Introduction
In line with the ‘digital by design’ strategy of the Government, the Home Office has been gradually introducing the eVisa amongst other measures with the aim of digitalising the immigration system.
What is an eVisa?
An eVisa is a record of your immigration status in the UK online. It also provides you with details of your permission and conditions of stay in the UK.
The rollout of the eVisa is being done gradually and many of our clients have received an email already from the Home Office to view the eVisa. For those, who have not been contacted, it is recommended to follow our 5 steps guide to see if your eVisa is available.
As of 2025, you should be able to use your evisa to travel to the UK and will not need to carry a physical document except your current passport which must be registered to your UKVI account.
Step-by-step guide to get your eVisa
There are 5 main steps involved in the eVisa process:
You will need:
Link to the UKVI:
2. Link your eVisa to your UKVI account
You will have option to link the eVisa to your UKVI account and please ensure that this is completed.
3. Complete the identity check
You will need to complete the ID check and download the ‘UK Immigration: ID Check’ app on your android or iphone.
Please find the QR code to the app and the link to the app:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/using-the-uk-immigration-id-check-app
4. View your eVisa
You should receive a notification to confirm that your eVisa is ready to view. Please check that the details on the eVisa are accurate.
5. Add a travel document to the UKVI account
Please make sure that the passport or travel document linked to your eVisa is up-to date.
Any discrepancy between the eVisa and your travel document may affect or delay your travel plans.
Travelling with the eVisa
Your travel document and your eVisa should be up to date. When travelling you will still be required to travel with your current passport, and we would recommend that you have old passport with you whilst the eVisa is being rolled out. This is more pertinent if you have informed the Home Office, of a new passport and are waiting for your UKVI account to be updated.
Sharing your eVisa with third parties (e.g HR and Landlord)
You can use a ‘share code’ to prove your status to others. This will include sharing your status to landlords or your HR for e.g,
https://www.gov.uk/view-prove-immigration-status
Further to Government’s statement of changes to the Immigration Rules of 14 March 2024 which is due to come into effect after the 4 April 2024 we have listed the main changes that may affect our clients:
Skilled Workers sponsored after 4 April 2024
The Skilled Worker minimum salary thresholds are increasing:
Those changes will also be reflected in the individual SOC codes. The appropriate rates detailed in the SOC codes will be increasing and will be set out in the new Table 1 of Appendix Skilled Occupations from 4 April 2024
The 20% discount to the going rate for shortage occupations (Option D) will be removed, although the 10% discount for relevant PhDs (Option B), the 20% discount for STEM PhDs (Option C) and the 30% discount for new entrants (Option E) will be retained.
The current Shortage Occupation List under Option D will be replaced with an Immigration Salary List, which contains fewer eligible SOC codes.
Please note that if an individual is applying to work in a role that is subject to a national pay scale, the minimum salary threshold will be £23,200 (Option K) but they must also be paid at least the appropriate rate set by the national pay scale for that role or salary band.
If a Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) was assigned before 4 April 2024
Where the applicant has been assigned a valid CoS before 4 April 2024 the application will be decided in line with the rules in force before 4 April 2024.
Current Skilled Workers applying to extend or change employers
Someone who has held continuous permission as a Skilled Worker that was originally granted before 4 April 2024 and where the role is not subject to the national pay scale, there will be smaller increases in the thresholds and going rates but these will still be based on the 25th percentile.
Some SOC codes which are eligible for sponsorship under the current rules will no longer be eligible after 4 April 2024 because they are now deemed to be skilled below RQF Level 3 – these are listed in the new Table 2a of Appendix Skilled Occupations and include examples such as nannies, concierges, fashion stylists and car salesmen.
The New Immigration Salary List
In December 2023, the Home Secretary announced that the government would be removing the 20% discount to the going rate for roles on the Shortage Occupation List and would replace the Shortage Occupation List with a new Immigration Salary List.
The list will be ‘shorter’ and almost half of jobs currently on the list will be removed.
If a Skilled Worker is currently sponsored in a role which was included on the Shortage Occupation List but is no longer on the list when they make their next application, they will still be able score points for the lower threshold and for the 20% discount to the going rate, but only if they will be extending their visa to continue working in the same role for the same sponsor.
Global Business Mobility routes
For the Global Business Mobility routes; most thresholds are being raised from 45,800 GBP to 48,500 GBP while the Graduate Trainee route threshold is being raised from 24,220 GBP to 25,410 GBP.
Going rates for the Global Business Mobility routes will continue to be based on the 25th percentile of roles within the relevant SOC code. This can be found in the new Table 2 of Appendix Skilled Occupations, with Graduate Trainee continuing to benefit from the 30% discount to the going rate.
Changes to the scale-up route
The government has also increased the threshold salary for the scale-up route, raising this from 34,600 GBP to 36,300 GBP
The Chagos Islands… The Chagos archipelago is a place close to our heart as the founder of Bonheur Legal originates from the Islands. It is a place that has seen its’ inhabitants expelled from their own land by the UK and made homeless between 1967 and 1973 in order for the US to set-up a military base.
In 2002, the UK agreed to grant British citizenship to British Overseas Territories citizens which meant that the Chagossians and their children could gain British citizenship. This however did not extend to grandchildren and great-grand-children.
After years of campaigning, the Government has agreed to amend the Nationality and Border Act, such that the British nationality has now been extended to People of Chagossian descent. The chagossian descent have a five-year period to register as British citizens.
Applying for the British Citizenship
The application process is now opened and since the 23 November 2022, the applicants can apply for British overseas territory citizenship or British citizenship at the same time and if successful, will obtain both statuses.
Applications can be made online at https://visas-immigration.service.gov.uk/product/nationality-biot
Note that if you live overseas, you will be required to attend a biometric appointment at a visa centre as part of the application process.
Documents required
As part of the requirements, the applicants will have to provide evidence that they are a descent of a Chagossian born in the Chagos Islands. This can include marriage certificates, court records etc. It is our understanding that the Home Office will approach each case on its own merits and where evidence might be lacking, they will attempt to check their records to locate this.
Costs
The application is free of charge.
How can we assist
We can help you with the whole application and some of our staff can speak and write in creole.
The Home Office has recently issued a set of relevant sponsor amendments.
What you should know:
Scale-up Worker visa
Since 22 August 2022, fast-growing UK businesses can attract talents under the Scale-up visa route.
Definition
A fast-growing or scale-up business is a high-growth company that has:
This definition seems in line with that of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The OECD defines high-growth enterprises as ‘All enterprises with average annualised growth greater than 20% per annum, over a three-year period should be considered as high-growth enterprises. Growth can be measured by the number of employees or by turnover.’
A Scale-up Worker visa will allow a visa national to come and perform an eligible job for a fast-growing company.
Requirements
To qualify for a Scale-up Worker visa the applicant must:
Duration of Stay
The migrant can potentially stay for a:
It is interesting to note that although the initial visa lasts for two years, the applicant must work for the specified sponsor for only the first six months.
This is a welcomed option to the sponsor as after 6 months, the administrative duties imposed on the sponsor is lessened and there is no Immigration Skills Charge which represents a considerable saving to the employer.
For the employee, he or she enjoys some flexibility as to where he or she can work.
Becoming a Scale-up Sponsor
You will have to go through the normal process of applying for a Sponsorship Licence and the Sponsors who hold a general sponsor licence will need to add the scale-up option to their licence. When applying the Home Office will check the HMRC data directly and it is therefore important that the companies HMRC’s records are up to date.
Unlike the general licence, the scale-up licence cannot be renewed beyond the four years.
Indefinite Leave to Remain
After 5 years of continuous stay under the Scale-up Worker visa you may be able to apply to settle permanently in the UK and apply for the Indefinite Leave to Remain.
Aimed at individuals who have graduated from a top global university; the High Potential Individual (HPI) visa will grant you permission to stay in the UK for at least 2 years or 3 years if you have a PhD or other doctoral qualification.
You must have been awarded a qualification by an eligible university in the last 5 years. The Home Office has published a list of the eligible universities.
Under the HPI visa, you are not linked to a specific sponsor, and it was designed to attract the ‘the brightest and the best’. You can be employed or self-employed, and this route also allows you to be accompanied by your dependants.
This is also a great option to UK businesses looking to offer work opportunities without going through the challenges of sponsoring a migrant.
Acceptable qualifications
You must have been awarded an overseas degree level academic qualification which Ecctis (formerly UK NARIC ) confirms meets, or exceeds, the recognised standard of a UK bachelor’s or UK postgraduate degree.
The degree:
We have been helping talents and companies alike with their immigration requirement successfully since 2009. Contact us.
[2021] EWCA CIV 1357
The Court of Appeal in Secretary of State for the Home Department v Ali [2021] EWCA Civ 1357 held that an application made during the permitted grace period to lodge an application cannot be considered as an application made ‘in-time’.
It reinforces the concept that the uniform 28-day grace period introduced into the Immigration Rules, was an exception to the general rule and that applications for leave had to be made before the expiry of an existing period of leave.
WhiIst the Court recognises that, under exceptional circumstances the expiry of an existing leave may be missed through no fault of an applicant or the advisers; applications made after the expiry of the leave to remain may be allowed by way of exception.
This service allows potential Sponsors to prioritise the Sponsorship Licence application.
Eligibility
In order to qualify for this service you must:
- Have submitted an application for a Sponsorship Licence online
- Make a request before the file is allocated to a Caseworker
- Submit a fully completed application to the pre-licence priority service
Limit on the number of applications considered
A maximum of 10 priority service requests will be accepted each day.
Fees
The fee for this service is £500 per request.
Processing time
Although not guaranteed, the processing time to consider the applications who have been successfully submitted is 10 working days.
[2021] EWCA CIV 1357
The Court of Appeal in Secretary of State for the Home Department v Ali [2021] EWCA Civ 1357 held that an application made during the permitted grace period to lodge an application cannot be considered as an application made ‘in-time’.
It reinforces the concept that the uniform 28-day grace period introduced into the Immigration Rules, was an exception to the general rule and that applications for leave had to be made before the expiry of an existing period of leave.
WhiIst the Court recognises that, under exceptional circumstances the expiry of an existing leave may be missed through no fault of an applicant or the advisers; applications made after the expiry of the leave to remain may be allowed by way of exception.
