UK Immigration Lawyers Visa Application Tips for the UK
If you need a visa to come to live in the UK, then it may help you to read our visa application tips prepared by our UK Immigration Lawyers.
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UK visa application tips
Whether you are applying for a Visitor Visa so you can tour England, have always dreamed about being an international student at a university in England or have the offer of a job and need a Skilled Worker Visa, you don’t want the Home Office to say no to your visa application.
As UK Immigration Lawyers in London, we have a wealth of knowledge and experience in knowing what works and doesn’t work with the Home Office and visa applications. Here are our best five tips:
- Understand your visa options before you apply
- Work out your visa goals
- Plan ahead
- Don’t make visa assumptions
- Talk to a specialist Immigration Solicitor
These are all simple tips, but people often don’t follow easy suggestions. If you follow these tips, you reduce the risk of the Home Office refusing your application. If your application is rejected, you are left with the choice of making a fresh visa application, appealing the original visa decision, or making a visa application to a different country. It’s a lot easier to follow our tips and get your visa at first request.
Understand your visa options before you apply
Many visa applicants come to us with fixed views on the visa they want. A friend or family member may have come to the UK on a specific visa, and they want the same visa. However, that visa may not be the best or only option.
Some UK visas are shorter than others. Other visas are harder to get. Some visas come with draconian conditions that won't fit with what you want to do while you are in the UK.
Our UK Immigration Lawyers can quickly run through your visa options to check you are applying for the best visa for your circumstances. That’s preferable to getting a visa and then being told it’s a pity you didn’t apply for a Skilled Worker Visa rather than a Graduate Visa.
Work out your goals
You may think that your goals are irrelevant to a Visa Solicitor, but you could not be more wrong. The best UK Immigration Lawyers want to know if you have a three, five or ten-year life or work plan so they can ensure that your visa matches your goals.
Here are some reasons why your Immigration Solicitors should know what your goals are:
- Some visas don’t let you work in the UK, while others only allow you to work on a part-time basis or only be employed by an employer who holds a sponsor licence
- Not all visas allow you to bring your family with you. For example, carers coming to the UK on Health and Care Worker Visas are no longer able to be accompanied by close family members on Dependant Visas
- If you want to settle in the UK, some visas lead to accelerated or quick settlement. Time spent on some types of visas doesn’t count towards the time you need to spend in the UK before you can apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain. Knowing your settlement goals could mean the difference to your being able to apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain after three, five or even seven-plus years
- You may be right to think you need a Visitor Visa if you only plan to stay in England for just under six months. However, while in England, you can only do ‘permissible business activities’ on a Visitor Visa. Your planned work may fall outside the scope of the immigration rules. You may think that it doesn’t matter as it is only a temporary Visitor Visa, but if you hope to come back to the UK on a Skilled Worker Visa, then it will matter as the Home Office could refuse your Work Visa application if you breached the work and activity conditions on your earlier visa
Plan ahead
Planning in the context of immigration visas is all about getting the documents suggested by your UK Immigration Lawyers. Many people don’t see the need to get the paperwork suggested by their Immigration Solicitors or only start to request the documents when their current visa is about to expire or just before they are due to start their sponsored employment. It takes time for third parties to get the relevant paperwork to you, and equally, your London Immigration Lawyers need time to review the information provided by you and to finalise your application.
Don’t make assumptions
Many visa applicants make assumptions. Some catastrophise and assume they won't get a Spouse Visa as they have only been married for six months. Others take the attitude that the Home Office will ‘join the dots’ and assume that their unmarried partner can meet the accommodation requirement for an Unmarried Partner Visa because the partner is employed on a good salary as a headteacher. The Home Office won't make assumptions, and nor should visa applicants. Our Immigration Solicitors welcome questions, so rather than assume the immigration rules mean X, we would rather you ask us so we can explain that the immigration rules mean Y, and that’s why you will need to do A, B and C to get your visa.
Talk to a specialist Immigration Solicitor
If you want to get a visa without too much hassle, the sensible thing to do is speak to an experienced immigration law firm and take specialist immigration law advice.
At OTS Solicitors, we often find ourselves giving immigration legal advice after someone has tried and not succeeded in getting a visa through their own efforts or by getting advice from an attorney in their home country or their partner’s UK lawyer who did a great job when providing legal advice on a Will or property purchase. Taking expert legal advice when you first think about moving to the UK will ultimately save you time and money.
Contact our Immigration Lawyers in London now.
FAQ on UK visa applications
What does an Immigration Solicitor do?
Your immigration lawyer will work out your visa options and advise on them, explain the information and documents you need to supply, prepare the visa application for you and submit it to the Home Office. They will then communicate with the Home Office and keep you informed about their progress to ensure the visa application process is kept as simple and stress-free as possible for you.
Whether you are applying for a Family Visa, Work Visa, Student Visa or other type of visa, it can be of massive benefit to you to get personalised immigration law advice on your application.
Do I qualify for a UK visa?
It's impossible to say if you qualify for a UK visa as there are several visa options, all with different eligibility criteria. Our Immigration Solicitors will work out your best visa options and then discuss if you meet the specific visa eligibility criteria.
What paperwork do I need for a UK visa application?
The documents you need for a visa application depend on the visa type. There are some documents you need for every application, such as a valid passport or travel document. Most visa applications also require specific paperwork relevant to that visa. For example, with a Spouse Visa, there are strict evidence rules if you are using capital or savings to prove you meet the Family Visa financial requirement.
What should I do if my visa application is refused?
If your application has been refused by the Home Office, then speak to our London Immigration Solicitors. We can advise you on whether we think you have grounds to appeal or if your best bet is to make a fresh application using our specialist Immigration Lawyers or apply for a different type of visa.
Speak to our Immigration Lawyers in London now.
For expert advice on making a visa application, contact us for an appointment at our offices in London or for a phone, Zoom or Skype consultation.
Our lawyers speak Arabic, Armenian, Farsi, French/Mauritian Creole, Spanish, Tamil Tagalog/Ilonggo, Urdu/Punjabi.
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