Chan Neill Solicitors

Based on the recent enquires, we understand that there is some confusion as to whether it is possible to extend a Tier 2 ICT (Long-Term Staff) visa (“Tier 2 ICT”), switch to Tier 2 General visa category or/and subsequently obtain settlement in the UK.

We hope that this article would be helpful to understand the difference between Tier 2 ICT and Tier 2 General visa categories and what you can or cannot do.

In brief, Tier 2 General visa category caters to migrants who have a position on offer from a UK-based employer that cannot be filled by a settled worker. Tier 2 ICT visa category, however, is for existing employees of multinational organisations, who are required to be transferred by an overseas organisation to a UK entity, which is linked to that overseas organisation by common ownership or control.

Very often, multinational organisations obtain the UK Sponsorship License in both Tier 2 General and Tier 2 ICT categories and choose to bring employees over to the UK under the Tier 2 ICT rather than under the Tier 2 General route. There is no difference in the UKVI fees between these two visa categories; however, the immigration requirements for Tier 2 ICT migrants are slightly easier. The crucial difference between these two visa categories is ability to settle in the UK.

According to current UK Immigration Rules, only those migrants, who were granted Tier 2 ICT visa under the Rules in place before 6 April 2010, can switch to Tier 2 General visa category and/or settle in the UK.

Those migrants, who come to the UK under the Tier 2 ICT/Established Staff sub-category after 6 April 2010 and before 6 April 2011, are able to switch to Tier 2 General visa category but not settle in the UK.

Having applied under Tier 2 ICT visa category on or after 6 April 2011, it is not possible to switch to Tier 2 General visa category or settle in the UK.

Moreover, from 6 April 2011 Tier 2 ICT Long-Term Staff workers are limited to a maximum of 5 years visa with an extension permitted after this date only if a level of gross-annual package in the UK is £120,000 or higher. In which case, the maximum time an intra-company staff migrant under the long-term sub-category can remain in the UK is 9 years. There is no limit on a maximum time a Tier 2 ICT migrant can stay in the UK having entered the country under this route before 6 April 2011.

The immigration requirements are more straightforward for Tier 2 General applicants; whereby they are able to settle in the UK having spent 5 continuous years in the UK under this visa category. Having said that, that the maximum period a Tier 2 General migrant can remain in the UK is 6 years.

The good news is that it is still possible to apply for indefinite leave to remain under the long residence (10 years route) combining different visa categories including Tier 2 General and most importantly Tier 2 ICT.

So, what happens to Tier 2 ICT migrants who wish to remain in the UK after 5 years and whose gross annual salary isn’t £120,000? Here is where the frustration comes. Very often Tier 2 ICT migrants are not properly advised before entering the UK under the long-term sub-category of Tier 2 ICT route; hence, they would not be aware that after 5 years of continuous residence in the UK they would be required to go back to their country of permanent residence. Especially, it might affect children of Tier 2 ICT workers who might have been engaged in studies in the UK.

Here is some clarification. If a migrant has been sponsored under Tier 2 route and their leave has expired, they must leave the UK and wait 12 months (the “cooling-off period”) before applying again under any Tier 2 visa category. There are some exceptions to this rule. For example, the cooling-off period would not apply to someone, whose prospective gross annual package would be £159,600 or above under Tier 2 General category or £120,000 or higher under the Tier 2 ICT visa category.

As an alternative, Tier 2 migrants might consider switching to or applying from outside of the UK under any other visa categories.

Should you require any further clarification or an immigration advice on your particular case scenario, please do not hesitate to contact our immigration team.

Please note that the information on this page is for general purposes only and is not intended to replace legal advice.

The new Appendix EU has been introduced into a consolidated version of the Immigration Rules. As of today, students who enrolled to study at the following universities or who is on a payroll of the following NHS Trusts, are eligible to apply for limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain in the UK:

• Liverpool Hope University

• Liverpool John Moores University

• The University of Liverpool

or:

• Aintree University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

• Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

• Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

• East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust

• Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

• Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

• Liverpool Women’s NHS Foundation Trust

• Southport and Ormskirk Hospital NHS Trust

• The Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals NHS Trust

• The Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust

• Warrington and Halton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

• Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

An application can be made by an EU citizen or/and a non-EU citizen who has been issued by the Secretary of State with a residence card or a permanent residence card under the EEA Regulations 2016 on the basis of an application made on or after 6 April 2015 as a family member or former family member of an EU national.

Should you require any assistance with an application to be made under Appendix EU of the Immigration Rules, please do not hesitate to contact our Immigration team.

Please note that the information on this page is for general purposes only and is not intended to replace legal advice.

On 23 August 2018 the Home Office released statistics for in-country visa applications, which were recorded on the Casework Immigration Database. In this article we would like to highlight some of the published data.

A total of 1,173 Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) applications were received in the Q2 2018, which is 29.34% lower than in Q3 2017. There were no statistics released on the number of entrepreneur applications which fell for refusal in Q2 2018, however, according to the data released by the Home Office for Q1 2018, out of 1,140 Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) applications, 16 were refused. For the same quarter, 99.6% of straightforward applications were decided by the Home Office within service standard processing time which is 8 weeks.

Interesting data was released on the sponsorship applications. In Q1 2018 the Home Office received in total 1,522 applications, which were decided within 8 weeks service standard processing time. None of the received in Q1 2018 sponsorship applications were refused.

In-country work in progress figures show that as at 2nd July 2018 the Home Office were dealing with 37,799 complex applications, 24,681 settlement cases, 28,937 European cases and with 26,589 British Citizenship applications. Despite the high number of applications, at Chan Neill, 100% European and British Citizenship applications have been surprisingly decided within 2 months from the submission date.

Further details on in-country statistics can be found on Gov.UK website.

Should you require any assistance or legal advice in relation to your UK Immigration matters, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Please note that the information on this page is for general purposes only and is not intended to replace legal advice.

On 20 July 2018 the Home Office published a new Statement of Changes, which introduces a new Appendix EU into a consolidated version of the Immigration Rules.

The new changes concern EU Citizens and non-EU Citizens who have been issued with a residence card or permanent residence card under the Immigration Regulations 2016 based on an application made on or after 6 April 2015. Appendix EU comes into force on 28 August 2018, but only for applicants from 15 hospitals and 3 Liverpool universities.

Under the new Rules, EU nationals and their family members will be required to hold valid status in the UK. Those applicants, who have completed continues qualifying period of 5 years in any of the categories which will be listed in paragraph EU10 of Appendix EU the Rules, would be granted an Indefinite Leave to Remain status.

Those applicants, who at the point of application have not resided in the UK for continues 5 years’ period, would be able to apply for limited leave to remain in the UK.

New pilot scheme would allow the Home Office to address any issues before the scheme fully goes live in March 2019.

Our immigration team has many years of experience assisting EU nationals and their family members with their UK Immigration matters. Should you require any assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us.

A brief background on Brexit can be found here.

Please note that the information on this page is for general purposes only and is not intended to replace legal advice.