UK immigration FAQs for UK visa holders and businesses

Some UK visa application centres are closed and restrictions on international travellers arriving in the UK could return in the future.
 

The Home Office has published guidance for visa applicants and temporary UK residents and guidance for Worker and Temporary Worker sponsors.

All of the online Home Office’s coronavirus-related immigration guidance can be found here.

Here are the main questions we have been receiving from our clients. We will update the answers when the Home Office provides more information.

Please note that the questions and answers on this page are for general information only and must not be used as a substitute for legal advice. You should always take legal advice which is tailored to your specific circumstances.

Applying for a UK visa outside the UK
 

Is it possible to travel to the UK at the moment? 

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Is it possible to apply for a UK visa at the moment?

UK visa application centres in the vast majority of countries have reopened but some remain closed due to local lockdowns. If your local visa application centre is closed due to coronavirus, until 30 June 2022 you can apply in a different country.

The companies which run the visa application centres should keep their websites updated. For visa application centres in Europe, Africa and parts of the Middle East check https://uk.tlscontact.com/. For visa application centres in the rest of the world check https://www.vfsglobal.co.uk/en.

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What do I do if I have been issued with a 30-day or 90-day visa and can’t travel to the UK before it expires?

If you have a 90-day visa in your passport and can’t travel to the UK before it expires you will have to apply online for a replacement visa – and pay a fee for this. Your biometrics (fingerprints and a digital photo) will need to be resubmitted at an appointment. The replacement visa will be valid for 90 days.

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Applying to the Home Office in the UK
 

Is it possible to make a Home Office application in the UK at the moment – for instance a Skilled Worker change of employment application or an application for indefinite leave to remain?

It is possible to submit an online application. The problem is that after submitting the application you have to book an appointment to attend a UK Visa and Citizenship Application Services centre to enrol your biometrics and scan your passport.

UKVCAS centres have reopened (and will stay open during any future restrictions as they are deemed an “essential service”) but there are on-going issues as capacity is limited. To help clear the backlog, the Home Office previously invited some applicants who had provided biometrics in the past to use the Identity Verification (IDV) app. Using the app meant that you do not need to attend an in person appointment. Instead, your photo and a scan of your passport were uploaded. The priority and super priority services are currently available for some application types.

According to the Home Office’s guidance, if you had made a Skilled Worker or Tier 2 application in the UK – for instance a Skilled Worker or Tier 2 (General) change of employment application – so long as the CoS was assigned before 1 January 2021 you could start your new job before the application had been granted. You must have had a valid CoS assigned by your new employer and you must have submitted your online application before your previous visa expired. If the application was subsequently refused your employer will have had to terminate your employment.

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I want to switch visa status. Normally I would have to apply outside the UK for this type of switch. Can I apply in the UK instead?

In some circumstances the Home Office guidance allowed you to switch visa categories in the UK even if you would normally have had to make this type of application outside the UK – for instance, if you wanted to switch from a visit visa to a Skilled Worker visa. Such coronavirus concession switching applications were only possible if your visa expired on or before 30 June 2021 and there was a relevant permission to stay application form. It is still possible to switch visa categories from exceptional assurance.

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My visa will expire soon and I need to submit a Home Office application. Before I submit my Home Office application I have to pass an English language test and/or the Life in the UK test but I cannot get an appointment in time. What should I do?

 Test centres have reopened and it should be possible to get an appointment before your visa expires. 

If you had difficulty in booking an appointment you should still have been able to submit your Home Office application before your visa expired. You may not have met the English language / Life in the UK requirement on the date you applied but if you meet it on the date of your appointment it would have been unreasonable for the Home Office to refuse your application in the circumstances.

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My visa will expire soon or has expired. I want to leave the UK but I can’t. What should I do?

The Home Office guidance states that if you intend to leave the UK but due to COVID-19 restrictions you have not been able to do so and your visa expires (or expired) before 30 November 2022 you can request additional time to stay by sending an email to the address indicated in the guidance with the stated information. You also need to show you intended to country that has closed its borders or where quarantine facilities are temporarily oversubscribed. If your existing conditions allowed you to work, study or rent accommodation you may continue to do so during the period of exceptional assurance so long as it is granted. This exceptional assurance is an emergency measure and does not grant you leave to remain in the UK. You should only apply for it as a last resort if you have no other options.

It is possible to switch immigration status from exceptional assurance.

It will not be possible to apply for exceptional assurance from 1 December 2022.

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Sponsored workers
 

Our company has a new employee who has been issued with a 90-day Skilled Worker visa and can’t travel to the UK to start work on time. What should we do?

Normally, after the sponsored worker has been granted permission, the work start date for a Skilled Worker (or Intra-Company Transfer/Senior or Specialist Worker) can’t be postponed beyond 28 days.

The Home Office has indicated to us this rule will be waived where the delay is caused by coronavirus. The Home Office should be notified through the Sponsorship Management System that the start date has been delayed.

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Our sponsored workers are all working from home. Do we need to tell the Home Office?

No. The Home Office Worker and Temporary Worker sponsor guidance states that employers do not have to report that sponsored workers are working from home if working from home is directly related to the coronavirus pandemic.

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We want to offer unpaid leave to sponsored workers to avoid redundancies. Is this ok? Do we have to tell the Home Office?

Usually sponsored Skilled Workers cannot take more than 4 weeks’ unpaid leave per calendar year.

According to the Worker and Temporary Worker sponsor guidance employers do not need to withdraw sponsorship from employees who are absent from work without pay for 4 weeks or more if the absences are related to coronavirus.

Absences related to coronavirus do not need to be reported to the Home Office.

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We want to reduce our sponsored workers’ hours and/or salaries to avoid redundancies. Is this ok?

Sponsored workers can work part-time but their salary must normally remain at or above the overall minimum level for the visa category regardless of their working hours. The overall minimum for a Tier 2 (General) visa is £30,000 per year (£20,800 for new entrants) and for a Skilled Worker is normally £25,600 (£20,480 for new entrants). The overall minimum for a Tier 2 (Intra-company Transfer) or Intra-Company Transfer visa is £41,500 per year and for a Senior or Specialist Worker visa is £42,400 per year. The salary must also be over £10.10 per hour and at or above the occupation-specific minimum (the appropriate rate for the occupation code) which is adjusted pro rata according to the person’s working hours. There are different rules for those sponsored under a Global Business Mobility route.

Any change in working hours or reduction in salary needs to be reported to the Home Office.

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We want to recruit someone who needs a Skilled Worker visa. Can we? How long is the process going to take?

You can start the process in the normal way – apply for and assign a CoS – and the prospective employee can apply for a visa (or make a change of employment application to the Home Office if they are already working in the UK).

To complete the process if the prospective employee is a non-EEA national applying outside the UK they will have to attend a biometric appointment and in some countries this may not be possible at the moment – see above for information on applying for a visa outside the UK and applying to the Home Office in the UK.

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Some of our Tier 2 and Skilled Worker sponsored workers have gone back to their home country and are working remotely. They may stay there for several months. Is this ok?

Yes, as long as they continue to be employed by you – and paid, unless they are taking unpaid leave (see above).

Note that the sponsored worker’s absences from the UK could have implications for a future application for indefinite leave to remain – see below.

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Indefinite leave to remain
 

I have a long-term UK visa which leads to indefinite leave to remain. I may be stuck outside the UK for several months. Will this affect my application for indefinite leave to remain?

If you have a visa which leads to indefinite leave to remain you cannot normally spend more than 180 days outside the UK in any 12-month period during the five-year qualifying period. This rule does not apply to every visa category and the way it works depends on the date when your visa was issued.

The Home Office enforces the 180-day limit strictly but will consider granting indefinite leave to remain if the absences are over the limit and the applicant provides evidence that the excess absences were due to serious or compelling reasons. According to the Immigration Rules on continuous residence, any period spent outside the UK will not count towards the 180-day limit if the absence was because of travel disruption due to a pandemic.

If you are staying outside the UK for an extended period because of the coronavirus pandemic you should keep evidence of the reason. For instance, you should keep evidence of any travel bans in specific countries, closures of visa application centres and evidence of illness and/or caring for family members who are unwell. 

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Right to work checks
 

How do we do right to work checks on new employees who are starting work from home?

On 30 March 2020 the Home Office introduced temporary COVID-19 adjusted check measures. These measures allowed employers to carry out a right to work check over video when they would normally carry out an original document check.

However, the adjusted check measures ended on 30 September 2022. From 1 October 2022 you will have to carry out an online check or an original document check. The digital verification scheme could also be used to check British and Irish citizens. For detailed information about how to carry out a right to work check see the employer’s guide to right to work checks.

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For more information please do not hesitate to contact a member of the immigration team.