News

17.03.2016 - New 24 hour Super Priority Service for Kazakhstan

The Home Office have just announced that on 22/03/2016 they will be launching a 24 hour Super Priority Service at the UK Visa Application Centre in Astana, Kazakhstan.

The optional priority service will cost an additional £750.

The service can be used to apply for tourist and short stay visas (standard Visitors), all Point Based System visas (Tier 1, Tier 2, Tier 4, Tier 5), transit visas.  

The service is not available for family categories and EEA categories. It is strongly recommended that customers with any form of adverse immigration history do not use this service. 

Should you be interes...

15.03.2016 - New Budget 2016

Chancellor George Osborn has unveiled new Budget. He revised down the UK’s growth forecast in his eight Budget and sparked controversy by warning of the risks to the UK economy of EU exit. 

Mr Osborne announced £3.5 bn in extra spending cuts by 2020 to help meet his financial targets, which he was forced to admit had slipped in the four months since his Autumn statement, due to sluggish growth.

He said the £350m raised by a tax on the makers of sugary drinks would be spent on doubling the funding of primary school sports. The levy will be introduced in two years’ time, to give companies time t...

06.03.2016 - Points Based Calculator switch off

Please note that the Points-Based Calculator will stop working from 6th April 2016 and all applicant should check their eligibility on the UKVI website. 

From 6th April 2016, applicants wishing to rely on their overseas degree qualification as part of their visa or nationality application will no longer be able to rely on The Points Based Calculator. 

All overseas qualifications will need to be assessed by UK NARIC to confirm its English language or qualification eligibility. 

Please do not hesitate to contact Law Firm Limited and we will be happy to assist clients to obtain the assessment fro...

01.03.2016 - EU Referendum 23/06/2016

A referendum on whether the United Kingdom should remain in the European Union is to be held on 23rd June 2016.  There is at present a lot of uncertainty as to the implications to the UK if it were to leave the EU. The decision would have an impact on British jobs,  the economy, trade, law and legal processes to name a few.

There is also the matter of immigration, for both EEA migrants living in the UK and UK migrants living elsewhere in the EEA. At present it is not known what will happen if the UK votes to leave the EU, however what is known is that if this were to happen then the UK would h...

25.02.2016 - New Home Office fees from 18 March 2016

The Home Office laid further legislation in Parliament, which will make changes to specific application fees. The new legislation will come into effect on 18 March 2016

The main changes are:

• visas for workers and students will be increased by 2%

• a 2% increase will apply to all visit visas 

• an increase of up to 25% will apply to settlement, residence (for example, ILR fee will increase from £1500 TO £1850) and nationality fees (from £1005 to £1236)

• an increase of up to 33% for optional premium services offered by the Home Office such as the super premium service and priority visa servic...

27.01.2016 - The Home Office has launched a new “Registered Traveller” to allow a faster entry to the UK

This service will benefit passport holders from the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, South Korea and Hong Kong. 

With a small fee of £70, a Registered Traveller will be able to:

  • Gain access through ePassport gates at airports across the UK
  • Access the UK/EU queue at Gatwick, Heathrow, Birmingham, Manchester, East Midlands,Edinburgh, Glasgow, London City, Luton, Stansted, as well as Paris, Brussels and Lille for rail terminals
  • Registered Traveller will not be required to complete UK Landing Card when entering the UK border

20.01.2016 - New English language test

Further to our article of 18/01/2016.

The Home Office have now published official news confirming the new English language requirement for spouse visa extensions that David Cameron announced on 18/01/2016.

The Home Office have confirmed that for non-EEA national partners and parents on the family route (under Appendix FM of the Immigration Rules), they will need to pass a speaking and listening test at level A2 in order to qualify, after two-and-a half-years in the UK, for further leave to remain on the five-year partner or parent route to settlement.

This new requirement will not be implement...

19.01.2016 - Super Premium appointments now available on Saturday’s

Due to increasing demand and also to benefit our clients’, the Super Premium Service in Croydon is now offering appointments on each Saturday, apart from the last Saturday of each month.

If this new weekend service will be of benefit to you then we would be delighted to arrange this for you at either our comfortable office in central London or at a location more convenient for you.

18.01.2016 - Migration Advisory Committe Tier 2 Review

The Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) has now published its long awaited review of Tier 2 of the points-based system. In June 2015, the government commissioned the MAC to review the route and to address concerns the government has with the rising number of migrants in the Tier 2 route.

Unsurprisingly, given the government’s commitment to reduce net migration, the MAC has recommended radical changes to the Tier 2 route that can be found summarised below:

  • The minimum salary threshold should be raised from the current £20,800 to £30,000;
  • For public sector migrant workers there should be a phase...

17.01.2016 - David Cameron announces plans to introduce a further English langauge requirment for spouse visa extensions

At present for spouse visas applicants must meet an English language requirment by passing an approved English language test with at least CEFR level A1 in speaking and listening, by having an academic qualification that was taught in English and is recognised by UK NARIC as being equivalent to a UK bachelor’s degree or by being a national of a majority English-speaking country.

However, David Cameron has now announced that he will change the rules and make an additional requirement that your English must have improved, most likely by requiring at least CEFR level B1 at the two and half extens...

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