CASE STUDIES

Question:
I am HSMP visa holder, and live here since April 2006 together with my husband (he is my dependant). We are both Russian citizens. Our visas expire in April 2008. I’m employed, and have a good chance to extend my HSMP visa. I am pregnant and on my maternity leave, and will have a child in January 2008. How will this influence the visa extension? Have I any allowances or benefits? May I postpone the procedure of visa extension for certain period?

Answer:
If you do not extend your visa within the prescribed time limits, you might become an overstayer. You need to make an application for further leave to remain under HSMP and ask the Home office to consider your earnings before you went on maternity leave. There are some other documentary evidences that need to be sent with this request that we can advise once you engage our services.

Question:
I am from Belarus and am in a relationship with my partner who is a British Citizen. We have been living together for more than 6 years under one roof in a relationship akin to marriage. My partner does not wish to return to the UK. Can I apply for unmarried partner application?

Answer:
If your partner is not willing to relocate to the UK, then it is not possible for you to make an application as an unmarried partner of a British Citizen. However, if he agrees to move to the UK, you can then apply for an application for indefinite leave to enter the UK without going through the probationary two-year unmarried partner visa. But you would require passing Life in the UK test to make such an application and also to provide a large number of documents confirming your relationship covering the last 4 years. Please note that this is not a straightforward application and you should take an independent professional advice.

Question:
I am a work permit holder. My daughter is 6 years old. She is here with me as my dependant. As far as I know, she can get British citizenship after 6 years of staying here irrespective of the kind of my visa. Is this true?

Answer:
Please note that no one can get British Citizenship straight away unless they are born to British Citizen parents or are adopted by them. If you are asking for permanent residence in the UK, the Home office concessionary policy is to give indefinite leave to remain to the child and its parents if a child is born or brought in the UK and stays here for seven years in a combination of legal / illegal stay or all illegal stay and it would be against their welfare to relocate them to a different country. Please note that there has to be a very strong case to make this application. And parents having legal stay throughout that time cannot make this application.

Question:
I am a work permit holder. My son, who is dependant on me, is 16 years old. Is it possible for him to get WP from the employer? Is it necessary and possible for him to get National Insurance Number and bank account? Our visas expire in January 2009, and he will be 18 in December, 2008. Could he stay here as my dependant after this date when I have to extend my visa, or he needs to switch to separate visa on other category, i.e. student, etc?

Answer:
As he is your dependant, he does not require any work permit to work in the UK. He is free to take any employment. He can apply for National Insurance as well as for his bank account. There are no restrictions on him.

Once he gets over 18 years of age, he would not be considered as your dependant and if you wish to extend your visa, he could not be included in your application for extension. You need to provide evidence confirming he is still relying on you for his maintenance and accommodation.

Question:
My daughter is a student in the UK. She had a very bad accident and she is in the hospital in a very bad condition. I need to come to the UK very urgently, but the embassy takes too long to issue a visa. What should I do to speed up the process?

Answer:
You should have some sort of evidence of the accident and the health condition of your daughter. And also to email the visa manager about the circumstances and ask him to expedite your visa application.

Question:
I have got an indefinite leave to remain in the UK. Can I invite my parents, who are 58 and 65 years old to live with me in the UK?

Answer:
Yes. You can invite them to join you as your dependants in the UK. But there are very strict requirements that need to be duly complied with, in order to make a successful application. This is not a simple application; it is therefore advisable to seek professional assistance.

Question:
Can I be exempted from the Life in the UK test if I attended a university in the UK and I have a degree? I think this is a sufficient prove that I do know about the live in the UK.
Answer:
No. You are only exempted if you are over 65 years of age or less than 18 years of age or have a long-term mental illness. All others have to take Life in the UK test. 

Question:
I am an HSMP holder, but I don’t think that I can extend my HSMP visa, because I earn only £19000 a year while I require to earn more than £30K to claim the required number of points. What can I do?

Answer:
You can switch to work permit or innovator visa if you fulfil the relevant requirements of these categories. If you have been working for an employer for at least 8 months, your employer would be given an exemption of advertising the position for your work permit application.

Question:
I have committed a serious crime in my home country and came to the UK to escape the 35 years prison sentence. Can I claim asylum in the UK. I heard that a few famous people did it.  

Answer:
The Home office offers no protections to criminals and your claim for asylum would be turned down, as it is not on one of the convention reasons.

Question:
I came on a working holidaymaker visa that is now finishing in Nov. 2007. I got married with my husband who was a student in the UK but now he has got a work permit. Can I switch from working holiday make visa to a dependant of a work permit holder.

You could have switched to a spouse of a student when your husband was a student but now he has become a work permit holder and you have to make entry clearance application from the country of your origin unless there are some truly exceptional circumstances. You have in fact missed your chance to make an in-country application to become dependant of your husband.

Question:
I am a Highly Skilled migrant and got recently married in Ukraine. Now I wish her to join me in the UK as my dependant. My wife has already been refused for a visit visa in the last year. Would that have any effect on her dependant visa application?

Answer:
It depends on the refusal of your previous application. If that was because of using fraudulent documents or attempting to deceive the entry clearance officer, then the ECO might consider the previous refusals and look at the present application with extra care. It is therefore advisable to seek independent professional advice.

Question:
I came on a fiance visa but have recently become a victim of domestic violence by my partner. I reported to the police who are investigating the assault and has also placed me in the care of social services. Can I make any application to stay here for long?

Answer:
Unfortunately the domestic violence option is only available for the spouse of EEA nationals and of those who are settled in the UK. You cannot therefore make an application on the basis of domestic violence.

Question:
I am on a TWES visa and presently living with my partner who is an EEA national and working in the UK on a self-employment basis. We have now decided to get married. My visa is running out in October 2007. Can I apply for permission to get married?

Answer:
The normal requirements of making an application for permission to get married in the UK includes in having at least three months valid leave to remain in the UK. Your visa is expiring in October 2007 and that makes you ineligible to get permission under normal rules. But you would be required to provide detailed information about yourself, your fiance, your financial circumstances and your relationship.

Please note that the above questions and answers have been prepared from the emails, telephone calls and actual cases that we have dealt and have therefore not provided any names and addresses in order to keep cleint confidentiality.