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.

Question:
I entered the UK on a visitor visa in Sept. 2003 and did not go back. From June 2004, I have been residing with my boyfriend who is Lithuanian national and is working in the UK on a self-employed basis. I am also 7 months pregnant. I would like to know whether I have got any chances of regularizing my stay in the UK?

Answer:
You have overstayed your visa does not give you any right to regularize your stay in the UK. But in view of your particular circumstances it is worth making an application for residence card as an unmarried partner of an EEA national exercising treaty rights in the UK. You need to prove that you have been actually residing with your partner by providing documentary evidences of living together like any bills, bank statements, NHS letters or other documents coming to your name or your boy friend`s name coming to the same address. Your boyfriend also needs to provide documents confirming his self-employment status. It would also be beneficial if you could provide some letters / medical records of yourself confirming your inability to make travel arrangements to seek family permit from outside the UK.

Question:
I have lost my passport that contained my visa and now have obtained a new passport from my embassy in London. What I need to do to got another visa on my new passport?

Answer:
You need to fill out an application and provide all the relevant information / documents confirming your existing immigration status and submit to the Home office. You`ll be given the visa valid for the same date as your previous visa was.

Question:
I have been living in the UK on a student visa since Dec. 2001. I have recently got married in August 2006 in Ukraine and would like to invite my wife to come as my dependant. She applied for the visa in April 2007 but got refused for the reason that the visa office did not consider it as a genuine marriage. What should I do?

Answer:
We have to look at the refusal letter itself to assess what issues have been raised by the ECO. If it were only the genuineness of relationship then it would be more appropriate to lodge an appeal together with evidences confirming that you are in continuous contact with your wife and the relationship is genuine. We strongly advise to engage the services of a professional who could represent your wife in her appeal.

Question:
I came to the UK on a spouse visa in June 2006. Instead of a two-year spouse visa I was given the visa till Dec. 2008 that is the date of expiry of my passport. Can I make application for Indefinite Leave to remain in Dec. 2008?

Answer:
No. First of all you need to obtain your new passport from the relevant embassy and then apply for further leave to remain as a spouse of a person present and settled in the UK. You can only apply for ILR if you have successfully completed two years on a spouse visa and have passed Life in the UK test.

Question:
I want to invite my mother who is a widow of 63 years of age to join me as my dependant in the UK. I am here on HSMP visa and am completing my five-year stay in the UK (on HSMP) in next 2.5 years` time. What is the procedure for that?

Answer:
Please note that as you are not settled in the UK, you cannot invite your mother as your elderly dependant in the UK. This concession is only for those who are settled in the UK and have got parents of age above 65 years who are mainly or wholly financially dependant on you alone. We would like to advise you to finish your five-year stay in the UK and apply for your ILR. By that time, your mother would turn 65 years of age and you can invite her to come to the UK as your dependant. We strongly advise you to take professional advise and representation before making this application.

Question:
I am a student here and would like to apply for work permit to work full time in the UK. I am doing an English language course here and intend to work here full time. What is the procedure?

Answer:
For a work permit, you must have a job offer from a UK based employer who is able and willing to apply for your work permit. If the position is not the one that is in the Shortage occupation list, then the employer needs to advertise the vacancy and establish that he could not find a suitable person to carry out the job. As you are not able to switch while remaining in the UK, your employer needs to apply for an out-country work permit for you and once that is approved, you need to travel back to your home country to obtain visa from the UK embassy.

Question:
I have been residing in the UK for about 10 years now and would like to know how to obtain ILR on the basis of 10 years continued legal residence in the UK.

Answer:
In order to make an ILR application on the basis of 10 years legal and continuous residence in the UK, you must establish that all your 10 years of stay were legal and continuous with no breaks for more than 6 months in one go and not more than 18 months in total. You also need to do life in the UK test to qualify for ILR.

Question:
I recently married a German national who is working in the UK and would like to invite my children (from previous marriage) of ages 20 and 19 who are residing in Russian Federation. Can I do that?

Answer:
Yes. You can invite your children on family permit (6 months visa) that can be switched to a five-year residence card and on completion of total five years of stay; they can apply for permanent residence in the UK.

Question:
I came here on a spouse visa together with my 7 years old son (from my previous marriage) in July 2006 in the UK but unfortunately my marriage did not work very well. My husband is an alcoholic and used to beat me every day over trivial things. I reported to the Police as well and now presently residing at the accommodation provided by the social services. My husband has now commenced divorce proceedings and is threatening my child and me to deport from the UK. I am very worried. Can I do something to stay in the UK?

Answer:
Yes. You can apply for ILR on the basis of domestic violence. It does not matter whether you have completed your 2 years on spouse visa or not and you also do not need to do life in the UK test to apply for settlement. We strongly advise to take independent professional advice and representation to make this application. Your son would also be given ILR in line with you. And once you have got ILR, you can apply for naturalization after a total of five years of your stay in the UK provided you fulfil other requisites as well.

Question:
I am 27 years old and have done my degree from Russia and have also earned more than 10, 000 GBP in Russia. I am presently studying in the UK and my visa is expiring next year. I would like to apply for HSMP.

Answer:
You can apply under HSMP if you can provide the required evidence for each of the section of the HSMP and can claim a total of 75 points together with an IELTS certificate confirming that you have got an average score of 6.0 or above. Please note that you must also provide certified translations of the documents that are not in Russian language that must conform to the requisites of the Home office. It is advisable to take a competent professional advice before making any such application. If you have completed your degree level education from the UK as well, then only you can switch to HSMP otherwise you need to apply for entry clearance from outside the UK.

Question:
I am a TWES work permit holder and would like to switch to a normal work permit. Can I do that?

Answer:
Please note that if you have been in the UK on a TWES work permit for less than 12 months, you must live outside the UK for 12 months before making any application for a regular work permit. If you have been here in the UK on TWES for more than 12 months, then you need to stay outside the UK for 24 months before you can come to the UK on a regular work permit. But there is nothing that restrict you on making an application under HSMP or any other permit free category.

Question:
I am here in the UK as a dependant of a student. Our visas are expiring next month. Can I make a student visa application for myself and make my husband my dependant while remaining in the UK?

Answer:
No. You cannot make an incountry student visa application. You need to travel back to your home country to make such application. However your husband can become your dependant without leaving the UK.

Question:
I came to the UK on a work permit and am the managing director of the company. I require engaging the services of some professionals who are not in the UK. Can I make a work permit application for them?

Answer:
Yes, certainly. The fact that you are on a work permit does not stop you from making work permit applications for others, provided you fulfil all the requisites of making the work permit applications.