BORDERLESS

UK Visit Visas  - Free UK Visa Assessment via email – no obligation

The visitor visa is the UK's most common visa and is typically used by individuals who are coming to the UK for tourism, or visiting family, or visiting on business.

A key requirement of the visitor visa is that applicants must be able to show that they intend visiting the UK for no more than six months and that they will be leaving the UK at the end of their visit. Applicants are also required to demonstrate that they have sufficient funds to maintain and accommodate themselves (and any dependents) without access to public funds.

The UK's Standard Visitor visa has replaced a number of previous Visitor Visa categories:

• Family Visitor visa
• General Visitor visa
• Child Visitor visa
• Business Visitor visa, including visas for academics, doctors and dentists
• Sports Visitor visa
• Entertainer Visitor visa
• Prospective Entrepreneur visa
• Private Medical Treatment Visitor visa
• Approved Destination Status (ADS) visa

Visiting the UK on business

You can apply to enter the UK as a business visitor if you are coming to the UK for business purposes if:

• You are attending a conference or a meeting or training event
• You are taking part in a specific sports-related event
• You are an artist, entertainer or musician and coming to the UK to perform
• You are an academic and are doing research or accompanying students on a study abroad programme
• You are a doctor or dentist and are coming to the UK to take a clinical attachment or observer post
• You want to take the Professional and Linguistic Assessment Board (PLAB) test or sit the Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE)
• You want to get funding to start, take over, join or run a business in the UK e.g. attend interviews or conferences, conduct site visits, arrange deals or sign contracts or deliver international goods and/or passengers from abroad.

Business visitor visa rules

As a business visitor visa holder you are allowed to:

• Take part in any of the business-related activities mentioned in the Visitor Rules
• Study for up to 30 days as long as it's not the main reason for your visit
• Take part in an exchange programme or educational visit (if you're under 18)

However, you are not allowed to:

• Do paid or unpaid work
• Live in the UK for long periods of time through frequent visits
• Marry or register a civil partnership, or give notice of marriage or civil partnership
• Access public funds

How long is a visitor via valid for?

A Visitor Visa typically allows the holder to stay in the UK for up to 6 months. In some circumstances a holder may be eligible to stay for up to 11 months if they are coming to the UK for private medical treatment. Furthermore, you, your spouse or civil partner and children might be able to stay for up to 12 months if you are an academic on sabbatical and coming to the UK to conduct research.

Upon the expiry of your visa you must leave the UK. Failure to leave the UK before your visitor visa expires will have a negative effect on your immigration record and is likely to impact any future UK immigration applications you make.

British Naturalisation is the most common way by which a person with foreign citizenship can apply for British citizenship.

If you are naturalised as a British citizen, you will be able to live and work in the UK without being subject to immigration control.

Unless you have a claim to British citizenship based on your ancestry (British citzenship by descent), you will need to apply for British Naturalisation on the basis that you have either spent 5 years in the UK lawfully.

Eligibility

The eligibility criteria for British Naturalisation differ depending on the circumstances under which you apply.

If you are applying for British Naturalisation on the basis of being in the UK for 5 or more years you must:

• Have lived legally in the UK for 5 years - you must not have been away from the UK for more than 450 days during that time, or 90 days during the last year
• Have held Indefinite Leave to Remain in the UK for at least 1 year at the time you make the application
• Be 18 years of age or over
• Be of good character
• Be of sound mind
• Satisfy the English language requirements (or Welsh or Scottish Gaelic)
• Pass the Life in the UK test
• Intend to have the UK as your main home

Multiple Nationalities

UK nationality law allows you to have more than one nationality. However, you should check with the authorities of your original country before you apply for naturalisation, as some countries do not allow you to be a citizen of that country if you are a British citizen.

Government Exchange Scheme

Under the Points Based System student internships fall under the Tier 5 "Government Exchange Scheme" Temporary Workers Category. The Government Exchange Scheme will allow individuals to come to the UK temporarily to share knowledge, experience and work through placements in the UK.

Individuals need to apply to a registered body in the UK which has been issued a licence to act as sponsors and manage this scheme. Individual employers are not able to act as sponsor, even if you are licensed as a sponsor.

The sponsoring body’s exchange scheme must comply with the following principles:

•             The scheme must not detrimentally affect the resident labour market;

•             The candidates must not fill genuine vacancies;

•             The candidates must be engaged in a capacity additional to the normal;

•             The staffing requirements of the employer;

•             The work must be skilled (minimum NVQ level 3);

•             All UK legislation must be complied with e.g. minimum wage etc.

To find out which Bodies are registered under this scheme please visit the Home Office register of sponsors.

Please note that although employers are registered under Tier 5 on this register it does not mean that they are allowed to act as sponsor under the Government Exchange Scheme.

For further details about how to apply for the Tier 5 Government Exchange Scheme please contact us today – our OISC registered advisors will ensure you receive the correct advice first time, every time.