Immigration services

Are you worried about how Brexit might affect EU nationals?

If your company employs EU nationals, you may be concerned about their immigration status. If you wish to gain some clarity on these concerns and want to actively help your employees stay within the UK, then our immigration experts can help.

The EU Settlement Scheme will come into effect from March 2019. EU nationals will need to navigate their way through new immigration rules. Failure to do so may result in them having to leave the UK. 

You can take a proactive approach ensuring your employees are able to continue working and living in the UK by assisting the application process.

By using our services, you can run your business smoothly without any stress or worries about your staff’s immigration statuses following Brexit. We can offer your employees peace of mind and help you to maintain a stable workforce.  

Are you a UK based business seeking to employ foreign national workers?

If your firm is planning to bring in staff from overseas divisions or looking to recruit overseas staff to overcome a shortage of skilled staff, a UK business must obtain a Sponsorship Licence to enable incoming workers to apply for a Tier 2 or Tier 5 visa (the Point Based System). We can assist you in making a swift and smooth application for a Sponsorship Licence, by preparing the necessary documents and submitting them to the Home Office Following the grant of the Sponsorship Licence, we can support you with all your subsequent applications for a Tier 2 visa or Tier 5 visa.

Do you need help with your compliance obligations?

The Home Office sets out a strict policy to prevent illegal workforces. Any employer who employs a worker illegally without carrying out the correct checks faces a civil penalty of up to £20,000 for each illegal worker.  It is also a criminal offence, and a business may be prosecuted if they knowingly employ an illegal migrant worker or have a reasonable belief of the illegal status.

We will help you with sponsorship compliance obligations, by giving you ongoing assistance with:

• Prevention of illegal working
• Checking your workers’ ID
• Collecting mandatory documents required for record keeping
• Monitoring your workers’ work activities
• Reporting on any changes and details of your business

Is your business expanding?

If you are thinking of opening up a branch office or a subsidiary company in the UK, we can help you to obtain a visa permitting a person to come to the UK to set up the new entity. This is a Sole Representative visa. Working together with other teams under the Price Bailey group, we will provide additional support for running the UK business, such as tax, payroll, HR and employment, corporate governance, annual accounts, and financial planning to develop and grow your business.

Are you looking to invest in the UK?

If you are an active investor and have £2 million to invest in the UK, you may consider this option.  As long as you follow the required procedures with your investments, this visa will give you an immigration status permitting you to live and work flexibly in the UK. Through this Tier 1 (Investor) programme, you and your family will enjoy the benefit of living in the UK. 

Do you wish to start your own business in the UK?

If you would like to set up and work for your own business, a Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) visa is the right visa.  This route requires a visa applicant to show that you have access to a minimum of £200,000 to invest in a new or existing business in the UK. We assist you in preparing the necessary documents to apply for the Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) visa.

Are you a British citizen and planning to get married to your foreign national partner, or a foreign national and planning to come to the UK to marry?

We can support you in getting a spouse visa, marriage visa (commonly known as fiancé visa), and other family-related visas.

Whether that is if you wish to continue living in the UK with your partner and other close family members who are foreign nationals or you a British citizen coming back to the UK but your foreign national family members do not have visas to live with you in the UK. Or wish to reunite with your family members.

Are you looking to settle in the UK?

If you have been living in the UK as a worker or have been a spouse of a British citizen for a period of 5 years, or have a long residence in the UK, you may be eligible to apply for permanent status in the UK.  We work with you to ensure your application documents are well prepared to enable you to be granted permanent status.

Are you planning on visiting the UK?

There can be many reasons to visit the UK, for example, having business meetings, seeing family or for private medical treatment. Some nationalities need to obtain a visitor visa before travelling to the UK, or you may have previously experienced difficulties when entering the UK even though you are a national which is not required to have a visa to enter. We assist all nationalities with providing practical solutions to enable them to come to the UK without obstacles.

Do you wish to become a British citizen?

The most common way to do this is to apply for Naturalisation. To qualify to become naturalised as a British citizen you must be over 18 years old and you must have lived in the UK for 5 years and had one of the following for 12 months: indefinite leave to remain in the UK; Settled Status (also known as indefinite leave to remain under the EU Settlement Scheme); or indefinite leave to enter the UK.

You will also need to demonstrate sufficient knowledge of the English language and Life in the UK, be of good character and have the intention to make the UK your home.

There is a slight difference in the criteria for Naturalisation for applicants who are married to British citizens and for applicants who are not.

Once granted you will be afforded the same rights and benefits of all British citizens.

As there are many requirements to be met to satisfy the Home Office in a Naturalisation application, we can help guide you through the process.

Do you need to obtain a student visa quickly, or are you a parent accompanying a child who attends a fee-paying independent school? 

We can guide you through the visa application process quickly and efficiently.

Do you need a visa turned around really quickly?

If you need to extend your visa really quickly because the visa expiry date is near or you need to get your passport returned as soon as possible in order to travel abroad, we offer an expedited service.  Please contact us sooner rather than later.