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 the real cases during the week and teach on weekends.

We are asked this question almost every day! The purpose of a Spouse/Partner visa is for the foreign partner to reside in the UK with their British/settled spouse/partner. So, are there limits on how many days you (or your British spouse) can spend outside the UK while on this visa? Some think it is 90 days, others – 180 days per year. Both are wrong. The former is the old limit for work visas and the latter is the current limit for the visas under the Points-Based System. Neither applies to spouses and partners. The answer is: there is no specified limit on absences. In other words, there is no minimum number of days, such as “180 per year”. The only rule is that the UK remains your main home and each case has to be assessed on its merit.   How does it work in practice? In our immigration practice we have to assess each case individually. For example, a case where a British spouse was sent, by their UK employer, to work in Hong Kong for 6 months, while remaining an employee for

It may be tempting to look at the Appendix B of the Immigration Rules, it is called English language after all. However, Appendix B is for the initial applications and extensions under the Points-Based System and it is no good for ILR applicants. The right place is Appendix KOLL, Knowledge of Language and Life, which applies only to ILR applicants, in all categories including in the PBS routes: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-rules-appendix-koll It is easy to see how you can meet the English requirement, such as by passing an acceptable test or using a degree taught in English. The real question is whether you have to meet this requirement again, if you already met it before, which applies to almost al Tier 1 migrants and to many Tier 2 migrants, particularly in the Tier 2 (General) sub-category. In other words, the question is “Do I have to pass English test again?” The answer is in the Appendix KOLL: “2.2 For the purposes of paragraph 2.1, an app

Multi Travel Visas Ltd can assist with renewing a UK passport using same-day or 1 week service at the Passport Office in London, with the authorisation from you as per the government requirements. We can submit applications on next working day after receiving your documents, there is no need to wait for an appointment. We may also be able to submit on the same day if we receive your documents before 12pm (Midday) and they are in order. We can also help if for some reason you are unable to apply yourself. If you don't have time to travel to a Passport Office yourself we can apply on your behalf (you don't have to come to London). If you are living/working abroad you can courier documents to our London office and we can submit them promptly for same-day service. This includes if your passport has run out of pages or if you need to renew not only yours but also/or your child's passport urgently.  Example: British expats living or working in the USA, the Middle East, Asia and

Multi Travel Visas Ltd is an accredited agency with the official French visa centre in London, we have many years of experience of working with French Consulate. We use a separate system of appointments and can provide an appointment sooner than available for the public. FRENCH SCHENGEN VISA: It is possible to obtain a visa within 4 working days from the date of the biometric appointment for most nationals, such as Filipino, South African, Russian, Indian, Chinese, Turkish and most others. It takes longer for some nationals, up to 3 weeks, a list is available on our website: http://www.multitravelvisas.co.uk/schengen-visa-france.php   GERMAN SCHENGEN VISA: German Schengen visa takes 5 working days from the date of appointment. No biometrics, no personal attendance needed! Furthermore, spouses and family members of UK/EU citizens don't have to book tickets/accommodation before applying for this visa. This is the best Embassy to apply for a Schengen visa for spouses and family

As a Spouse/Partner/Fiancée visa is one of our most common visa categories (with the 100% success rate so far!), we are often asked this question. A Spouse/Partner Entry Clearance (visa issued outside the UK) is issued for 33 months, that’s 2.5 years plus 3 months. It starts from the date of decision, not the date of travel. The 3 months are given for extra flexibility, so a foreign spouse doesn’t have to rush and arrive in the UK as soon as they have a visa. And most people would not make any travel arrangements until their visa has been granted, which may sometimes take as much as 3 months (but there is a Priority Service for applications in some countries, such as the USA, Australia, New Zealand and many others). So, the 3 extra months are already added to address this issue. However, it does not mean you have to enter within those 3 months. You can enter later, as long as you enter within the validity of the visa. If you do delay your entry for more than 3 months it mea

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 the real cases during the week and teach on

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 to re

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