Tier 1 Exceptional Talent/ Promise - The Artist formerly known as ...  [24 APR 2015]

Just before Christmas last year, I was approached by a very humble artist who was looking for ways to continue pursuing their art in England. This soon-to-be world renowned artist in the visual arts field wanted to apply for Tier 1 Exceptional Talent.

We started with their CV of course. Then all press clippings, awards, exhibition promotions, letters of reference from university tutors, gallery owners, art agents, buyers, critics, collectors...   I mean, to cut a long story short, the artist was properly endorsed by the Arts Council andwas later granted entry clearance for the fullest possible period of 5 years and 4 months. You could say, we have achieved the best possible case scenario under this route. The whole process took 3 months.

While wading through this less known route into the UK for those creatively skilled, I have discovered the following 'Fun Facts' which may be of interest to those of you who are likewise thinking about spreading your artistic wings in and around the world based in the UK:

1. The Arts Council, along with the Royal Society, Royal Academy of Engineering, British Academy, and Tech City UK, were allocated 250 applications to be endorsed by them between 6 April 2015 - 5 April 2016;
2. Not all of 250 can be allocated at once. Up to 125 can be allocated between 6 April 2015 - 30 September 2015, then the remaining unused endorsements may be used from 1 October 2015 - 5 April 2016. 
3. The Arts Council's most recent statics on how many had applied and achieved success is from December 2013. On it, it shows that 100 applicants applied for Tier 1 Exceptional Talent, and only 37 were granted the endorsement letter (37% success). On the other hand, there were 2 applications received for Tier 1 Exceptional Promise endorsement and of these 1 was granted the endorsement (ironically, 50% success). Since these figures from December 2013 are the latest proffered by the Arts Council itself, I am not sure exactly how many more were granted but you could certainly add 1 more to the Exceptional Promise which I had obtained for my client.  
4. Once you go through Stage 1 of the visa by obtaining your endorsement letter, you could then apply for your leave to remain or if you are outside the UK, then for entry clearance, which is the Stage 2.
5. And here comes the BIG BONUS!!! For entry clearance, there is no specific requirement to prove maintenance OR the English Language Requirement. And of course your family members can come with you.
6. And the benefits don't stop there. You could be granted up to 5 years and 4 months stay in total (Entry Clearance);
7. After 5 years of residence under this visa, with up to 6 months stay outside the UK in each of the 5 years, then you could get to the Indefinite Leave to Remain.

The only other type of visa which affords as much benefits and exemptions is the Tier 1 Investor visa which also exempts its applicants from English Language Test and maintenance requirement. Despite these enormous benefits to be had, the statistics thus far tell me that far too many of the potential Exceptional Talents and Promises are perhaps being too modest about their own reputation and are holding themselves back from attempting an application under this route. (I mean, only 3 applications from Exceptional Promise so far? - Come on.)

It is nice to see that international and national renown, and their artistry is considered to be as valuable as £2 mill. or more of investment into the country.

I would quite curious to see who would be brave enough to attempt these visas and really test their artistic profile. I would totally encourage it.  

Click here for a link to the Arts Council's Endorsement Criteria. Further details relating to your particular case, feel free to contact me. After all, I did contribute to the success statistics! :D  

P.S. I have made a Freedom of Information request to the Arts Council for information on an updated application and endorsement statistics today. Will post once I hear further.

Time to APPLY YOURSELF! - Home Office Fees Increase from 6 April 2015 [25 MAR 2015]

For those of you who were literally 'on the fence' about settling in the UK or becoming a BC (British Citizen), put your flip-flops on and form an orderly queue please! The dilemma is over; Apply Now - The timing has never been better.

The Home Office has confirmed by publication on 23 March 2015 that their Indicative Charges for the various immigration applications for 2015-2016 will now come into effect from 6 April 2015 with the cost of ILR (Indefinite Leave to Remain, a.k.a. 'Settlement Visa') rising from £1,093 to £1,500 per person (*e.g. for Long Residence). See the full UKVI'S 'Tariff' here. There are increases in other types of applications, too, e.g. British Citizenship for adults (naturalisation) will increase form £906 to £1,005.

So - at the risk of sounding like an advert - Get clicking on that mouse if you want to save yourself a few hundred pounds!

Subject to your eligibility, get those applications in now! Anyone requiring legal representation and assistance with their application, feel free to email me marked 'Urgent'.

Warning ('the small print'): Must be able to speak English and know in some significant depth the political, cultural, geographical and natural history of England. Obviously.

Good luck.
 

Korean Embassy Service Guide: 가족관계증명서 [3 MAR 2015]

재영 한인 대사관 영사과에서도 가족관계등록사항별 증명서 등을 신속하고 저렴한 비용을 받을 수 있다고 합니다. 신청 방법과 비용에 대해서는 아래에 있는 gallery 에서 leaflet 을 참고 하시면 됩니다.

그래서 영국 비자 신청 중 spouse, children dependant 을 포함한 다른 family dependant, 그리고 private life에 근거한 비자 신청을 준비 하실때에 한국에서의 가족관계등록사항별 증명서가 필요한 경우가 많이 있습니다. 이제는 재영 하인 대사관에서 한국어 그리고 영문으로 신속히 발급받으실수 있겠습니다. 도움이 되셨으면 합니다.

조은영 변호사

문의 전화 (재영 한인 대사관): 020 7227 5500

Ok, so at the moment of writing this blog, at 10:15, the judgment is yet to be released, let alone made into law. Everyone (concerned with immigration law and those gnashing their teeth and forced separation from their newly married husband/ wife) will be waiting on their computer screen with bated breath!

So, I just wanted to share my excitement for this judgment to come. I for one am extremely curious about how it will unfold.


Will bring you more once judgment is released.

Fingers crossed. xx

Quite possibly the most incendiary title of the year, I admit. Above picture is a serendipitous collection of books that I have found at my parents' house not so long ago which, without even trying, represents books which have largely shaped my life.

As a Korean migrant from the 90s, I was that kid in school with thick rimmed glasses, carrying a dictionary under her arm to every class, trying to master this language which has almost become my first language. Then there is the Youth Bible,admittedly, am not a fan of this particular version but one way or another, I am heavily influenced by my Christian upbringing, and whether related or not, I am, undeniably, a Christian. Just to the left of the Bible is Saint-Exupery's magical The Little Prince which strikes a chord with my child-like senses and wonderment about life. I quite like that about myself. Let's just have a laugh at that for a moment. The little book to the left of The Little Prince called 'Sorrow Into Joy' is, I think some Christian book about dealing with bereavement. This, unfortunately, marks the time when my family lost my younger brother who left us one day in his sleep at what was thought to be an invincible age of 21 ...

Besides this heart-to-heart style of today's blog, what I really wanted to focus on is the big yellow book in the middle, rather feistily entitled '120 letters that get results' (ISBN-10: 034058520X / ISBN-13: 978-0340585207). This a wonderful (?) collection of examples of letters one could write to raise a complaint was originally picked up by my dad who was, I suppose, rather rights conscious by nature. Mostly the letters were in consumer rights context of course. But, you could say, I've really honed my skills from a young age, thanks to expose-all publications like this :) 

In my current line of work in law, from listening to my clients, it seems that some of you may have been on the receiving end of rudeness, mistreatment and bullying of a fantastical scale at the hands of the UK immigration's border force at the airports. The number of queries laced with "oh, and I want to lodge a complaint to the immigration officers at the airport" seems to me to be on the rise particularly from the end of last yer and the beginning of this year. Common complaints include bullying line of questioning, a constant scepticism of all answers offered by the migrant (one doctor from the far east was asked what he did for a living, when he explained that he was a gastroenterologist, the immigration officer simply scoffed and re-questioned 'you mean a herbal doctor?' - Incredible rudeness, and stupidity, I know), and a slightest of confusion resulting in a slip of the tongue is treated with as much scorn and contempt as if you had told them that you were on your way back from just having climbed to the top of Mt. Everest and back only in your flip flops. It's this hostile attitude, infinite and mostly groundless scepticism of the authenticity of any information provided by the migrant only fosters an environment in which the migrants could never win, and the cynicism of the UK Border Force is only coming true by their own making.

To borrow the words from the lesser known American singer called Jewel:

"I was thinking that it might do some good
If we robbed the cynics and took all their food
That way what they believe will have taken place
And we'll give it to anybody who has some faith
...

I have this theory that if we're told we're bad
Then that's the only idea we'll ever have
...

'Cause anyone can start a conflict
It's harder yet to disregard it
I'd rather see the world from another angle
We are everyday angels
Be careful with me 'cause I'd like to stay that way"

- I'm Sensitive, Jewel (1995) -

I'm far from suggesting that migrants are 'every angels' who never tell lies. At the very least, all should be afforded the basic dignity of being treated like a fellow human being, rather than an 'alien' because they happen to be from outside some man-made territory.

In reality, the fact or the result/s of a complaint may not have influence directly, if at all, on the outcome of your immigration checks at point of entry or any future applications for leave to remain, there shouldn't be anything to fear in lodging such applications either. If anything, being 'an asker' might get you something. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?

So, herewith, I attach the current version of the UK Border Force's complaints leaflet. The fact that the leaflet gives guidance on both complaints AND compliments seems to imply that complaints are in the same category of seriousness as a compliment I hope you could all see the content properly from these pictures. Otherwise you could also get the same information (perhaps more up to date) from the UKVI's website linked here:

Seriously, DO NOT MAKE TRAVEL PLANS until you have your visa and PASSPORT IN YOUR HANDS!

As an immigration lawyer, it would the most frustrating to see the good work on a case get overshadowed by the clients failing to heed to this one simple piece of advice. With any court awarded compensation for the lost travel being very unlikely, if you don't want to see your India trip turn into a pack of 1st class stamps, there's no better time than now to heed to this advice.

The poor guy featured on Metro London today. The compensation is utterly paltry but however much you wish to travel at a particular time, making prior travel arrangements will not force anyone to act faster for your application/ postal/ visa process, and the remoteness of damage in order to recover the cost of the lost holiday is rather tenuous in most cases (meaning, unlikely to obtain any compensation for the lost travel arrangements) so if you want to avoid any costly *disappointment* (to put it mildly), Do Not Make Travel Plans Before Your Visa and/ or Passport Is In Your Hands! Pleeease!