The immigration application process can be very difficult. These days, the rules and regulations make it increasingly difficult to qualify for a UK visa.
UK Immigration is our core business. We legally support all UK immigration applications, managing and advising our clients on all aspects of UK Citizenship rules and procedures. We provide friendly, extensive, up-to-date UK immigration services for visa applications that cater to our clients’ individual circumstances.
There are different ways to apply for British citizenship based on your circumstances.
If you were born in the UK
You do not automatically get British citizenship if you were born in the UK. It depends on when you were born and your parents’ circumstances.
You may be eligible to apply for citizenship if you were born in the UK and are not a British citizen.
If you moved to the UK
You may be able to apply for citizenship by ‘naturalisation’, depending on your situation.
If you’re eligible in more than one way you can choose which way to apply.
You’re married to or in a civil partnership with a British citizen
To apply as the spouse or civil partner of a British citizen you must have lived in the UK for the last 3 years.
You’ll also need to have one of the following:
- indefinite leave to remain
- settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme
- a permanent residence document to confirm you have permanent residence status
If you do, you’ll be eligible to apply for citizenship immediately.
You have indefinite leave to remain (ILR)
You can usually apply for ILR after you’ve lived in the UK for 5 years.
To apply for citizenship with ILR you must usually have lived in the UK for 12 months after getting it.
You have ‘permanent residence’ status
If you or a family member are from the EU, EEA or Switzerland, you usually get permanent residence status automatically after living in the UK for 5 years.
To apply for citizenship with permanent residence status you must usually have lived in the UK for 12 months after getting permanent residence status. You also need a permanent residence document that proves you’ve lived in the UK for 5 years – this can be any 5 year period.
This means that if the 5 year period was more than 12 months ago, you’ll be able to apply for citizenship as soon as you get your permanent residence document.
You have ‘settled status’ under the EU Settlement Scheme
If you and your family member are from the EU, EEA or Switzerland, you can apply for ‘settled status’ after you’ve lived in the UK for 5 years.
To apply for citizenship with settled status you must usually have lived in the UK for 12 months after getting it.
Settled status is also known as ‘indefinite leave to remain under the EU Settlement Scheme’.
Other ways you can be eligible
You may be eligible to apply for citizenship if:
- you have a British parent
- you have another type of British nationality
- you’re stateless
- you previously gave up (renounced) your citizenship
If you’re a Commonwealth citizen
You may be eligible to apply for citizenship under the Windrush Scheme if both:
- you or one of your parents arrived in the UK before 1973
- you’ve lived in the UK and not been away from it for more than 2 years
If your parent arrived in the UK before 1973, you must have either:
- been born in the UK
- arrived in the UK before you were 18
How long does it take?
We aim to complete our work within 2 to 3 weeks and the UK government will take around 3 months to process. If you require the visa sooner, please contact us immediately to discuss what priority services are available to you.
Why hire an immigration lawyer?
Wondering if it makes sense to hire an immigration lawyer? Here are some of the top benefits of hiring us to help you:
- Know the best path to immigration – Our firm will help you determine which way to meet your immigration needs.
- Profile accuracy – We can help you avoid common mistakes that can lead to visa refusals.
- Speed – Our professional staff will work with you to collect all the required documentation and information as quickly as possible.
- Personalised service – Dedicated experts will work closely with you throughout the process and will be available to answer any questions.
- No missed opportunities – We monitor the many different programs and visas for updates to make sure you are best positioned for success.
How we can help
UK immigration is what we do day in and day out. We have extensive experience of preparing successful UK Citizenship applications. By partnering with LAWTEC Solicitors, you can be assured that your immigration application process will be managed in a professional and cost-effective manner.
Many of our clients are happy to relieve themselves of the frustrations of preparing paperwork and having to deal with government red-tape by hiring our professional team of immigration experts.
We are proud of the fact that our team of highly experienced lawyers and multi-lingual specialists really do enjoy nothing more than winning UK visa applications for our clients.