News

The Home Office has begun contacting sponsors this week to inform them about a change to the process for updating some sponsor licence details. The email outlines new functions that will enable sponsors to keep their sponsor licence details as up to date as possible without having to wait for the Home Office to approve […]

On 9 November 2022, UKVI released its updated list of fees all the fees remained unchanged, except for the cost of Replacement Biometric Residence Cards (BRPs), which has been reduced from £56.00 to £19.00. Further announcements UKVI has streamlined parts of the BRP process for individuals making entry clearance applications (applying for visas outside of […]

Guidance released by the Home Office (UKVI) states that an employee can start working in their sponsored employment as soon as they have permission to enter or stay in the UK. As a business, you do not have tell the Home Office (UKVI) if the worker’s start date has been brought forward after they have […]

The Home Secretary had announced on 31 March that around 2,800 doctors, nurses and paramedics with leave due to expire by 1 October would get a free one-year extension. Family members are included and there are no fees involved. On 29 April, the department announced that it was extending the scheme to cover other “frontline workers, including […]

Good news for those on the front line of the Coronavirus battle as the Home Office announces a free, automatic one year extension to all NHS workers and their family who have visas expiring before 01/10/2020. The scheme will apply to doctors, nurses and paramedics and will affect around 2,800 NHS workers. The extension will […]

As of 29/03/2020 Sopra Steria has closed all its UK visa centres for an unspecified period of time to combat the spread of Covid-19. What does this mean for me? If you have already submitted your application and cannot attend an appointment. You will have to wait until the centres re-open and the booking system […]

The short answer is yes. At present there are a number of visa applications which must ordinarily be made from the applicant's home country, regardless of whether the applicant has existing leave in the UK. Given the current climate many people are likely to find this difficult to impossible, due to the widespread travel disruption […]

  After this week’s unpleasant news of a steep increase in the Immigration Health Surcharge, the government’s announcement that the salary requirements for Tier 2 ILR will not be rising to the planned £36,200 in April comes as a welcome relief. This is in line with the MAC recommendations discussed here, which indicated the planned […]

On Tuesday 11th of March Rishi Sunak unveiled the new Conservative budget which included, among other things, a steep hike from £500 to £624 per year for the Immigration Health Surcharge payable by foreign migrants on temporary visas in the UK (up from £300 to £470 for students). This means the rate will now have […]

Spouse visas are one of the most complex and evidentially demanding visa applications you can make. With rejection rates of up to 25%, make sure you’re not leaving yourself vulnerable to refusal for one of these 4 common reasons. 1. Problems evidencing sufficient funds. While it might sound straightforward to meet the income threshold of […]