electronic textbook. You can study in your own time, at your own pace, from any device at any place. CPD 16 hours. Price £199+VAT. You can find it here .     Our courses are CPD-accredited by The CPD Standards Office, reference 80001. Extracts from How To Use the Immigration Rules: The ‘Other way around principle’: when trying to find out whether a migrant can switch from one visa category to another, most people would go to the section of the Rules that covers their current visa. Then looking for what they can...

  If you happened to be on a Tier 2 Intra-Company Transfer (ICT) visa in the UK, we have great news for you! The new Points-Based Immigration System, in force from 1 December 2020, allows switching from a Tier 2 ICT to the new Skilled Worker visa . We can truly call it ‘light at the end of the tunnel’ for ICT migrants, desperately trying to switch to a visa that offers settlement in the UK.  The old, strict Tier 2 General visa under the old pre-Brexit Points-Based System is replaced with a new Skilled Worker visa under the new, post-Brexit, Points-Based Immigration System. (It does require focus to keep up!). There are many positive changes for both migrant workers and UK employers but the ICT change deserves a separation mention. For years, the ICT category was easier and quicker for UK businesses but very unfavourable for the migrants - it didn’t lead to settlement. And if you wanted to switch to the main Tier 2 General visa, that does lead to settlement, you had to leave th...

  #1 More jobs (occupations) can be sponsored for a UK work visa.  Old rule: only degree-level jobs were allowed for a Tier 2 General visa. New rule: jobs at A level (RQF Level 3) are allowed for sponsorship under the new Skilled Worker visa.   #2 Switching from another visa category (without leaving the UK) has been made easier!  For example, you can now switch from a Tier 5 YMS visa to a Skilled Worker visa while in the UK, without interrupting your work. You can also switch from a family visa such as from a Partner visa to a work visa if your relationship has broken down and your employer wishes to sponsor you. Switching from a Student visa remains as before.   #3 To continue on the above, this deserved a separate point - switching from Tier 2 Intra-Company Transfer (ICT) is allowed from December 2020!  This is fantastic news for all those long-suffering Tier 2 ICT migrants, desperate to switch to a visa that leads to settlement in the UK. The ICT catego...

  Immigration work continues during the lockdown, UK visas are issued and visa centres remain open.   Visa application centres inside the UK are classified as essential services, so you can still enrol biometrics (fingerprints) as part of your application for a UK visa, settlement or British Citizenship. The casework (considering your documents) continues by the UK Government remotely, with online submission of documents - a process that has been in place for 2 years now (since before Covid).   We at 1st 4Immigration work as normal. We conduct online consultations via Zoom, WhatsApp and email for our customers worldwide, as we have been already doing during the past 12 years. We work on your cases as usual, you can provide us with your documents online via Dropbox or email, so we make the most of the modern technology in the ’new normal’. We are here to help if you are coming to the UK to work or to join your family, extending your stay or need to apply for Citizenship. ...

Our OISC Level 1 training is a bestseller! With the online version, you can download it on your computer and study in your own time. The course is great for you if: - you are preparing to take a Level 1 OISC exam and become an immigration adviser. - you are a practicing adviser or solicitor and wish to broaden your knowledge about other visa categories, such as to learn in detail about the Points-Based System. You will earn 16 CPD hours! - you work in HR; you are a business owner or a landlord and need to learn about how your employees or tenants can stay legally in the UK so that you don't face penalties. With over 10 years of experience, we designed this course to be of practical help! It's full of useful advice, explanation of how to understand Immigration Rules, where to find the information during a case and many case studies. Unlike most training other there, this is not boring coverage of the Immigration Rules, we tried to keep it as entertaining as possible!   Read det...

  The new points based immigration system - easier, faster and more flexible !    It’s beginning to feel a lot like ... Brexit. And it starts early on 1 December 2020, a whole month before the UK officially cuts the ties with the EU. The new immigration system for work visas starts on 1 December 2020. It allows to sponsor foreign workers faster, easier and on far more flexible terms than under the current Tiered (and tired) policy. It will be the same for EU and non-EU workers.    What’s better?   No annual limit - no restricted certificates - no waiting for a place or competing on salaries.  No resident labour test - no need to advertise a job to the settled workers to justify hiring a foreigner.  No cooling-off period, meaning no need to wait for 12 months to re-apply under this visa category.  No cap of how many years you can stay in the UK as a Skilled Worker (currently 6 years).  Lower salary levels in many cases (not in all). ...