The Road to Naturalisation: Part 2 of 5
Gilbert TRAINEE IMMIGRATION ADVISER In the first post in this series, I examined the route to naturalisation as a British Citizen for people who have obtained Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) or Settled Status in the UK. There are, however, other routes to becoming a British Citizen for people who meet very specific criteria. These […]
The Road to Naturalisation: Part 1 of 5
Gilbert TRAINEE IMMIGRATION ADVISER The idea of British Citizenship is a concept that has meant very different things over the course of recent British history, particularly in the 20th and 21st centuries, and still means very different things to different people. At its core, it is a legal status, in the same category as being […]
Immigration Advisers – A Dying Breed?
Gilbert TRAINEE IMMIGRATION ADVISER “I’ve never come across an area where criminal activity is so rife.” Those were the words of John Tuckett, the Immigration Services Commissioner, in August of this year when describing the world of immigration legal advice. In truth, he was commenting on an epidemic of unregulated bogus providers of immigration […]
The Backlog in the Immigration System: What is Happening, Why it Happened, and How You Fix It
Gilbert TRAINEE IMMIGRATION ADVISER As we enter Suella Braverman’s third week at Home Office since she replaced Priti Patel in the first week of September, the new Home Secretary will doubtless have been fully aware of the department’s myriad of problems. One of the most pressing ones is the growing backlog of pending applications for […]
What is Priti Patel’s Legacy as Home Secretary?
Gilbert TRAINEE IMMIGRATION ADVISER This past week saw an important change of the guard at the Home Office. Priti Patel, who had served as Home Secretary since June 2019, announced her decision to step down on Monday (5 September), in a letter addressed to outgoing Prime Minister Boris Johnson, whom himself resigned the next day […]
Refugee Status vs Humanitarian Protection
Gilbert TRAINEE IMMIGRATION ADVISER Both the war in Ukraine and the UK government’s controversial plan to relocate asylum seekers to Rwanda have brought asylum and Refugees to the forefront of political discourse in the UK. The word ‘Refugee’ is often used as an umbrella term for people fleeing violence and seeking asylum, however many of […]
Everything you need to know about the new Scale-Up Visa
Gilbert TRAINEE IMMIGRATION ADVISER On 22 August 2022, the UK government launched a new visa system that provides fast-growing businesses with a quick and easy route to accessing highly skilled individuals from across the globe and bringing them to the UK. The Scale-Up Visa allows businesses demonstrating impressive growth to employ highly skilled individuals who […]
Labour shortages on UK farms: What is the solution?
Gilbert TRAINEE IMMIGRATION ADVISER If you have ever felt guilty at having to throw away fruit and veg because you forgot to eat it before its use by date, then it turns out you have more in common with the British agricultural sector than you may have realised. On Monday 16 August 2022, a report […]
8 Mistakes to avoid when applying for a UK Sponsorship Licence
Atef Elmarakby IMMIGRATION LAW SPECIALIST Following Brexit, many businesses in the UK are have been racing to obtain a Home Office (HO) approved Sponsor Licence (SL) enable them to hire talent from across the world to respond to the UK acute job shortage. SL is the special permission or stamp of trust given […]
Windrush Cases
Atef IMMIGRATION LAW SPECIALIST Imagine spending most of your life in a country – working, raising a family, building a future – and suddenly be told you may not have the right to reside in this country. The story is not hypothetical, the country is the UK and the group of people affected are the […]