Those wishing to apply for a UK visa from overseas often encounter difficulties trying to navigate through the myriad of submission procedures. It is essentially a two-stage process; starting with making an application online through the GOV.UK website, and finishing by providing the necessary documents and biometrics through one of the Home Office’s outsourced commercial partners, VFS Global or TLScontact. This post is the first in a series focusing on the second stage of the process, beginning by taking a look at what countries these commercial partners operate in and explaining how they work.

  The UK offers two main types of protection to people who successfully claim asylum: refugee status and humanitarian protection. Both are valid for 5 years and provide broadly the same entitlements, so what are the differences between two?

International students will be familiar with the strict rules governing what they can and cannot do during their visa term in the UK for example, the general prohibition on self employment, work related activity and starting a business. The Graduate entrepreneur visa route provided graduates (although there were certain exemptions) with the opportunity of pursuing employment if officially endorsed as having a genuine and credible business idea by: the Department for International Trade (DIT) as part of the elite global graduate entrepreneur programme (Sirius); or a UK higher education institution (HEI) if it is an authorised endorsing body.

In our latest contribution to the Free Movement blog Iain Halliday examines a recent Court of Appeal decision addressing the high threshold those resisting deportation need to meet. The case provides a good example of the type of circumstances, in this case the psychological damage the applicant’s child would suffer if his father was deported, which will satisfy the courts that this threshold has been met.

  eGates are now open to passport holders of the following countries: Australia; Canada; Japan; New Zealand; Singapore; South Korea; United States of America.

  One of the requirements for British citizenship is that a person satisfies the Secretary of State that they are of “good character”. But what does it mean to be of “good character”? In this short interview podcast with CJ McKinney at Free Movement, we take a closer look at the test and the most recent version of the Home Office’s policy guidance on this.

  Those who claim asylum in the UK are not normally allowed to work whilst their claim is being considered. However, the Home Office may grant permission to work to asylum seekers whose claim has been outstanding for more than 12 months through no fault of their own.

The Migration Advisory Committee has recently reviewed the Shortage Occupation List and buried within the report is some good news for restaurants;

If you are British or settled in the UK, and are recently engaged to a non-EEA partner, you may be planning for them to join you under the fiancé category of the Immigration Rules. This blog will not cover the full spectrum of rules related to fiancé visas, but briefly answer the most common questions on the visa category.  

  On the 12th April 2019, the European Parliament and European Council approved an agreement to waive the visa requirements for UK citizens travelling to the EU after Brexit, whether the UK leaves the EU with a deal or not. Regulation (EU)  2019/592 of  the  European Parliament and  of  the  Council of  10  April 2019, amending Regulation (EU)  2018/1806, lists the  third  countries  whose nationals must  be  in possession of visas when crossing the external borders and those whose nationals are exempt from  that  requirement.