News

Oct 31, 2018 - New grant to support vulnerable EU citizens

On 25 October 2018, the UK government announced the new £ 9 million grant to support vulnerable EU citizens living in the United Kingdom, who might need additional assistance with processing and submitting applications to obtain immigration status through new settlement scheme.

UK based voluntary and community organizations, who represent the interests of potentially vulnerable EU citizens, can submit their applications for additional funding starting from the end of November. They will make vulnerable residents aware of their need to apply for settled status and assist them on all stages of i...

Oct 31, 2018 - Autumn Statement 2018

Chancellor Philip Hammond on 29 October 2018 presented at the House of Commons new Autumn Budget, which will be the last before the UK leaves the European Union.

Let’s have a closer look on the most important points of chancellor’s speech.

Economic growth

The economic growth in 2019 will reach 1.6%. This number is higher compared to the spring statement, which showed 1.3%. The expected annual forecast has also raised to 1.4% in 2020, 1.5% in 2021 and 1.6% in 2023.

Income tax

From a UK income tax perspective, the allowances and rate bands were increased as expected with the personal allowance r...

Oct 30, 2018 - Visitors from certain countries will have fast-track lines through British border control

The British government announced that citizens from the United States of America, Canada, New Zealand, Australia and Japan will be able to use E-gates at the border control, when travelling to the UK starting from next year. At the moment only UK, European Union, European Economic Area or Swiss citizens with biometric passports were able to use the E-gates in British airports, while citizens from other countries had to use normal immigration lines for a face-to-face contact with a border officer. Such lines are exceptionally busy and waiting time in Heathrow airport could often reach 2.5 hours...

Oct 29, 2018 - New career opportunities for 41 immigration judges with a salary of £ 100,000 per annum

The Judicial Appointments Commission has announced its plans to hire 41 judges to fill available positions in the Immigration and Asylum Chamber of the First Tier Tribunal. The Commission offers potential applicants an attractive salary of £ 108,171 per annum.

There were 152 salaried judges working in the Immigration and Asylum Chamber of the First Tier Tribunal in 2005. By 2017 their number fell to only 57. In the light of the obvious staff shortage, there is a significant demand to employ judges. There were 11 people appointed to this position in January 2018, while few more positions were f...

Oct 23, 2018 - Important update on «Super Premium Service»

According to the Home Office officials, «Super Premium Service» will be operating until 21 November 2018 and then it will be managed by a third party, a private Spanish company, working on behalf of the Home Office. This will be a completely different online platform with the possibility to book the service only online.

In is unclear whether the new service will start working immediately after 21 November 2018. There is a possibility that it will be launched only in 2019, so it is likely that for some time «Super Premium Service» will not exist at all.

According to the Home Office officials, a...

Oct 21, 2018 - Applying for “Parent of a child” visa can be complex and not as straightforward as one might think

When applying for a visa as “Parent of a child living in the UK”, it is necessary to take a comprehensive approach to the whole application and preparation process and consider a number of factors, which we have outline below.

If the future of a child is connected to the UK, then he/she should live together with parents or one of them. However, in reality Home office has to consider other factors while making the decision.

First of all, the child should have a stable immigration status in the UK. For example, to be eligible to live with his overseas parents in Britain, he/she should be either ...

Oct 21, 2018 - New settlement scheme for obtaining permanent resident status for EU citizens after Brexit: proof of residence in the UK

On 22 October 2018, the Home Office on its official website gov.uk published additional information about supporting documents required to obtain permanent resident status and confirming that an EU citizen has lived in the UK for consecutive five years.

In the new online platform applicant should enter his/her National Insurance Number (NINo), and the system will automatically check for how long the applicant has paid taxes in the UK or if he/she received any benefits. In order to obtain permanent resident status, the applicant should live in the UK for at least 6 months in a year for five con...

Oct 18, 2018 - New online forms from Home Office

From 19 October 2018 as a part of general digitalization Home Office introduces new online forms for BRP replacement or transfer of your visa, including ILR, from passport vignette to card format (BRP). You might use these forms, for example, if your passport with valid visa has expired.

Previously, you could submit them only as postal applications. Recently Home Office announced its plans to reduce the amount of paper applications and change to on-line forms, where possible.

Oct 10, 2018 - Statement of changes to the UK Immigration Rules

On the 11th of October 2018, Parliament presented the Statement of changes to the UK Immigration Rules, coming into effect in early November 2018.

New settlement scheme for EU citizens residing in the UK after Brexit.

The second phase of EU settled status scheme will begin on 1 November 2018. Staff from UK higher education institutions, health and social care sector will take part in this round of testing. The government plans to publish a report with results of the second phase in December 2018 and fully launch the scheme by 30 March 2019.

New appendix AR (EU) will give citizens of the Europe...

Oct 07, 2018 - Do you know that you can get a second British passport?

If you are a citizen of the UK and you are over 16 years old, you travel a lot, then you have the opportunity to get second passport for business trips.

The main requirement are:

  1. You are a business traveller who needs to visit countries that are in conflict or incompatibility with each other, e.g. Israel and Iran/Lebanon/Syria/Iraq etc.
  2. You are a very frequent business traveller and need to get a new visa issued in an embassy, which might hold your passport for a long time, which would impede your travel otherwise.

To apply you will need to fill in the application form, which you can...