Immigration Blog
To be or not to be British? Disadvantages of UK citizenship
This post is out of date as of November 2017 following the decision of the judgment of the ECJ (Grand Chamber) in Toufik Lounes v Secretary of State for the Home Department C-165/16 of 14 November 2017. Not long ago this question would simply not arise. Now it has become an integral part of
Immigration Webinar: How to extend Tier 1 Entrepreneur Visa
In our first Webinar this year we will address some most common mistakes made by Tier 1 Entrepreneurs when applying for extension of their visa. The webinar will be of interest to people considering Entrepreneur visa as a potential immigration route to the UK, as well as for those who have already been issued with their initial Tier 1 Entrepreneur visa and will seek to extend it before applying for settlement.
It is often frustrating for us and perhaps even more so for our clients, if we have to tell them that they do not meet the requirements of the immigration rules due to a trivial and non-essential error which would have been so easy to correct, were it not too late…
Surinder Singh route for family members of British citizens
From 1 January 2014, family members of British citizens coming to the UK under Surinder Singh route will have to satisfy the Secretary of State that the British citizen sponsor has “transferred the centre of life” to another Member State. The blog addresses the new concept of “centre of life” in immigration context.
Residence rights of the parents of an EEA national child
Parents of EEA national children have derivative right of residence in the UK – they need to demonstrate self-sufficiency of the whole family before their right to live and work is confirmed and this is likely to create an insurmountable obstacle for those who do not have an independent right of residence and employment at the time of the application.
UKBA data on the success rate of the in-country spouse visa applications under Appendix FM
Of the 5400 applications for partner’s visa made in the UK in the 12 months between July 2012 and June 2013 only a shockingly small number of 313 have so far been successful! Out of the 313 successful applications, 168 (53%) were made by women and 145 (47%) by men. Of the 1140 unsuccessful applications, 491 were by women (43%) and 649 (57%) by men. One might speculate whether the gender imbalance is related to it being more difficult for women to sponsor the partner under the harsh financial requirements of the new rules.
Tier 2 visa applications: why it is important to get them right first time round
Tier 2 visa application may be refused due to mistakes in the certificate of sponsorship which are outside the control and often outside the knowledge of the migrant. In order to avoid these costly mistakes, careful attention has to be given to the most up-to-date version of the immigration rules.
