Further to our previous article Brexit Update – Permanent Residence or Settled Status for EU nationals in UK, and as the new scheme has now been fully implemented, we wish to provide you with some general information on the application process under the EU settlement scheme.

Deadline

If you are an EU or EEA national or their family member, and wish to remain in the UK after Brexit, you need to apply for Settled or Pre-Settled Status under the EU Settlement Scheme.

If the UK leaves the EU without a deal, the deadline would be the 30^th December 2020, however if the UK leaves the EU with a deal, it would be possible to make an application up to the 30^th of June 2021.

Who can and should apply?

The scheme is fully open for:

• EU, EEA or Swiss citizens
• Non-EEA citizen’s family members

According to Annex 1 to Appendix EU, a ‘family member of a relevant EEA citizen’ is:

• A spouse,
• A civil partner,
• A durable partner (unmarried partnership akin to marriage or civil partnership),
• A child, grandchild or great-grandchild (including of the spouse or civil partner),
• A dependent parent, grandparent or great-grandparent (including of the spouse or civil partner)
• A dependent relative (including of the spouse or civil partner where the applicant holds a relevant document in the UK as the result of an application made before the 1^st of February 2017).

Fake news and confusion

We have noted a lot of confusion, misinformation and fake news on the internet i.e. generally, if you are a spouse of a British national, the scheme is not for you, unless you applied under the Surinder Sigh route.

Further, if you have Leave to Remain as a parent of a British national, the scheme is also not for you, unless you are the primary carer of a British citizen and have for example a Derivative Residence Card (the Zambrano Route).

How to apply?

Generally, the application is made online and the easiest way is to use an app; the EU Exit: ID Document Check. App, allowing you to scan your documents, provided that you have any of the following:

• A valid passport
• A biometric residence card
• A biometric residence permit

The app is easy to use, allowing you to scan your document, which you can usually retain during the application process.

However, the app only is available on Android phones, and as far as I am aware is still not working on all of them e.g. old android phones, some Huawei etc.

The good news is that if you do not have an android phone, you still can apply, however you would have to post your document to the Home Office. Alternatively, you can use an ID document scanner location. There has been an announcement that the app should be also available for iPhones by the end of 2019.

Automated checks (Application Programming Interface (API))

Normally during the application process, if you provide your National Insurance number, appropriate checks will be run against HMRC and certain DWP records (backdated up to 7 years) to establish how long you have been resident in the UK.

Where these checks indicate that you have been resident in the UK for a continuous qualifying period of 5 years, and when you have confirmed, by way of a self-declaration as part of the application process, that you have not since been absent from the UK for a period of more than 5 consecutive years, usually no further evidence of residence will be required to determine eligibility.

If this is not the case, you would be required to post/upload additional documents to the Home Office to prove your residency in the UK. For example, if you have not been working continuously in the UK, or the system is not able to pick up your record for some other reason, then you probably would need to post documents to the Home Office to prove your 5 year residency in the UK.

Pre-settled status

If you have been resident for less than 5 years and you are able to meet all the suitability criteria, you should be granted pre-settled status, which is equivalent to Leave to Remain under the normal rules (you should apply for pre-settled status if you intend to live in the UK after Brexit).

Subsequently, once you accrue 5 years of continuous residence, you will be able to switch to Settled Status, which is equivalent to Indefinite Leave to Remain under the normal rules. However, unlike ILR granted under the normal rules, which only allows you to leave the country for 2 years, when you are granted Settled Status under the EU settlement scheme you can leave UK for up to 5 years and you will not lose your status.

Application fees and processing time

Currently there are no application fees for Pre-Settled Status or Settled Status under the EU Settlement Scheme. Your application should be processed within 4 – 14 days.

If you are a non-EU national you might also need to attend a Biometric Enrolment appointment once you have submitted your application and this normally costs £19.20 (payable at the appointment at your local post office) or about £60 -100 if booking via UKVI commercial partner.

Who cannot use an app and apply online

You’ll need to apply on a paper form if you’re not an EU, EEA or Swiss citizen and you’re:

• the family member of a British citizen and you lived with them outside the UK in an EU or EEA country or Switzerland (Surinder Sigh)
• the family member of an EEA citizen who’s become a British citizen
• a carer for a British, EU, EEA or Swiss citizen (Zambrano route)

Unfortunately, for this group of people, the paper form is not available to download; in order to obtain a form, you would usually need to first contact the EU Settlement Resolution Centre, to find out how to apply. You’ll be asked a few questions over the phone before they will send the application form.

Permanent Residence Card vs ILR under Settled Status Scheme

When it comes to an application for Settled Status under the EU settlement scheme, the process is definitely easier and faster. Additionally it is free of charge!

Nonetheless, you still have the option of applying for Permanent Resident Status, and it might be worth a shot if you would like to apply for British nationality faster, as the letter that comes from the Home Office when your application for PR card is successful will show when you accrued Permanent Resident Status e.g. if you have been working in the UK continuously for 5 years since 2008, you probably accrued PR status in 2013.

Hence, once you get the card confirming this, you will be able to apply for British nationality straight away (bearing in mind that you are able to meet all the other requirements). If you are not married to a British national, you generally need to hold ILR/PR for at least one year before you can apply.

You would not have this facility when Settled Status is granted under the EU settlement scheme, as the letter will confirm your ILR from the date of the Home Office decision, hence you would need to wait for 12 months before you can make an application (unless you are married to a British citizen).

Further, an application for a PR card might still be worth considering if you wish to have less paperwork, for example in order to apply for your child’s British passport i.e. if your child was born after you accrued Permanent Resident Status.

An application for your child’s British passport is still possible when you do not have a Permanent Residence card or Settled Status, however, you would then also need to submit proof that you had acquired Permanent Resident status before the child was born.

Overall, an application for Settled Status is much easier, less paperwork and free of charge, as opposed to the old Permanent Residence Card application, which currently costs £65 and is much more complicated. However, teething issues remain and one would be advised to consult a qualified immigration solicitor, especially if your case is not straightforward.

 If you looking to apply and would like more information tailored to your situation, we offer consultations and a full application service to provide advice and assistance on the best course of action to take to secure your place in the UK, please fill out our online enquiry form. 

Entrepreneur visa replaced by Innovator visa

Since the 29^th of March 2019 the Tier 1 Entrepreneur Visa application process has been closed for all applicants. You can no longer apply for this visa unless you are applying for an extension, which will be possible until the 5^th of April 2023, or settlement, which will be possible until the 5^th of April 2025.

It seems to have become a trend that every year the Home Office fees for visa applications have been increasing. Normally these changes are announced towards the end of March, and the government has recently published this year’s changes on the GOV website.

The new Access UK service has been rolled out in stages throughout 2016, went live initially in India and Turkey and was available to customers applying for visit visa routes.

Access UK has now been rolled out worldwide and should soon be available for all types of entry clearance visa applications.

UK visa and Immigration rules can sometimes be complex and it is  comparatively a very expensive process, therefore any mistake made by the applicant can have serious implications in terms of time, stress and finances. It is for this reason that one is best advised to use a qualified UK immigration lawyer when applying for a visa, which could potentially save them the hassle and cost of when things go wrong. This article is to highlight the process of trying to remedy things if a visa application is rejected.

As another year is coming to a close, we at Cross Border Legal Solcitors want to reach out and send our best wishes to you and your family. We hope that 2019 holds success and good fortune in all endeavours that you pursue. It has been a pleasure getting to know you and your families this year.

Generally under UK Immigration rules, if you have been living in the UK for 10 years continuously and lawfully, youcan apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain on the basis of your private life andlong residence in the UK.

As a UK immigration lawyer, I wish to highlight several key points that someone making an application for this visa should note; including that the key words for this visa are “lawful” and “continuous residence.”

When to choose a 5-year route as a partner and when the 10-year route should be considered.

There are two routes to settlement on the basis of family life as a partner, provided by Appendix FM viz 5-year route and a 10-year route. The 5-year route as a partner will be appropriate for those who meet all the suitability and eligibility requirements of the Immigration Rules at every stage. The 10-year route as a partner applies in respect of applications for leave to remain as a partner who meets all the suitability requirements, but only certain eligibility requirements.

For those who have not noticed, on the 3^rd of November the UK Government introduced changes to the UK Immigration rules . These changes come into effect from the 24^th of November. This is due to affect those who are going to be making a UK Immigration visa application on or after the 24^th of November; these rules may affect you application. For those who have pending applications worry not, as these rules do not affect your application. Continue Reading →

Following from my earlier article on the Immigration Act 2016, it has now been confirmed that Section 63 of the Immigration Act 2016 will come into force on the 1^st of December 2016. The new law states that ALL immigration appeals will have to now be made from out of the country. There will be no in country appeals. Continue Reading →

For those who may have missed it (I would not blame you as this kicked in just a few weeks before the EU referendum in the UK), the government has passed yet another legislative Act of Parliament on Immigration in a bid to reduce immigration and especially come down hard on those in the UK without legal status. The Immigration Minister’s statement when the Immigration 2016 bill was introduced last year sets the tone of what the government hopes to achieve with the new immigration legislation. Immigration Minister James Brokenshire said:

“The message is clear — if you are here illegally, you shouldn’t be entitled to receive the everyday benefits and services available to hard-working UK families and people who have come to this country legitimately to contribute.

Whether it is working, renting a flat, having a bank account or driving a car, the new Immigration Bill will help us to take tougher action than ever before on those who flout the law.

This Bill will build on the government’s work since 2010 to crack down on abuse and build an immigration system that truly benefits Britain – by deterring illegal migrants from coming and making it harder for those already here to live and work in the UK.”

Continue Reading →

According to Part I, Chapter 18 of the British Nationality Act 1981, a person is entitled to naturalisation as British citizen if at the time of the consideration meets some requirements, such as being of good character. However, the Act itself does not provide with a definition of good character.

In absence of a statutory definition as to how this requirement should be interpreted or applied, it is the Secretary of State who should be satisfied that an applicant is of good character. In order for the Secretary of State to make an assessment on good character, Annex D of Chapter 18 of BNA contains a guidance with information on how to assess if the applicant is of good character. This guidance also applies to minors above the age of ten. Continue Reading →

Latest Immigration Rules changes:

Anyone who has been keeping an eye on UK immigration law will have now become accustomed to the regular Immigration Rules changes, which seem to always bear bad news for migrants.

The Immigration Rules are published by the Home Office. The last statement of change is from the New Immigration Rules Change, and is no exception to the general tradition. It brings some changes which mainly affect Tier 2 work permit holders. Continue Reading →

Immigration Health Surcharge

The Immigration Health Surcharge is one of the key reforms within the Immigration Act 2014 which both Human Rights Solicitors and migrants must get to grips with. In addition to a new higher fee that has just kicked in, an additional NHS Immigration Health Surcharge is payable as of the 6^th April 2015 by all non-EEA migrants coming to the UK for more than six months.

The UK Government has stated that the purpose of this surcharge is to ensure that non-EEA migrants contribute to the cost of the NHS. However, given the timing it could perhaps appear as an election stunt as some of the best immigration lawyers in the UK observe – the policy began a week after Parliament is expected to dissolve and during a national election campaign… Continue Reading →

Your Protected Right to Family Life

As many of you will know, everyone has the Right to Family, and these rights are protected under the EU Convention on Human Rights. However, and to the great discomfort of many couples,  as any UK Immigration Lawyer will tell you, Right to family is right is a qualified right, and does not necessarily give the couple the right to choose where they would exercise their right to family.

Ordinarily, a British citizen is allowed by law to sponsor their foreign spouse to come to the UK on a Spouse Visa. This type of application, as many of you have seen on  previous blog post here  has recently been severely restricted, with strict income requirements for the sponsoring spouse. In effect, this has resulted in thousands of couples being separated, as they do not meet the government requirements. Continue Reading →

So, most of you would have heard about the Court of Appeal hearing (MM & Ors v Secretary of State for the Home Department (2013)) which is challenging the Income Threshold requirements for the family visas. For those who haven’t, please see my previous posts here and here .

Lots of people celebrated the high court’s recommendations that, among other things, the Income Threshold should be reduced to around £13,000, that third party sponsorship should be allowed, and that special consideration should be taken for certain groups who could not relocate and exercise right to family in another country; e.g.. refugees. Continue Reading →

Most of you will have seen my previous post-EU Family Route: what is the Surinder Singh Route (see post here...). Some time has lapsed since then and I apologise for the delay in writing the second part of the post, which I hope to tackle here. For obvious reasons, this route has grown in popularity and as one can imagine, the Government does not like it.

The Current Position:

In a nutshell, this route currently allows UK citizens to LEGALLY circumvent the UK Immigration rules on spouse and family members from non-EU countries. The UK citizen may purposefully travel to another EU country, work for a few weeks and then return to the UK with his or her non-EU spouse. This route has become increasingly popular as one can avoid the stringent requirements of the spouse visa including the income threshold, which is out of the reach of many ordinary citizens. It also avoids the cost of the application, as this route is free, and the time granted under the EU laws on entry is normally longer; a 5-year residence card as opposed to the 2 and a half years on a spouse visa.

Continue Reading →