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• Family & Settlement


• Tier 1 UK Visa – Exceptional Talent
• Tier 1 UK Visa – Entrepreneurs
• Tier 1 UK Visa – Investors
• Tier 1 UK Visa – Post Study Worker


• Tier 2 UK Visa – Sponsored Skilled Workers


• Tier 4 UK Student Visas
  
  

Sponsorship Licence application

This scheme is aimed at skilled workers from outside the European Economic Area who have a full time job offer from a UK employer.

The application consists of four stages.

STAGE 1 - Joining the Register of Sponsors
In order for a UK company to be able to employ non-UK and EEA nationals, you will firstly need to apply for a Sponsorship License and add your company to the UK Border Agency official Register of Sponsors.

In order to do this, you will need to make an application to the UK Border Agency and submit various supporting documentation to show that your company exists and has a legitimate UK trading presence. Such documents would include (but are not limited to): audited accounts, premises / office lease, VAT certificate, and recent bank statements.

This process can take up to 9 weeks and the UK Border Agency Fee for this is currently £310 for a small company or £1,025 for a large company. Fees are refundable should your application be unsuccessful.

STAGE 2 - The Resident Labour Market Test
Unless you intend to pay your employee at least £150,000 pa or more, you will be required to test the resident UK and EU labour markets by way of placing advertisements. The advertisements need to run for at least 28 days. There are strict guidelines as to what information needs to be included in the advertisement. Where you advertise very much depends on the nature of the role on offer.

STAGE 3 - Allocating the Certificate of Sponsorship
Once you have been granted your sponsorship license, you will need to apply for a Certificate of Sponsorship (COS). A certificate of sponsorship is not a paper certificate; it is a "virtual document" with a unique reference number which you issue to your prospective employee so that they can apply for permission to enter the UK if they are overseas (known as "entry clearance"), or permission to stay in the UK if they are already here (known as "Leave to remain").
The COS contains all the necessary information regarding the job and details about the employer. The cost of applying for a COS is currently £175 and can take up to 2 weeks.

STAGE 4 - Making the Tier 2 Application
Subsequent to a UK employer issuing the Certificate of Sponsorship, the prospective employee can then apply for permission to live and work in the UK. The employee's application is assessed on the following criteria; • Future expected earnings; • Sponsorship; • English language skills; and • Available maintenance (funds).

Fees
STAGE 1 - £1,250 + VAT
STAGE 2 & STAGE 3 - £500 + VAT
STAGE 4 - £500

You do not need a job offer to apply under the exceptional talent category. When you apply you will be awarded points based on being considered a person of exceptional talent by a designated competent body. The Home Office will decide what is a designated competent body.

Only 1,000 of these visas will be granted each year, 700 in the field of the sciences, 300 in the arts.

You will need to show that you can afford to support yourself in the UK without recourse to public funds. There is no minimum maintenance requirement, and there is no language requirement for initial entry.

In order to extend this visa, you need to provide evidence of working in the UK, either in the form of payslips (if employed) or evidence from an accountant (if self employed).

Applicants for extension must also meet the English language requirements.

Validity of Visa: Initial 3 years.

The post-study worker category was introduced with the purpose of retaining UK educated graduates by offering them permission to work in the UK without the need of sponsorship or a prior job offer.

Aimed at: The most able international graduates who have studied in the United Kingdom. It also enhances the United Kingdom's overall offer to international students.

Overview: In February 2008 Post Study Workers (formerly IGS) were brought under the UK government’s new Tier System.

Points are awarded for what are called "Attributes". You need to score 75 points.

In order to gain enough points to qualify under the Tier 1 Entrepreneur category, you will need to show that you have:

• A United Kingdom qualification (A Degree or Post Graduate Diploma)
• Met the English Language Requirements
• Met the Maintenance Requirements

Validity of Visa: Granted for a maximum period of 24 months, after which you will be expected to ‘switch’ into another immigration employment category or leave the UK.

Permanent Residence: Not available unless you switch into another category

NB: This Scheme will close in August 2012

If you would like MediVisas to assess your eligibility as a Post Study Worker under the Tier 1 Points Based System, please click here to email us.

As well as helping professionals come to the UK to work, we also help families who have been separated or are under threat of separation. We can help you if you are in the UK illegally and have married a UK/EU national, if you have married overseas and had your application to enter the UK refused, if you have been in the UK legally or illegally for 10 years or over, or if you have married a non-EEA national and are applying for him/her to join you. We have a track record of assisting and advising people in every possible situation.

Some of the cases we have been successful with:

• Applications for leave to remain in the UK for spouses of UK nationals who entered the UK illegally.
  
• Indefinite leave to remain applications for those who have been in the UK illegally for over 14 years.
  
• Appeals for those who have married UK nationals and have had their leave to enter applications refused multiple times.
  
• Fiancée visa applications for those who have previously had refusals of entry or had visa applications refused or visas cancelled.
  
• Applications for Indefinite Leave to Remain for elderly relatives who are in the UK as visitors and who decide they would like to stay.
  
• Ankara Agreement applications for Turkish nationals who has previously been in the UK legally as spouses.
  
• Applications for those with a bad immigration history or previous periods of overstay in the UK

If you would like MediVisas to assess your eligibility for Family or Settlement, please click here to email us.

The Entrepreneur category is for those investing in the UK by setting up or taking over, and being actively involved in the running of one or more businesses in the UK.

You can apply to enter the UK as an entrepreneur subject to personal investment funds available to you.

Requires at least GBP £200,000 of your own money which you intend to invest in your UK business

Aimed at: Experienced Businesspersons intending to set up and run their own business in the UK.

Overview: In February 2008 Entrepreneurs were brought under the UK government's new Tier System. The system was changed radically on 6th April 2011.

You must obtain a visa to set up in business in the UK and all cases are referred to the Home Office in the UK before a decision can be made and a visa issued.

Points are awarded for what are called 'Attributes', for which you need to score 75 points.

In order to gain enough points to qualify under the Tier 1 Entrepreneur category, you will need to show:

• That you will be acting as Director of the company, on a full-time basis.
• That you will have a controlling interest in the business.
• That the financial projections show that there will be sufficient profits to support you and your dependants.
• You have access to not less than £200,000
• The money is held in one or more regulated financial institutions
• The money is disposable in the UK
• You agree to hire at least two UK / EU nationals during your first year of business
• You meet the English Language Requirement
• You meet the Maintenance Requirement

• You have created 10 new full time jobs for resident workers
• Your new business income has been £5 million or
• You have taken over or invested in an existing business which has had a net increase of £5 million in income compared to the preceding 3 year period

You do not need a job offer to apply under the investor category. When you apply you will be awarded points based on your ability to invest £1,000,000 in the United Kingdom.

          You will need to show that:

• Money of your own held in a regulated financial institution which is disposable in the United Kingdom amounting to no less than £1 million; or
• Personal assets, taking into account any liabilities, which have a value exceeding £2 million. Assets held by your husband, wife, civil partner, unmarried or same sex partner either jointly or in your partner’s own name can be taken into account when assessing your net worth; and
• Money under your control held in a regulated financial institution which is disposable in the United Kingdom amounting to no less than £1 million which has been loaned to you by a financial institution regulated by the UK Financial Services Authority (FSA). You may not mix personal funds and borrowed funds in order to meet the total £1 million investment.
  
  You must also show that you:
  
  
• Intend to invest not less than £750,000 in active and trading UK registered companies or UK government bonds
• Intend to make the UK your main home, and
• Can support yourself and your dependants and live without having to work as an employee or getting any help from public funds.
  
  You can invest in the following :
  
• Unit trusts: you can invest in a regulated collective investment scheme such as a unit trust as long as you invest £750,000 in companies that meet the requirements of the investor rules.
• Private companies: you must provide evidence of shareholdings or loans you have in the form of legal documents signed by or on behalf of the company (for example, audited accounts).

Validity of Tier 1 Investor Visa: Initially 3 years.

Permanent Residence: Available after 5 years as a passive investor.

There is no English Language or Maintenance Requirement.

If you'd like MediVisas to assess your eligibility as an Investor under the Tier 1 Points Based System, please click here to email us. We can also help with other aspects of the visa application such as the drafting of a business plan.

The key features of Tier 4 are as follows;

There are two types of student categories;

a) Adult student – for students coming to the United Kingdom for post 16 year old education

b) Child student – for children between 4 and 17 years old – those between 4 and 15 may only be educated at independent fee paying schools

Applicants must have met the requirements of the immigration rules and have 40 points in total;

30 Points which is proved by a Visa letter from the licenced education provider
10 Points for having enough money to cover the course fees

The Education Provider otherwise known as the Sponsor
The school or college must have a licence from the UK Border Agency.

The Visa Letter
The Sponsor will issue a visa letter which is an official and unconditional offer of a place on a course of study.The visa letter must be issued no more than 6 months before a visa application is made.

Money required

The money needed must cover the course fees for your first year of study and living costs for up to a maximum of nine months.

The money must be held in cash and have been in the possession of the applicant for at least 28 days.

The following amount of money must be shown to meet basic living costs (not including fees)

• £800 per month if living in London
• £600 per month if living outside London

Proof of the money can be shown by way of;

Cash in an account in your name or;
A loan in your name or;
Official financial or government sponsorship

General conditions of stay in the United Kingdom

• If at a publicly funded university - work no more than 20 hours a week during term time
• If at a publicly funded FE college - work no more than 10 hours per week during time
• If at another institution - no work at all
• No right to bring family members unless on a post-graduate course of more than 12 months