News

JANUARY 2021

Our regular round-up of changes and planned amendments to UK visa and immigration rules, latest updates and insights relating to COVID-19 and a summary of related information from around the world

COMMENTARY

Welcome to the latest edition of ‘Vignette’ – our regular round-up of news relating to visas and immigration for the UK, COVID-19 latest and a selection of important stories globally.

In this edition, we focus on the key changes to UK immigration law, particularly in the light of Brexit finally happening, together with the latest information on special arrangements being made to provide flexibility in the light of restrictions imposed as a result of the pandemic.

Throughout the summer and latter parts of 2020 we updated this newsletter page weekly and we will do so again if events dictate that we should do so.

We have also been offering free telephone consultations as standard and this will continue for the foreseeable future.   Similarly, we have offered a standard discount of 10% on all visa and advice services as a gesture of support for customers who have suffered financially as a result of COVID-19 and a further reduction for healthcare and other key workers.

This will also continue for at least the first quarter of 2021.


We would be delighted to expand on the above or any other items in this newsletter – or of course to provide advice on any other aspect of immigration to the UK or globally.

Please feel free to contact me by phone or email at any time – or via our website at www.i-vars.com

Chris Mills
01908 470859 | chris.mills@i-vars.com | 07734 104848
January 2021

UK VISAS & IMMIGRATION

EU Settlement Scheme

Brexit is 'done' and we have officially left the EU, while millions of EU citizens have now applied to remain in the UK under the EU Settlement Scheme.

Anyone who was living in the UK as at 31 December 2020 is entitled to apply for pre-settled status under the scheme and at present this will remain open for new applications until June 2021.

Given that many people would still like to take advantage of the scheme but were not ready to move permanently to the UK by the December deadline, there are some options to apply if they were present in the UK during December or earlier. 

Please contact us for further details.

New Skilled Worker Route

The rules relating to sponsoring and employing skilled workers from outside the UK changed significantly at the start of the year, with EU workers now being treated in the same way as those from all other countries outside the UK.

To allow for potential skills shortages, the 'pool' of available occupations has been widened and the requirement for a local labour market test has also been removed. This is a points-based system, in which some points (eg for salary) are tradeable for scoring well in other areas. 70 points are required in total to qualify.

To the relief of many workers and employers, people holding Intra-Company Transfer visas will now be entitled to switch to the new Skilled Worker route and therefore become eligible for settlement in the UK after 5 years.

We have already seen a significant increase in applications for Employer Licences and for ICT 'switches' - please get in touch if this is something you are considering

Global Talent Visas

Applications for the new Global Talent visas are already flooding in, with particular interest in science and the Arts (where the UK's reputation for world-class drama and music in particular is attracting leaders and people of exceptional praise from all over the world.

We have already completed a number of successful applications in this field and will be happy to help anyone considering this route.

British Nationals (Overseas)

Following the well-publicised issues in Hong Kong, the UK Government has announced that a new visa will be made available to residents, allowing them to come to the UK for a period of 30 months or five years and then subsequently to settle and apply for citizenship in due course.

The scheme will open officially (and application forms will be available online) from January 31st.

We are already receiving significant numbers of enquiries and have issued a new guidance document on the subject, which we will be delighted to send you on request.

Image Chester Ho, Unsplash

INTERNATIONAL UPDATE

COVID Travel Restrictions

Many countries in the EU and globally have imposed travel restrictions on people from the UK as a result of the new variants of COVID found here.

This is a fluid situation at present but please contact us if you need advice on a specific situation

Photo by Graham Ruttan, Unsplash

Post-Brexit Travel

Following the last-minute agreement of the EU Trade Deal, UK citizens can travel through out Schengen area, visiting for leisure or business for up to 90 days in any 180 day period.   This arrangement will be reviewed in 2022 but currently runs until 2024 at least.

Separately, the UK has reached a services agreement with Switzerland, allowing free movement of services professionals such as consultants and IT specialists between the countries for up to 90 days without a visa or other permit.  


Photo by Claudio Schwartz on Unsplash

Latest guidance on temporary arrangements and flexibility as a result of Coronavirus

The UK Government updates its guidance for various visa holders in response to the latest developments and restrictions necessitated by the pandemic.

Throughout 2020 this meant that overseas visitors and other visa holders were allowed to apply within the UK for visas usually only available from overseas; to extend their stay where restrictions made it impossible to leave the country; and to ask for flexibility in relation to meeting financial requirements and English tests, amongst many other areas.

This is likely to continue through 2021 and we will be happy to provide information on the latest guidance, together with insights and advice on what you should do in any given situation.


OTHER NEWS

Events of Interest

The Migration Conference, 2021 is scheduled for London in July (COVID allowing)

Latest Guides from International Visas

We regularly publish and update guides to a variety of UK visas and these are available free of charge to our customers.
In the past month we have published the following:

• Skilled Worker / Points Based System

• Global Talent

• British Nationals (Overseas)

If you would like a copy of any of the above or a guide on any other UK visa please get in touch

Success Stories & Testimonials

It is always tremendously gratifying to hear of our clients (and friends!) successfully completing their applications.

Since our last update, we have seen tens of successful family settlement applications (including some made from within the UK because of travel restrictions); a particularly interesting Global Talent visa success; several new Representatives of Overseas Business; around 20 successful citizenship applications, together with lots of EUSS applications, including for Settled Status; and a wide variety of support provided to UK businesses, including obtaining licences for the new Skilled Worker route, assistance with compliance audits, especially where staff have been absent or furloughed and successful applications to switch into the new Skilled route from ICT.

We were also delighted to be awarded a Bark Certificate of Excellence for customer service for the second year in succession.



New Services Coming Soon

We are excited to announce that we will soon be launching a new service for British citizens currently resident in Spain - or wishing to spend more time there and potentially own or rent property.

More details to follow shortly but please let us know if this is likely to be of interest.

Photo Simon Hermans Unsplash

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