In this article, we’re going to talking UK residency and apply for UK Permanent Residence PR and Skilled Worker Visa UK 2023.
Permanent Residence PR in the UK means that you can live, work and study here indefinitely without the need to apply for a new visa. PR in the UK is also known as indefinite leave to remain ILR One of the key requirements for UK PR is in most cases, you must have continuously resided in the UK for at least five years. However, the specific duration required for obtaining UK PR status depends on the type of UK visa you possess. For instance, holders of the Innovator Founder Visa or the Global Talent Visa, or the Global Talent Visa may be eligible to apply for UK PR after just three years. The most common immigration routes that qualify for UK residency are as follows family visa for five years. Work visa for five years. Business visa for three to five years. Long residence to ill ten years for in the UK as a family member of a settled person or UK citizen, you may qualify for permanent residence in the UK if you are a family member of a person who is settled in the UK. Qualifying family members include partners, spouses, children and dependent relatives who need care.
A settled person is someone who has come to the UK and gained permanent residence here or is a British citizen. Some of the most popular family visas that can lead to PR in the UK include the
- spouse Visa two or five years.
- B child Visa as soon as a parent has permanent residency.
- C Adult Dependent
Relative Visa as soon as your UK-based carer has permanent residency to make a successful application for permanent residence. UK as a family member of a settled person or British citizen, you must,
- Have lived in the UK for two or five years if applying as a spouse visa holder or have an immediate family member with permanent residence if applying as a child or adult dependent.
- Meet the relationship requirements. E g partners must still be living with their husband, wife, civil partner or unmarried partner.
- Meet the financial requirements. This depends on the route you are. Applying through eg. for the five year route. As a spouse visa holder, you and your partner must have a combined income of at least 18,600.
- Pass the Life in the UK test
- Meet the English language requirement
Get a UK PR via a work visa
A work visa e.g. skilled worker visa will allow you to come here to work for a UK employer. In most cases, you will get PR once you have held your work visa for five years. The skilled worker visa is currently one of the easiest ways to get PR in the UK. For Non-EU nationals
There are several UK work visas that qualify for UK residency, including the following
1. Skilled Worker visa
- Scale up Visa
- Health and Care Worker Visa
- Global Talent Visa
It is important to understand that not all work visas qualify for permanent residency in the UK. For example, the senior or specialist worker visa under the global Business Mobility route, previously called the tier two It visa, and the high potential individual HPE visa.
While visas such as the HP visa do not provide a direct route to PR in the UK, it is possible to switch to another type of visa that does qualify. The HP visa also has other advantages over other work visas as it provides a gateway to work in the UK without a job offer. For students who meet the requirements to gain PR in the UK through a work visa. You must have lived in the UK for the required amount of time on a work visa. Normally, five years continue to be sponsored. By your UK-based employer continuing to be in a qualifying job meet the minimum income requirements for your job passing the Life in the UK test meet the English language requirements get UK permanent residence via your business you may be eligible for a UK business visa such as the Innovator visa. If you have an idea for an innovative business that you would like to establish here. Under the current immigration rules, the Innovator visa is one of the easiest ways to get PR in the UK. For non-EU nationals, the Innovator founder visa leads to PR after just three years. It is important to note that not all business visas provide a direct route to PR, including the startup visa. To gain PR as a startup visa holder, you will need to switch to an Innovator visa. To qualify for PR as an Innovator visa holder, you must
- Have lived in the UK on your Innovator visa for three years continuously.
- Have a new endorsement for your business
- Pass the Life in the UK test and
- Meet the English language requirements.
UK PR stats for EU National
Following Brexit EU nationals who wish to gain permanent residency in the UK are required to apply. Under the US Settlement Scheme, EU nationals who began living in the U. K before 31st January 2021 may be granted pre-settled status or settled status. Presettled status means you have not yet been living here for five years and are still working towards PR. Settled status means you have already lived here for five years and have gained PR. If you are a UN national who arrived in the U. K. After 30 st January 2021, you can still gain PR through one of the visa routes outlined above. How to Apply for UK Permanent Residence
To apply for UK Permanent Residence, you will need to
1. Complete and submit the online application form. The form you will need to complete depends on the route you have chosen. You can include your eligible partner and children on your eligible partner and children on your ILR application.
2. Pay the application fee.
3. Book and attend an appointment at a UKVCAS office to provide your biometric information, photo, and fingerprints.
4. Provide any documents requested by the Home Office e g your life in the UK test Pass Certificate in most cases, you can expect to receive a decision within six months. You may also be able to use the Priority Service to receive a decision within five working days for a fee of 500 pounds or the Super Priority Service for a decision within one working day for a fee of 800 pounds.
Other Ways to get PR in the UK
There are several other ways to gain PR in the UK that have not been discussed above.
These include
- Discretionary leave to remain
- ILR following domestic violence
- The seven years child route.
- The ten-year-long residence route.
- The private life route
- Serving in the Armed Forces
Skilled Worker Visa
What is the UK skilled worker visa?
UK skilled worker Visa is a work visa that enables international workers with the necessary skills to work in the UK. For licensed UK employers, the skilled worker visa replaced the tier two visa at the end of 2020.
The scheme now is open to those with skills at RQF level Three. This is equivalent to a level in the UK or above in an eligible occupation. UK skilled worker visa is a long-term work visa and will be initially granted for a period of up to five years. This will depend on the duration of your certificate of sponsorship. It is important to note that your visa is only valid as long as you remain in the same role with your sponsoring employer. If you wish to change roles or employers, you will need to apply for a new skilled worker visa.
One of the main benefits of the Skilled Worker Visa is that if you do plan to stay in the UK permanently, rather than just extending your visa, you can acquire permanent residency by applying for Indefinite Leave to Remain. For indefinite leave to remain ILR after five years.
To do so, you must meet the Continuous Residence requirement, meaning that you must not have been outside of the UK for more than 180 days in any of the five years. Once you have Indefinite Leave to remain, you will not need to make any more visa applications or pay the immigration healthcare surcharge, and you will be able to apply for UK citizenship after twelve months.
It is important to note that the five years required to qualify for ILR can be made up of time on a range of visas, including the representative of an Overseas Business Visa, Innovator Visa, Global Talent Visa, Tier Two Visa, Minister of Religion or Sports Person or a Tier One Visa. Time spent on the tier-one graduate entrepreneur scheme cannot be included. However, in addition to qualifying for ILR
You will need to provide evidence that:
You have passed the Life in the UK test. For those between 18 and 65,
You are still employed by the same Sponsor license holder,
You still meet the minimum salary requirements,
You have sufficient English language skills.