Immigration Case Studies
Sponsor licence granted for small-sized company in 10 working days.
Background of the case: The company is a small-sized education consulting company with only two full time employees. The company has been established for a long time and it is a stable and mature business. The business operation is relevantly small, and the company’s turnover is low (below the VAT threshold).
Chan Neill Solicitors assisted the company with accumulating the following information and documents to prove the stability of the company's business: business model, business profile and various business activities. In addition to explaining why the company needs overseas employees for its business and justify the necessity of applying for a sponsorship licence.
Based on the client’s needs, expedited service was successfully approved (this service is limited to 10 applications per day) and the company was granted a licensed sponsor under the Skilled Worker Route in 10 working days.
Recently the UK has introduced Global Business Mobility routes and High Potential Talent visas to attract overseas talent. To retain these talents, UK companies are still required to have a valid sponsor licence to provide workers with a work visa.
Tourist visa switched to Dependant visa in 2 working days
Background of the case: Mr Z and his spouse entered the UK as tourists in 2021. Due to the Covid restrictions, Mr Z could not return to his country. We assisted him in applying for an Exceptional Assurance (EA) extension before he must return to his country. An approved confirmation of EA was received with the validity date until July 2022 for Mr Z. In the meantime, we waited for his spouse to switch to a Skilled Worker visa to be granted as she was offered a position in the UK. After his spouse’s Skilled Worker visa was approved, Chan Neill Solicitors began to assist Mr Z’s to prepare for his Dependant as a Partner visa application.
Under the regulations and guidance from the Home Office, applicants are required to provide proof of address with their spouse for a period of two years as evidence that they living together. Mr Z were not able to provide the relevant documents for the past two years due to the following reasons first of all, they have not lived together for a long period of time, secondly previous accommodation documentations were not kept, lastly, they both entered the UK for a short period of time.
Since Mr Z were not able to fulfil the requirement of providing proof of address for the past two years. Alternatively, Chan Neill Solicitors advised Mr Z to compile the recent hotel reservations, travel confirmations and photos to be used as evidence showing they are living together and explained the reasons for Mr Z to apply for switch to a Dependant as a partner visa within the UK on the grounds of international travel restrictions. Mr Z attended his UK visa interview on a Friday and received the visa issuance email in two working days.
Typically, spouse visa or dependent visa applications requires several documentations as proof of relationship. Chan Neill Solicitors are able to advise and assist client’s based on their situation.
Our immigration advisors are focused on problem solving and are highly experienced in dealing with complex immigration issues. If you have any queries regarding immigration and/or visa, please contact us.
Tourist Visa change to Skilled Worker visa
Background of the case: The applicant entered the UK as a tourist in 2021. Due to the Covid restrictions, she could not return to her country. We assisted her in applying for an Exceptional Assurance (EA) extension before she must return to her country. An approved confirmation of EA was received with the validity date until May 2022.
The applicant was offered a position in the UK whilst she was waiting for her EA.
Under the regulations and guidance from the Home Office , anyone comes to the UK as a visitor, one can not switch visitor’s visa to a Skilled Worker Visa within the UK. The applicant must return to his or her original country to apply for a Skilled Worker Visa. If our applicant has returned to her original country, she would not be able to work for three to four months, however, her future employer wouldn’t be able to hold up the position for three to four months.
Chan Neill Solicitors assisted the applicant in booking English tests with different exam providers and got the English test results much faster than normal.
Whilst the applicant was preparing for the exams and waiting for the results, Chan Neill Solicitors completed the Sponsor’s Licence application for the employer, as well as prepared the client’s documents for the Skilled Worker Visa. In the application, we provided supporting documents showing the reasons that the applicant needed to switch tourist visa to the Skilled Worker Visa in the UK.
The Skilled Work visa application was submitted on 14th March and a super priority service for the applicant was selected (although the priority and super priority visa service were temporarily suspended by the Home Office during the time). The application was approved within three hours after the biometric information was collected on 22nd March.
We subsequently applied for the applicant's family dependant visa. The applicant's spouse and child got their visas in one week.
Chan Neill Solicitors believe every client, be they a multi-national corporate or a private individual, deserves faultless service standards. At Chan Neill Solicitors LLP, we understand the nuances of Asian and Middle Eastern cultures well. Across our team, we speak many languages including Mandarin and Cantonese, Gujarati, Russian, French, Korean and Spanish. With access to our solicitors at two locations, one in City and one in Mayfair, we cover a very broad spectrum of varying clients needs.
If you have any queries regarding immigration and/or visa, please contact us.
The Global Business Mobility Visa
The Global Business Mobility Visa
The Home Office recently have release new visa category – The Global Business Mobility Visa. The Global Business Mobility Visa is designed for overseas businesses seeking to establish a presence in the UK, or to transfer staff to the UK, for specific business purposes. The Global Business Mobility Route will open to new applicants on 11 April 2022.
The Global Business Mobility visas reformed and expanded on a number of existing business visas including the Representative of an Overseas Business Visa and the two types of Intra-Company Visas. There are five routes:
- UK Expansion Worker Route
- Senior or Specialist Worker Route
- Graduate Trainee Route
- Service Supplier Route
- Secondment Worker Route
The Global Business Mobility Visas will not lead directly to settlement in the UK. However, once in the UK, Global Business Mobility visa holders may be able to switch into other immigration routes that leads to settlement.
UK Expansion Worker Visa Route
The UK Expansion Worker Visa is to replace the Representative of an Overseas Business Visa. The UK Expansion Worker Visa can only be used when the business has not started trading in the UK. If the business is already trading in the UK, workers should apply for the Senior or Specialist Worker Route.
The visa is for overseas senior managers and specialist employees looking to undertake temporary assignments related to the expansion of their businesses in the UK.
UK Expansion Worker Visa applicants need to be currently working outside of the UK for a business that is linked to their UK sponsor group for a cumulative period of at least 12 months, unless they will be working in the UK as a high earner earning at least £73,900 per annual or as a Japanese national seeking to establish a UK branch or subsidiary under the UK-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement.
Applicants will need to have a valid Certificate of Sponsorship for the job they’re proposing to do, issued by an employer that’s authorised by the UK Home Office to sponsor a UK Expansion Worker.
Applicants will also need to have an eligible job at or above an appropriate minimum skill level, with a salary of at least £42,400 per annual or the ‘going rate’ for that job, whichever is higher.
The UK Expansion Worker Visa is not a route to settlement. If successful, permission will be granted for one year at a time, and up to two years in total. Applicants, however, may be able to switch to another route.
Senior or Specialist Worker Visa
Senior or Specialist Worker Visa is to replace the Intra-Company Transfer Visa, it will open on 11 April 2022. The Senior or Specialist Worker Visa is designed for senior managers and specialist employees undertaking a temporary assignment in the UK. The UK company needs to be linked by common ownership to the overseas employing company.
The applicant needs to have worked outside the UK for the linked business for a cumulative period of at least 12 months, unless the applicant is a high earner earning £73,900 or more per year. The Sponsor of the Senior or Specialist Worker Visa must be listed as A-rated company on the Home Office’s register of licensed sponsors. The applicant’s Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) must have been issued no more than 3 months before the date of the applicant’s Global Business Mobility – Senior or Specialist Worker Visa application.
The job needs to be genuine and the salary needs to be more than £42,400 per year or the “going rate” for the job, whichever is higher.
The applicant needs to have enough funds without relying on public funds for support and have a valid TB certificate if required.
The Senior or Specialist Worker Visa does not lead directly to settlement in the UK. However, applicants may be able to switch into another immigration route which leads to settlement.
Dependent partner and dependent children can apply for this route.
Graduate Trainee Route
Graduate Trainee Route is to replace the Intra-Company Transfer Graduate Trainee Route. The Global Business Mobility – Graduate Trainee Visa is designed for workers on a graduate training course leading to a senior management or specialist position, and are required to do a work placement in the UK. The Graduate Trainee Route will open on 11 April 2022.
The Graduate Trainee Visa Route does not lead directly to settlement in the UK. However, applicants may be able to switch into another immigration route which leads to settlement.
Dependent partner and dependent children can apply for this route.
The applicant needs to have worked outside the UK for a business for at least three months before the date of your visa application. The overseas business and the UK sponsoring company are needed to be linked by common ownership or control, or by a joint venture.
The job sponsoring is genuine and the salary is no less than £23,000 per year or 70% of the “going rate” for the job, whichever is higher.
The applicant needs to have enough funds without relying on public funds for support and have a valid TB certificate if required.
The Sponsor of Graduate Trainee Route must be listed as A-rated company on the Home Office’s register of licensed sponsors. The applicant must have a valid Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) for the job you are planning to do, and your Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) must have been issued no more than 3 months before the date of the applicant’s Global Business Mobility – Graduate Trainee Route application.
Service Supplier Route
The Service Supplier route is for contractual service suppliers employed by overseas service providers, or self-employed independent professionals based overseas, looking to undertake temporary assignments in the UK to provide services covered by a UK international trade agreement.
This route is to replace the contractual service supplier and independent professional provisions under the Temporary Work – International Agreement route. The service Supplier Route will open on 11 April 2022.
Service Supplier Visa applicants will need to be currently working as or for an overseas service provider that will provide services to their UK sponsor and have worked as or for the overseas service provider outside the UK for a cumulative period of 12 months.
The applicant must have a valid Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) for the job they’re proposing to do, issued by an employer that’s authorised by the UK Home Office to sponsor a Service Supplier. The UK sponsor must have a relevant Home Office registered contract with an overseas service provider on which the applicant will work in the UK.
Applicants will not need to satisfy a salary requirement but the job is required at or above a minimum skill level, or applicants have a university degree or equivalent level technical qualification and experience meet the nationality requirement for a Service Supplier.
Applicants need to be a national of the country or territory in which the overseas service provider is based; or where the service that you will provide is covered by a commitment in the General Agreement on Trade in Services and your employer is established in a country or territory that has made a notification under Article XXVIII(k)(ii)(2) of that agreement, a permanent resident of that country or territory; or where the service that you will provide is covered by a commitment in the Temporary Agreement between the Swiss Confederation and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland on Services Mobility, a permanent resident of Switzerland; or where the service that you will provide is covered by a commitment in the United Kingdom-European Union Trade and Cooperation Agreement, a national of any Member State of the European Union or any other person included in the definition of “natural person of a Party” for the European Union in Article 512(k) of that agreement; or where the service that you will provide is covered by a contractual service supplier commitment in the CARIFORUM-United Kingdom Economic Partnership Agreement, a national of any CARIFORUM State that has provisionally applied or brought into force that agreement.
Permission will be granted for either the time given on the Certificate of Sponsorship plus 14 days, the length of time that will take the applicant to the maximum time period allowed in the category or the maximum single assignment period of either 6 months or 12 months.
Applicants under Global Mobility Visa – Service Supplier Route will be able to extend your stay in the UK up to a maximum period of 5 years in any 6 year period.
The Service Supplier Route does not lead directly to settlement in the UK. However, applicants may be able to switch into another immigration route which leads to settlement.
Dependent partner and dependent children can apply for this route. Access public funds are not permitted.
Secondment Work Route
The Secondment Work Visa is designed for overseas workers who wish to be temporarily seconded to the UK by their overseas employer as part of a high value contract or investment. The Secondment Worker route will open on 11 April 2022.
Applicants need to be currently working for an overseas business that has a contract with UK sponsor which has been registered with the Home Office. The applicants need to have worked outside the UK for that overseas business for a cumulative period of at least 12 months.
The Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) will need to have been issued by a UK-based business that is authorised by the Home Office to sponsor a Secondment Worker. The UK-based business must be listed as A-rated on the Home Office’s register of licensed sponsors, unless you were last granted permission as a Secondment Worker and are applying to continue working for the same sponsor as in your last permission.
The job needs to be genuine and at an appropriate skill level. The applicant needs to have enough funds without relying on public funds for support and have a valid TB certificate if required.
The Certificate of Sponsorship must have been issued not more than 3 months before the date of your Global Business Mobility – Secondment Worker Visa application.
The Secondment Worker Route does not lead directly to settlement in the UK. However, applicants may be able to switch into another immigration route which leads to settlement.
Dependent partner and dependent children can apply for this route. Access public funds are not permitted.
If you have any further questions about the personal immigration routes or business immigration routes or any other visa related queries, please contact our immigration team. We speak many other languages including Mandarin, Cantonese, Gujarati, Portuguese, Korean etc. With access to our solicitors at two locations, one in City and one in Mayfair.
High Potential Individual Route and Scale Up Visa
The Home Office recently released two new visa routes - the High Potential Individual Route and the Scale Up Visa.
High Potential Individual Visa
As of 30 May 2022, the High Potential Individual Route will be available to recent graduates of top global universities who wish to work or look for work in the UK. The High Potential Individual route is not a sponsored route. Applicants do not need job offers from a sponsor approved by the Home Office. The High Potential Individual Route is not available to graduates graduated in the UK. However, there are other immigration routes for graduates graduated in the UK.
Requirements for a High Potential Individual Visa
- Age requirement – you are 18 years or above;
- Educational requirement – you have been awarded an overseas degree level academic qualification from an institution on the Global Universities List, which is published by the Home Office.
- Language requirement – English language ability on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages in all 4 components (reading, writing, speaking and listening) to at least level B1 (equivalent to IELTS 4.0), OR you are a national of a majority English-speaking country, OR have been awarded a degree taught in English, OR you have obtained a GCSE/A Level or Socttish Highers in English whilst at school in the UK.
- Financial requirement -- You have enough funds to support yourself without relying on public funds.
- TB Test requirement – If you are from a country where TB is common, you must be screened for active TB in the lung.
Duration of a High Potential Individual Visa
Before applying for a High Potential Individual Visa you should also check that you have not previously been granted permission under the Student Doctorate Extension Scheme as a Graduate or as a High Potential Individual. If so, your application will be refused.
If your application for a High Potential Visa is approved, the period of permission you will be granted will depend on the qualification that you relied on to meet the Global Universities List overseas degree requirement:
- PHD or other doctoral level qualification – 3 years
- All other degree qualifications – 2 years
The High Potential Individual Visa Route does not lead directly to settlement in the UK.
The Scale Up Visa
The Scale Up visa is open to all sectors as long as the businesses sponsoring the application meets the growth criteria. The Scale Up Visa Route will open on 22 August 2022.
What are the criteria of The Scale UP business?
The business needs to demonstrate that they have had a yearly growth of at least 20% for the previous 3 years in terms of turnover or staffing. They need to have a minimum of 10 employees at the start of the business. The business must be listed as A-rated on the Home Office’s register of licenced sponsor. The Sponsor must be authorised by the Home Office to sponsor the job in the question under the Scale Up route.
What is the criteria for Scale Up Visa applicant?
- The applicant must be 18 or over on the date of the application
- High levels of skills or education
- A high-skilled job offer from a qualifying Scale Up business
- A minimum annual salary of £33,000
- Sufficient English Language proficiency.
- TB Test requirement, if you are from a country where TB is common, you must be screened for active TB in the lung.
Your Certificate of Sponsorship must have been issued no more than 3 months before the date of your Scale-up Visa application. You can switch to an employer who are not classified as a Scale Up business within the UK after you have been employed in the job that you are being sponsored for an initial period of 6 months. After this initial period of 6 months, your immigration status will no longer be tied to your original sponsoring employer. You will also be permitted to study however you will not be permitted to access public funds.
The Scale Up Visa is a route to settlement in the UK. A dependent partner and dependent children can apply on this route.
After 5 years you, your dependent partner and children will be eligible to apply for settlement in the UK and also potentially British citizenship.
If you have any further questions about the personal immigration routes or business immigration routes or any other visa related queries, please contact our immigration team. We speak many languages including Mandarin and Cantonese, Gujarati, Russian, French, Korean and Spanish. With access to our solicitors at two locations, one in City and one in Mayfair.
Private Life Route – How To Obtain A Visa To Legalise Your Residence In The UK
When living in the United Kingdom lawfully and continuously for ten years, it is possible to apply for indefinite leave to remain (settlement) by combining different visa categories, even if they individually do not lead to settlement, such as Student or Graduate visas. This is, of course, subject to meeting the requirements of the Immigration Rules under the Long Residence visa route. However, what happens if the residence in the UK has been lawful and unlawful? Is there a way to regularise status in the United Kingdom and potentially settle in the future?
The Private Life visa category was originally introduced in the Statement of Changes in June 2012 and came into force on 9 July 2012. Under this immigration route, those, who have been living in the UK continuously for 20 years, regardless of whether the residence was lawful or unlawful (or combination of both), could be eligible to apply for a visa to regularise their status.
We have successfully assisted clients in regularising their precarious status after having resided in the UK continuously for 20 years. From our experience in dealing with such applications, the Home Office expects an applicant to provide a variety of documents that could demonstrate their physical presence in the country, such as travel history as evidenced by entry stamps in the applicant’s passports, bank statements and employment records.
To strengthen a Private Life application, we, as immigration practitioners, advise to provide additional documentary evidence to demonstrate the applicant’s established private life in the UK, such as personal statement, support letters from friends, local social groups and communities which the applicant has been a part of, and photographs.
Once the applicant has been granted their first permission to remain in the UK on the Private Life route, they will be placed on a 10-year route to settlement, provided that they meet the visa conditions and have maintained their continuous residence throughout their qualifying period.
This visa route offers a pathway for those with a precarious status to regularise their stay in the UK and could be a solution to those who have been subject to the hostile environment policy of the Home Office as a result of their precarious status within the UK.
If you require assistance in relation to a Private Life route visa, or would just like to learn more about this visa route, please feel free to contact us to arrange a consultation.
Can I Get A Divorce In The UK? Can I Stay In The UK After I'm Divorced?
According to The Independent, divorce petitioning consultations received by UK law firms have increased by 95% during the pandemic. While we want our clients to be able to try to resolve any issues and conflicts in their relationship before deciding to file for divorce, when the relationship between husband and wife breaks down and divorce is inevitable, Chen Neill Solicitors can help you through the entire process, protecting your rights to the greatest extent, and minimising the harm caused by the divorce.
In this article we have conducted some example questions about divorce applications that we hope will be helpful to you. If you have any other than questions that are not related to divorce applications, such as financial division and child arrangements, please feel free to contact us.
Q: Both spouses are non-British citizens and married outside the UK. The husband works in the UK with a work visa and the wife came to the UK as a dependent on a Dependant Visa. After living together in the UK for several years, the wife wants to file for divorce. In this case, will the wife be able to file for a divorce in the UK and is she able to remain in the UK after the divorce?
A: A marriage registered in an overseas country can be recognised by the British government as long as both parties are able to marry according to their place of residence and meet the formalities required by the law of the place of incorporation. Even though some overseas marriage registration formalities may be invalid under the laws of England and Wales, as long as it meets the rules set out in the local regulations for registration, the court can still consider the marriage valid and accept a divorce application filed by one of the parties.
In answer to the above case, the wife can file for divorce in the UK, but if the wife does not obtain a visa other than the husband's accompanying visa (Dependent visa) after the divorce, then she must leave the UK within the stipulated period.
Q: The husband is an EU citizen living in the UK and the wife is a non-EU or non-UK citizen who is also residing in the UK. Is it acceptable for the British court to accept the following case, the parties have registered their marriage in the wife's home country and have lived as husband and wife in the UK for several years and one of them wants to file for divorce in the UK?
A: Same as the previous situation, the couple can file for divorce in the UK, but the divorce may affect the wife's residency in the UK. If the wife is unable to obtain another residency visa after divorce, the Home Office may ask her to leave the UK.
In a marriage relationship, a party residing in the UK on a spouse or dependent visa may be affected by the divorce and may not be able to remain in the UK. But this problem can be solved by applying for other visas, and the solicitors at Chan Neill Law Firm have extensive experience in handling divorce and immigrant visa cases, which can make the divorce and subsequent stay in the UK as smooth as possible.
Case Study
A couple married outside the UK, the husband is a British citizen and the wife is an non-UK citizen. She lives in the UK with her husband on a Family Visa after marriage and has a child. After living together for three years, the husband files for divorce on the grounds of emotional breakdown, and after the divorce, the wife will lose the family visa that was originally approved for marriage. However, since they both have a child during their lives in the UK, and the husband is British, the child automatically becomes a British citizen at birth. After the divorce, we are able to help the wife to switch the dependent visa of the husband to family visa as a parent, subsequently, she will be able to remain in the UK to take care of the child.
If both husband and wife have no children and are not British citizens, and one of them lives in the UK with an accompanying visa that depends on the other party. They are able to continue to work and live in the UK by applying for one of the following visas: Representative of an Overseas Business Visa, Innovator Visa, or Skilled worker Visa after divorce.
Q: On what grounds can I request a divorce?
A: The divorce petition must provide information on one or more of the following five grounds to convince the court that the marriage has broken down to the point of irreparability in order to accept the divorce application. The five reasons are:
(1) Infidelity/adultery (2) Unreasonable behavior such as domestic violence (3) Abandonment (4) Separation for two years with the consent of the defendant (5) Separation for five years
Q: Do I need to appear in court after my divorce application is accepted in court and divorce proceedings begin?
A: Most divorce cases can be made in writing and the court will not require either spouse to appear in court. During the pandemic, if you file for divorce outside the UK and are unable to return to the UK during divorce proceedings, we can arrange a video conference or conference call for a meeting, or we can represent you if necessary.
Please contact our experienced Family Law team who are fluent in English, Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, Russian etc.
What Are The Responsibilities Of Being An Employer In The UK
Previously we shared an article explaining how employers should apply for sponsorship, if employers want to hire oversea employees. We have also given you a detailed overview of the process and documentation required to apply for sponsorship license, you are more than welcome to click here for further details.
In addition to applying for sponsorship license and guaranteeing jobs for overseas employees, employers have many obligations to employees. In today's article we will give you a comprehensive introduction to the responsibilities of employers.
Employers' Liability Insurance
As long as you become an employer in the UK, you must purchase employer liability insurance from an insurance company authorised by the UK government before you can formally hire an employee, and the value of the policy must be at least £5 million. If an employer hires only one family member as an employee, or hires only one employee outside the UK, employer liability insurance may not be required.
Employer's liability insurance can protect employers' benefits in a number of ways, such as helping employers pay compensation when their employees need compensation for work injuries or illnesses. If the employer does not purchase insurance then it will face £2500 per day, accumulating from the date of no insurance. The UK government also checks the employer's certificate of insurance and could also be fined £1,000 if the employer fails to show the certificate of insurance or refuses to provide it when requested by the inspector. Employer liability insurance will vary depending on the business activities of the company, we recommend that employers consult a professional before purchasing employer liability insurance.
Register PAYE (Pay As You Earn)
In addition to purchasing employer liability insurance, employers are also required to register with the HM Revenue & Customs in order to pay taxes and national insurance for their employees through PAYE, the UK's system for collecting income tax and national insurance. Therefore, the employer must register before the first payday, but the registration date cannot be earlier than two months before the payday. It usually takes 5 working days from registration to getting your employer's PAYE reference number.
Employers are required to report employees’ payments and deductions to HMRC on or before each payday. Tax arrears and national insurance amounts are generally calculated through payroll software, which includes employer national insurance premiums for employees earning more than £170 per week.
If the employer is not familiar with the UK tax system, it is advisable for the employer to seek help of an accountant to handle such business.
Register for a Pension scheme
Under the Pensions Act 2008, every employer in the UK must include certain employees in their workplace pension and pay a fee, a liability that begins on the day the employer's first employee starts working, which is known as 'auto-registration'. The UK has a dedicated pensions regulator to ensure that all employers comply with workplace pension laws.
In the scheme, the employer's main responsibility is to monitor the age and income of the employees each time they are paid to determine whether they need to be included in the pension plan and how much the employer needs to pay.
In addition to paying pensions, employers are also obliged to pay the following two fees on behalf of employees.
Income Tax
Personal income tax is a tax levied by the government on personal income, and there are many types of income within the scope of taxation, including:
- Wage income;
- Self-employment income;
- State or social welfare;
- Pension income, including state pensions, corporate and personal pensions, and retirement annuities;
- Rental income;
- Benefit bonuses earned at work;
- Trust income, etc.
Among them, personal income tax expenses arising from wage income and work benefit bonuses need to be deducted from the wages or bonuses by the employer before paying the wages or bonuses, and then the employer pays taxes to the UK government through PAYE. Employers need to calculate how much income tax deduction is required based on the employee's Tax Code.
The standard Personal Allowance is £12,570, and income exceeding the exemption is taxed at a different rate in each range. The specific income tax rates for the current tax year (from 6 April 2021 to 5 April 2022) are as follows:
| Personal allowance | Under £12,570 | 0% |
| Base tax rate | £12,571 to £50,270 | 20% |
| High tax rates | £50,271 to £150,000 | 40% |
| Additional tax rates | Over £150,000 | 45% |
If an employee applies for a marriage allowance or a blind allowance, the income tax exemption will be higher. If an employee earns more than £100,000, the income tax exemption will be lower.
National Insurance
Same as personal income tax, employers are obliged to deduct national insurance from wages before paying their wages and then pay them to the UK Government via PAYE.
The national insurance premium is paid to individuals who have reached the age of 16 and meet the following two conditions:
- Employees earning more than £184 per week;
- Self-employed earn £6,515 or more per annum.
Employees earning more than £184 a week and who are under the national pension age are subject to Type I state insurance, which is automatically deducted from wages by the employer. In the first category of national insurance, the amount required by the employer to withhold varies depending on the letter code of the employee's national insurance category. For the current tax year, the specific Category 1 national insurance rates are shown in the chart below:
Note that in the next tax year, from 6 April 2022 to 5 April 2023, the national insurance premium will increase by 1.25%, and the scope of the increase includes categories 1A and 1B national insurance.
In addition to withholding income tax and national insurance premiums from employees, employers are required to provide employees with pay slips on a monthly basis, indicating the breakdown of income tax and national insurance premiums deducted for the current month. Similarly, if the employer is not sure how each employee's pension, income tax and national insurance should be calculated, it is recommended that the employer seek the help of a professional accountant.
Immigration skills charge
When a sponsored employer provides a letter of sponsorship (COS) to an overseas employee applying for a Skilled Worker Visa or an Intra-company Transfer Visa, the employer is usually required to pay an immigration skills fee for the employee.
Generally speaking, employers are required to pay an immigration skills fee for overseas workers in the following two cases:
- Overseas employees applying outside the UK for a work visa for more than 6 months;
- Overseas employees applying within the UK for a work visa for any length.
However, if the overseas employee is applying for an in-house graduate trainee work visa, or if the overseas employee is converted from a student visa to a skilled worker visa or an internal personnel transfer work visa, the employer is not required to pay the immigration skills fee.
Also, if the employer is sponsoring overseas workers engaged in the following occupations, they are not required to pay the immigration skills fee.
- Biological scientist and biochemist;
- Physical scientist;
- Social and humanities scientists;
- Other natural and social science professionals;
- Research and Development Manager;
- Teaching professionals in higher education;
- Clergy;
- Sports athletes;
- Sports coach, instructor or official.
The specific amount of immigration skills fees that employers need to pay is as follows:
| Length of work for employees | Small or charitable organisations | Medium or large institutions |
| The first 12 months | £364 | £1000 |
| For every 6 months extension | £182 | £500 |
In addition to the above-mentioned responsibilities, employers are obliged to provide maternity and annual leave to employees. Almost all workers are legally entitled to at least 28 days of paid leave (also known as annual leave) per year. However, employers can count Bank Holidays and public holidays (e.g. New Year's Day, Christmas, Easter, etc.) as part of statutory annual leave.
If you have questions about employer-related legal liabilities, please contact our Immigration and Employment Law team.
How to look out for scammers and what legal action should you seek?
For the majority of overseas investors to UK companies, hopefully the investments have proven to be lucrative and or provided you with the ability to meet home office conditions. A small percentage of you however are falling victim to very unscrupulous people.
Here is one case we wish to example were we have assisted an investor and an innocent customer with.
The investor was advised that in order to help him comply with immigration visa rules, he could invest in a business opportunity and become a director and Tier 2 employee of a UK limited company. He would also obtain shares for his investment. The investment was substantial and had been paid to the directors personal bank account on the directors request. Over a period of time, suspicions arose that the monies invested were not being used for the company. However the investor had no access to company bank accounts and so could not confirm his suspicions and he was kept being promised his shares will be transferred to him. A friend of the investor entered an agreement with the company to sell his goods. The goods were sold but the sale monies were not given back to the customer, but kept by the company . The director offered instead a repayment plan to the customer. No sale monies were ever returned. At this point the investor realised all his suspicions must be real.
The only way forward was to legally reclaim what the investor and customer had lost. The director of the business however placed the company into liquidation. The director thought this would stop any claim for the investment monies or sale proceeds. Normally creditors of a company have to stand in line for anything a company in liquidation can offer them back. Usually there is no monies to offer creditors and they lose everything.
However with our experienced help and legal advices, the claimants have been able to pierce the corporate veil and go after the director personally for the monies owed. This is a very difficult argument to make before a High Court judge. With a lot of time, patience and explanation of what documents and witness evidence was needed, we issued a world wide freezing injunction on the director in his personal capacity and also a full claim for all the monies owed and invested. A High Court judge accepted the directors personal assets should be frozen world wide and judgement against the director in his personal capacity was also granted.
This has been a great relief to the investor and customer. Our ability to give them hope and strength to see this through has been appreciated. Rather than lose everything to an unscrupulous director, they have been able to stop this director from using the corporate structure from evading his liabilities.
We urge any potential investor to instruct lawyers from the beginning to do proper due diligence on who they are investing in and who with. When you are investing hundreds of thousands of pounds or millions of pounds, it is worth having lawyers do everything to advise and protect you before investment is made.
It will not always be possible to bring such an effective claim against a director who has been unscrupulous as detailed above and therefore we urge prevention is a better solution rather than reaction to a loss.
We do carry out due diligence work for overseas investors and would be happy to hear from you if you wish to have more information on your target investment.
We have listed commercial proceedings if you would like to know details of procedures for such litigation.
1, Appoint a solicitor -- provide your solicitor with timelines, documents and evidence of the case.
2, Draft and send the letters (pre-litigation) to defendant before making a claim.
3, Decide whether to initiate court proceedings (Issue the Claim), aslo considering whether it needs to make special applications before litigation, such as property freezing orders and property disclosure orders etc.
4, Prepare the prosecution file including claim application form, civil lawsuit (Particulars of Claim)
5, First appearance in court and prepare documents for court hearing.
6, Final Hearing and Judgment
If you do find yourself in a similar situation with an investment you have made as exampled above, please do contact us and we shall be happy to help.
How do I get a British passport after obtaining Indefinite Leave to Remain?
Majority of the new immigrants will choose to apply for naturalisation after obtaining permanent residency status, and they can become British citizens only after the naturalisation application is approved. In this article, we will introduce to you some things you need to pay attention to when applying for a British passport after your naturalisation application is successful.
After your naturalisation application is approved, you need to attend the Citizenship Ceremony before you can apply for your first British passport. Only applicants who are over 18 years old or 18 during the application process need to participate in the naturalisation ceremony. Minor applicants will be directly awarded a Certificate of Registration, so they do not need to participate in the naturalisation ceremony. We will introduce you the process and precautions of naturalisation application in detail later.
Many people have a misunderstanding about holding a British passport, believing that it is a document that grants the naturalisation applicant the right to British nationality, but in fact the right to British nationality is granted by the Certificate of Naturalisation issued at the Naturalisation ceremony. A British passport is mainly an important identity document presented when British citizens travel in and out of the country or need to prove their identity.
All citizens who have obtained British nationality can apply for a British passport. The validity period of an adult passport is 10 years, and the validity period of a child passport is 5 years. It should be noted that if the passport applicant is 16 years old or will be 16 years old within 3 weeks, then the applicant should apply for an adult passport instead of a child passport.
Passport applicants can complete the application online or fill out the form and post the application. The online application fee is £75.50, and the postal application fee is £85. Currently, the processing time for online adult passport application is 7 weeks, and for child passport application is 6 weeks. Whilst the processing time for postal applications will be longer. Therefore, we will mainly explain to you the process of an online application.
The documents required to apply for the first British passport online are:
- Passport-sized electronic photo;
- Naturalisation certificate or registration certificate;
- Foreign passport used before becoming a British citizen.
At the same time, the passport applicant also needs to provide a countersignatory. The staff of the HM Passport Office will contact the countersignatory via email to confirm the identity of the passport applicant. Countersignatory must meet the following requirements:
- At least 18 years old;
- Currently living in the UK;
- Hold a British passport;
- Know the passport applicant for at least 2 years (if the passport applicant is a minor child, the witness needs to know the guardian of the minor child for at least 2 years);
- Work in or be retired from a “recognised profession” such as teacher, doctors, lawyers, accountants and other professional workers. (The list of acceptable professions can be found on the official website of the UK government).
After completing the online application, the passport applicant needs to post the documents specified in the confirmation email to the designated address. After the application is approved, the new passport and the previously posted documents will be sent back separately.
In addition to the application process that must be completed above, applicants for the first British passport may also be required to attend an identity confirmation interview. Generally speaking, only minor applicants who have reached the age of 16 or will be 16 years old during the passport application period will be notified of the interview. Adult applicants over 18 years of age and child passport applicants will not be required to attend.
The purpose of the interview is to help the HM Passport Office confirm the identity of the applicant and confirm that the passport application is actually initiated by the applicant, this reduces the number of cases of identity fraud.
The UK passport interview will last approximately 20-30 minutes. During this period, the applicant may be asked the following questions:
- Applicant's full name and spelling of the name
- The full names of the applicant's parents and their current occupation
- Applicant's current residence address in the UK and the previous address outside the UK
- The name and address of the applicant’s school and the name of their teacher
- The full name of the applicant’s closest friend in the UK
All in all, the interview questions will relate to the applicant. Answering interview questions confidently will help the interviewer make judgments and issue the passport.
If you have any further questions about the passport application process and passport interview or need help, please contact our immigration team.
How different interpretation of the Immigration Rules can alter the outcome of a visa application?
In this complex body of law, it is hard not only to find the relevant rules and policy guidance but also to correctly interpret the relevant provisions of the Rules. In recent years the Home Office has vowed to simplify the Rules, make them more accessible and easier to understand. Sadly, it remains challenging for an ordinary person who does not practise immigration on a day-to-day basis to navigate the Rules.
In practice, issues often arise when applicants’ interpretation of the Rules does not align with that of the Home Office, resulting in refusals with a right to administrative review or appeal as the only remedy.
In this article, we would like to focus on the interpretation of ‘existing limited leave to enter or remain upon their departure and return’ as stated in the definition of ‘continuous residence’ in relation to indefinite leave to remain applications on the grounds of Long Residence (10 years route).
Findings
The Immigration Rules for this visa route were first laid before the House of Commons on 31 March 2003 (Statement of Changes HC 538). Since then, the wording of paragraph 276A(a) has remained unchanged. ‘Continuous residence’ in the Immigration Rules is defined as:
‘residence in the United Kingdom for an unbroken period, and for these purposes a period shall not be considered to have been broken where an applicant is absent from the United Kingdom for a period of 6 months or less at any one time, provided that the applicant in question has existing limited leave to enter or remain upon their departure and return…’
In its ordinary meaning, the phrase ‘existing limited leave to enter or remain upon their departure and return’ should mean existing visa upon departure from the UK and upon arrival to the UK. However, it has come to our knowledge that in the past the Home Office expected that applicants had existing visas upon departure from the UK and upon arrival to the UK under the same visa category.
We would like to address the two following successful appeals in which the applicants challenged the Home Office and their own interpretation of ‘existing limited leave to enter or remain upon their departure and return’.
TT v The Secretary of State for the Home Department
In 2008, in the case of TT v The Secretary of State for the Home Department [2008] UKAIT 00038, the appellant appealed against the Home Office’s decision to refuse her indefinite leave to remain application on the grounds of long residence in the UK, namely due to ‘breaks in continuous residence.
Throughout the concerned 10-year qualifying period, on two occasions the appellant left the UK with leave to remain, which expired whilst she was out of the country, and she obtained valid leave to enter prior to returning to the UK. The Home Office argued that because she had not returned on those two occasions with the same leave which she had when she left the UK, there was a break in the continuous residence and, therefore, the appellant could not satisfy the requirements of the ten-year rule.
It was subsequently held by the Immigration Judge that, for the purposes of 276A-176D of HC 395, a period of continuous residence, as defined in paragraph 276A(a) is not broken in circumstances where a person with leave to remain in the UK obtains further leave from an Entry Clearance Officer while temporarily outside the UK prior to the expiry of the leave to remain. The tribunal was of the view that ‘if it had been thought to be sufficiently important to make that a requirement of the Rule, then we can see no reason why it would have been drafted in those terms’.
Sawehli v Secretary of State for the Home Department (IA/24415/2012)
In 2012, in the case of Sawehli v Secretary of State for the Home Department (Appeal Number: IA/24415/2012), the Upper Tribunal reaffirmed the judgment of TT and its interpretation of ‘continuous residence’. The issue in the appeal also concerned whether or not the appellant had acquired the necessary 10 years of continuous residence to qualify for indefinite leave to remain on the grounds of long residence. In the judgment, Upper Tribunal Judge Kopieczek reiterated the interpretation of the Rules in TT, stating that ‘paragraph 276A does not require a person to have the same leave when returning to the UK as the leave he had when he left.’
Conclusion
It is imperative to contest the Home Office in their own interpretation of the Rules. Challenging the Home Office's decision is not only a tactical ploy in order to preserve one’s immigration status. The successful appeal or administrative review can set a precedent as to how certain provisions of the Rules should be interpreted.
As a result of the abovementioned appeals, the interpretation of the phrase ‘existing limited leave to enter or remain upon their departure and return’ was re-instated to its original meaning.
If you believe that this issue concerns you and that you could be entitled to indefinite leave to remain based on historic 10 years’ continuous residence because of the unfair refusal, please do not hesitate to contact our Immigration team.
Please note that requirements may vary from case to case based on the nuances of your situation, and the information on this page is not intended to replace legal advice.