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 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. You can read about them on the Tutors page. Unlike most traditional courses,

Here we explain how to use the Immigration Rules and where to find something you may be having doubts about or hearing different answers from different people. This time it’s the turn of ILR! Spouses of UK citizens only need the basic A1 level when applying for an initial visa or for an extension (but   not for ILR). There is a common myth that it is a B1 level but it is wrong. Yet at the ILR stage a spouse of a UK citizen needs a higher,   B1, level. Here it is in the Rules: we go to Appendix FM https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-rules-appendix-fm In Family Life as a Partner we have a section called Section R-ILRP: Requirements for indefinite leave to remain (settlement) as a partner and then a sub-section called Section E-ILRP: Eligibility for indefinite leave to remain as a partner: “E-ILRP.1.6. The applicant must have demonstrated sufficient knowledge of the English language and sufficient knowledge about life in the United Kingdom in accordance wi

“Joanne , today my application was successful and I am really grateful to you and Christina for all the help. I am very happy for the service you have provided. I would highly recommend yourselves to anyone. I will not look somewhere else for immigration-related services next time and will return to yourselves. The experience has been great and it was only possible with your help. Thanks .” This came from Imran, a Pakistani national, who had spent 5 years in the UK on Tier 1 General visas and was now eligible to apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR, permanent residency).   Imran chose to apply using same-day service in Croydon, which we happily assisted with and all went smoothly on the day. The next step will be applying for British Citizenship after 1 year (unless the applicant is married to a UK citizen, then there is no need to wait for a year).     For an individual advice or to make your application as successful please contact us: info@1st4immigration.com or visi

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

French Schengen visa for business travel – we can submit your application any day without an appointment! 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 for a business Schengen visa we are allowed to submit visa application any working day without an appointment.   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   In case of a business visa, we can arrange submission any working day without an appointment! GERMAN SCHENGEN VISA: German Schengen visa takes 5 working days from the date of appointment.

“ Sebastian, just to say we picked up my wife’s visa today – very pleased with the very efficient and friendly service received. My company does use visa services from time to time (overseas competitions) so will bear you in mind next time we need visa assistance" This came from  Patrick, who applied for a Portuguese Schengen visa for his wife, who was a national of Thailand. It is possible to obtain a Portuguese Schengen visa within 1 week from a Wednesday for most nationals, such as Thai, Filipino, South African, Russian, Indian, Chinese, Turkish and most others. We can also assist with a French and German Schengen visa. Patrick mentioned business travel and overseas competitions. We do assist with a Schengen business visa (covers sports events). Plus in case of a French Schengen visa we can submit business visa applications any working day without appointments. As an accredited agency, we submit applications on Wednesdays directly to the Portuguese Consulate and we us

Multi Travel Visas o ffers bespoke Russian visa service. It is very fast and convenient and a visa applicant can submit an application - and biometrics - at our office in the City of London (Monument area). This service allows us to act as a visa centre and collect the biometrics (fingerprints) at our office in the City of London , which is easily accessible by all transport links. Under this procedure we prepare an application form, check the documents, order a visa invitation if needed. Then, rather than going to the visa centre and queuing there for hours, we will provide a biometric kit at our office. Conveniently, you would have a 1 – 1.5 hour window to come to our office (the day/time pre-arranged as convenient). Right here, on the spot, and without queuing, you will be able to provide the biometrics (fingerprints), we will ‘submit’ your documents and pay the application fees to the official staff operating the biometric kit (here at our office). If there are any issue

The current EEA Regulations have a provision for both of the above but what is the difference? The EEA law in general can be a minefield, with the ever-changing Regulations in the way of various Amendments rather than all rules in one documents. Here we explain retained right versus derivative rights. RETAINED RIGHT OF RESIDENCE: In some cases a family member of an EEA citizen can retain a right of residency in the UK. The most common example is a non-EEA spouse who can remain in the UK following the divorce. There are requirements to meet, such as having been married for 3 years and actually being divorced on the date of application (plus more rules, this is just an example). Unmarried partners can’t retain the right, though, only spouses and civil partners, ie ‘married partners’.    The main difference is this: those who retain a right of residence can eventually apply for a permanent residency status. Those who have a derivate right – can’t. DERIVATIVE RIGHT OF RESIDENCE

This is one of our very popular posts, where we explain how to use the Immigration Rules and where to find something you may be having doubts about or hearing different answers from different people. So, spouses of UK citizens only need the basic A1 level when applying for an initial visa or for an extension (but   not for ILR). There is a common myth that it is a B1 level but it is wrong. Here it is in the Rules: we go to Appendix FM https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-rules-appendix-fm In Family Life as a Partner we have a section called Section EC-P: Entry clearance as a partner and then a sub-section called English language requirement : “E-ECP.4.1. The applicant must provide specified evidence that they- ... (b) have passed an English language test in speaking and listening at a minimum of level A1 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages with a provider approved by the Secretary of State;” The same can be found in the secti

“ Joanne, you were very efficient and I am really happy with the results! I was really happy to recommend you (to my employer for immigration-related matters)”. This came from Priscila, a Brazilian national, who came to us to extend her 3-year Discretionary Leave to Remain. Since it was issued under the old rules before 9 July 2012 and was for 3 years, we were able to submit an application to extend it for further 3 years. The next step, after 3 more years, will be Indefinite leave to Remain (permanent residency), which can now be done on same-day service as from 6 th April 2015. The process described above is different from those getting the first discretionary visa from 9 July 2012 onwards. Under the ‘new rules’ a discretionary leave, private life or family life leave is issued for 2.5 years at a time, so one would need 10 years (3 extensions) to qualify for ILR, as opposed to 6 years under the old rules. For an individual advice or to make your application as succe