UK Visas and British Citizenship

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 6 April

Our most popular posting - with almost 1,000 views since the beginning of August 2012: There are plenty of Rules governing children who are born in the UK, so we'll try to keep the answer simple. A child born in the UK does NOT automatically become British (unlike in America). Instead, it depends on child's parents status. 1) If child's parent (one or both) is British then the child will be a British citizen too. 2) If child's parent (one or both) is not British but has permanent residency in the UK, ie holds an Indefinite Leave to Remain or Permanent Residency under European law, then the child will be British also (even if both parents aren't British).   3) If the child's parents are both not permanent residents and hold visas, such as Tier 1, Tier 2, Work Permit etc, then the child will NOT be British, even though he/she was born in the UK. In such cases a child can be given a dependant visa on his/her parents. This can be done as a sep

  More and more clients say “I am working as a contractor for ….” Then usually follows a name of a major bank or an IT company. For example, “I am working as a contractor for Morgan Stanley”. It also often covers teachers and doctors who work as self-employed “through an agency”. These people are self-employed, not employees, even though they use words ‘work for’ and ‘employer’. In other words they are employees in all but name. There is no legal form of ‘contractor’ as such. The legal form is still the same as for other self-employed people: Sole Trader, Partner, Limited Company owner. As professional immigration advisers we have to establish how exactly our client is working ‘as a contractor’’. For example, we have to see beyond the words ‘Do I need a letter from my employer’ because there is no employer. Or beyond the words ‘I am working for..’. So, with contractors, we have to establish whether a client has a limited company or working as a Sole Trader/Partner. Then

"I want to appreciate you and your team for your excellent services in guiding me through the entire process of packaging my application to meet the requirements drawing my attention to gaps I wouldn't have thought on my own". This came from Mr Oluwole, a Nigerian national, who applied as a Spouse of a UK citizen. Oluwole completed 2 years on a Spouse visa (which was issued under the old Rules before 9 July 2012) and was eligible for an Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR). Despite the new Rules from 9 July 2012 Oluwole could still apply for an ILR under the old Rules. Besides the general guidance we always do, we were particularly working on  the documents to show 2 years of residency in the UK, they are also known as '6 letters', as on SET (M) form. We then submitted application using Same-day Premium service in Croydon and the case was approved on the same day without any complications. To make your application as successful please email info@1st4immigrat

The New Family Rules cover quite well the subject of how to calculate income for employees to meet the Financial Requirement. Every employee has (or should have) payslips and bank statements. However, it is not clear to many applicants how to calculate income of self-employed people. Let us not forget that the UKBA policies are most likely written by their staff who by definition are employees. Our company has extensive experience with assisting with cases for self-employed people (all cases successful). Plus we understand what it means to have a business as we run a business too! If the applicant’s partner and/or the applicant (if in the UK with permission to work) is in self-employment at the date of application and in the last full financial year received self-employment income it can be used to meet the Financial Requirement. What’s meant by a ‘full financial year’? If a person is self-employed as a Sole Trader or Partner then their financial year would be a UK tax year, ie

As Family visas is one of our main specialities, we had noticed straight away that the 'New Rules', introduced on 9 July 2012, were not clear on how to calculate the income of £18,600. We had contacted the UK Border Agency and have had a clarification in early November. We were also told these clarifications would be added to the next update of the Rules. Now the UK Border Agency announced on 22 November about some additions (or rather clarification) into the 'new Rules', which come in force on 13 December 2012.  We'd like to think we played a part in it (but in reality the wise people at the UKBA probably spotted it themselves!) Part 1 -  Workers who have worked for the same employer for at least 6 months.  Old rule: have to take last 6 months payslips, find a 'lowest payslip' and then multiply that 'lowest month' by 12, thus getting an assumed annual amount. Result must be minimum £18,600. Same applies to weekly payslips (lowest payslip in 6 month

What's after Post-Study Work visa? One of the most common questions at the moment! We have created this information material (and a training course for other advisers). 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

We are asked this question all the time, especially by Australian citizens. Perhaps it has something to do with the state of economy but more and more people take an opportunity to work abroad, such as in Australia, Singapore, USA, the Middle East, Russia, Brazil, China and many other countries. Most people know not to leave the UK for too long during their 5 years qualifying period on visas like Tier 1 General, HSMP, Tier 2, Work Permit, Ancestral. However, what happens once you have an ILR? Can you go and work abroad, do you have to come back and when? Can you go and work, say, in Australia for a year, then come back and apply for British Citizenship? Firstly, an ILR is supposed to be a permanent visa but in fact it's not that 'permanent'. You can lose an ILR if you leave the UK for more than 2 years in a row. Such as leave for 2 years without coming back. An ILR will be lost and you'd have to start residency from the beginning. So, as long as you don't lea