Dear Fashion Folks,

Happy New Year!

I have a little update on your discipline that I would like to share.

So, you know well by now that when you apply for your endorsement, you put together recommendation letters and up to 10 evidence in support, right? And for Fashion majors, the rules are slightly different. Allow me to recap these for you below:

1. media recognition

2. sponsorship/ support from BFC, Fashion East, the Sarabande Foundation, Centre for Fashion Enterprise, or similar in another country

3. One or more orders of order from UK or international luxury retailers and boutiques OR

4. Notable industry recognition

The name of the game here is to provide at least 2 out of these 4 types of evidence. And this blog post is on the first type, media recognition.

The immigration rules para.GTE 3.4. require "(a) at least 2 examples of recent UK or international media recognition for their individual work”

This is in sharp contrast to the requirements for other ‘art’ candidates (e.g. visual artists or musician) who are being endorsed by ACE itself. For these disciplines, applying under exceptional promise, applicants may provide media recognition "for their work as an individual or as a named member of a group or as a contributor” (GTE3.3).

Do you see the difference? In practice, it you are struggling to find a relevant article or media piece which only deals with your work and specifically names you, but you were part of a well-reviewed collaboration or a project, then you may still use that article as media recognition as long as you could provide a letter of support from the project lead confirming your contribution. For fashion design applicants, I’m afraid this is not possible. You must be mentioned by your name and your own work/ achievement (whether it was done under employment or in collaboration with someone) and must be discussed in its totality.

If you have been following my blogs from the past few years, you’ll know that Fashion Design was one of the disciplines expressly excluded from Global Talent. The BFC and the Home Office have only come to an agreement to include Fashion in July 2018. Reading between the lines, there may have been some reluctance or at least some difficulty (on the part of the ACE or the Home Office) in readily including Fashion Designers under Global Talent. When you consider that Graphic Design, Product Design and other “Design work that is not in a Visual Arts context” are still on the Ineligible Disciplines list (on the ACE website), I do sense a keenness to distinguish Fashion Design and in doing so, the entry threshold to being endorsed under this discipline is deliberately kept slightly more elevated than say Visual Arts or Architects Exceptional Promise candidates.

But it’s not all bad news for you. under media recognition, a much more generous types of evidence is allowed, including social media posts from a well known fashion house or an eminent individual within fashion (Anna Wintour? well, someone like that I guess, because she doesn't seem to have an instagram account). You could also use notable injury recognition (which in practice could basically be a recommendation letter style from an eminent person or a fashion house who has worked with you and speak highly of you) or at least 1 order of your design by a luxury retail brand or a boutique. I mean, it sounds eminently possible to me.

And of course, if you want to tap into this route and find out if you might be eligible, or if you would simply like to prepare it together, then do get in touch. I would be only too happy to assist!

So, if this turns out to be genuine, then I will have a real egg-on-a-face situation. But I think on this occasion I might take that risk at the face of this overwhelming evidence of fraud.

As a lawyer, I thought I had already seen an encyclopaedic number of variations of fraud, starting from the “Good day, you are the beneficiary” to a more sophisticated, really tailored approach like intercepting genuine communications between a student and a university, and issuing the poor students with a fake Confirmation of Studies (CAS) asking, of course for the “tuition fees”.

And to be honest, until today, I was in the middle of writing my next blog on how real people posing as immigration solicitors or advisers might scam you with legal services and how to look out for those. But I had to put this up before all else when I received a genuine visa assistance request from a genuine client who unfortunately received this letter and was about to engage my services on the strength of this!

What makes me think this is less than genuine? Well, so many to pick at, and you would see some of these easily too, but here are some of the more blatant ones:

1. A letter of invitation is a weird term. Normally, an offer of employment would be given to an international employee for the purpose of a Skilled Worker visa.

2. An offer of Employment is less important than a Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS). Anyone being engaged from outside the U.K. must first be given a CoS from their UK 🇬🇧 employer who has currently valid sponsor licence.

3. If you are genuinely hired by a sponsor, a CoS is either given or it isn’t. And a visa is only granted when you make an application to the Home Office in the usual way. No other letter in the world, whether it’s addressed directly to the ambassador or another, would bypass all these requirements and get you the visa you need on the basis of a letter alone.

4. As in this example, a genuine company is used by another to impersonate. You could check as much as you want but as long as a genuine company is being impersonated, you will not find anything out of kilter on your search. Even the address used is accurate.

5. But there are blindingly obvious points of note - of course the cut & Paste graphics are all faded. Different fonts are all over the place. English can be grammatically incorrect (but this one can be hard for non-native speakers to catch). But we all know how to spell Cameroon right?

6. Finally, Offering “Free Taxes”…?! Come on 😒🤷

#fraudaware

#scamalert

#immigrationscam

#Ifkyk

#skilledworkervisa

#globalbusinessmobilityvisa

#SkilledWorker

#ExpansionWorker

#innovatorvisa

#startupvisa

#spousevisa

#fianceevisa

#partnervisa

#childrenvisas

#Religiousworkervisa

#MinisterofReligionvisa

#Sponsorlicence

#Spsonsorlicencesuspension

#naturalisation

#Britishcitizenship

#registrationofchildrenforBritishCitizenship

#IndefiniteLeavetoRemain

#ILR

#LongResidence

#settlement

#GlobalTalent

#GlobalTalentVisa

#artistvisa

#UKImmigrationLawyer

#조은영변호사

#아티스트비자

#연구원비자

#영국비자

🇬🇧 🇰🇷

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모두 다 부자 되시길…

변호사 12년 넘게 하면 정말로 별별일을 다 듣고 보게 되서 소설 100권정도의 막장 줄거리가 농축되어 있는 것 처럼 매우 재미있는데, 하다하다 내가 이런것 까지 챙길 줄이야…

변호사 선임 하는 일은 돈이 들고, Pro Bono 가 아닌이상 ‘저 사람은 정말로 싸다’ 하는 변호사는 없을 것이다. (변호사 입장에서 그런 말을 들으면 약간 큰일 날것 같다 😅) 그렇지만 변호사 비용이 문제가 아니다. 영국 이민국인 홈오피스 비자 신청 비용은 선을 넘었다!

Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS) 라는 의료보험 비용이라고 불리우는 이 비용은 신청하는 비자 연수에 따라 연 £624 씩* 추가 계산 되서 신청시 지불해야 한다. (*성인 비자, YMS, 학생은 별도로 낮은 액수임). 예를 들어 ‘취업비자‘ 라고 흔히 불리는 Skilled Worker (이전 Tier 2 General Visa) 의 경우 보통 처음 3년을 신청하게 되는데 여기서 부모 외 두 자녀를 둔 가족을 가정 했을때 IHS 만 {(£624 x 3) x 2} + {(470 x 3) x 2} = £6,564 가 된다.

여기에 신청서 접수 비용은 어떤가? 역시 4인 가족의 경우 £625 x 4 = £2,500 만약 더 빠른 시일에 비자 결정을 받아야 한다면 Priority 와 Super Priority 라는 것도 있다. 각각 £500 아니면 £800 를 1인당 추가해서 내야한다. £2,000 - £3,200 사이의 액수가 추가 되면 신청서는 날개를 달고 벌써 £10,000 에 가까운 액수가 되어서 훨훨 날고 있다. (참고로 3년 이상 기간의Skilled Worker 비자 신청시 한 사람 당 신청 비용은 £1,423 로 올라간다. 물론 IHS 도 늘어난 햇수만큼 £625 씩 늘어남).

Global Talent 영주권은 또 어떨까? 영주권은 물론 IHS 비용이 없다. 하지만 실제 신청서 비용이 £2,404 이라서 여기서 더이상 올라갈 수도 없을 것 같지만 역시 £500-£800 Super Priority Service 가 옵션으로 추가 될 수 있다. 여기까지만 해도 위에 예를 든 네 식구가, 아니 한 커플이 신청할때도 거진 £5,000 - £6,500 이다. 잠시 계산좀… (아래 표 참고, 아래 비용은2022년 12월 현재 금액이고 실제 비용은 매년 달라짐).

4인 가족 취업 비자 3년 (*옵션 이지만, 사실은 필수 처럼 되는 것들…)

비자 신청 비용 £2,500

IHS £6,564

Priority Service* £3,200

Biometrics Appointment (Prime Time)* £1,300

Total £13,564

4인가족 취업 비자 연장 2 년

비자 신청 비용 £2,500

IHS £4,376

Priority Service* £3,200

Biometrics Appointment (Prime Time)* £1,300

Total £11,376

4인 가족 영주권

영주권 신청 비용 £9,619

IHS £0

Priority Service* £3,200

Life in the UK a test £50

IELTS Level B1 test £195

Biometrics Appointment (Prime Time)* £1,300

Total £14,119

겁 ‘만’ 주려고 소개한 것은 물론 아니다 😅. 이런 무시무시한 액수가 된 이상 ’거사‘ 라고 할수 있는 영국 비자, 영주권, 시민권신청을 위해서는 사전에 계획하고 준비하는 것이 예전에도 현명한 처사 였지만 이제는 더더욱이나 필수 코스가 되었다.

비자 준비를 할때도 maintenance 라는 생활비 입증 목적으로 통장에 특정 최소 잔액을 특정 시일동안 유지해야 하면 (비자 신청일로 부터 28일 이전 동안 유지), 소요되는 한달을 감안 하고도 신청 비용을 계산해 미리 몇달 전 부터 가계부 예산에 포함하여 준비를 해야 하겠다.

비자 신청 금액이 크고 이를 위해서 준비 시간도 길어 질 수록 실패하면 잃을 것도 너무 많아졌다. 변호사의 도움도 별도의 비용이 필요 하지만 과연 전문가 없이 범한 사소한 실수에 영주권을 놓치는 건 아마도 스스로 용납할수 없을 것 같다.

‘나같은 전문가’ 라고 통틀기에는 이민 전문 변호사의 질 과 종류가 너무 많으나 (사기 및 무능, 비윤리적인 법률 업무 스타일 조심 하시라는 말 이고), 이건 정말로 진지하게 권하는 건데, 12년 넘게 이 분야에서 별별일 다 경험 해본 변호사, 신뢰하고 맏길수 있는 변호사에게 도움을구하고 조심스럽게 같이 준비해 보는 것이 어떨까.

Just a quick blog post to ‘announce’ my return to the desk from maternity leave, everyone 👋

I am working through a few on-going matters and long-standing pre-scheduled cases. I will be available for new instructions from the beginning of April 2022.

I am also working through the queries you have sent me while I was on leave. Thank you for those. I shall certainly try to respond to as many as possible, as soon as possible.

조은영 변호사 이제 출산/ 육아 휴가로 부터 업무 복귀 합니다.

2022년 4월 5일 부터 새로운 케이스 받을 수 있습니다. 그동안 연락 주신 분들 감사합니다. 계속해서 가능한 한 답메일 드리겠습니다.

This is a quick place-holder blog. I’ve already put a shout-out on my Instagram feed. The Home Office has published the Statement of Changes (HC56 - they number these changes!) yesterday (30 Jan 2020), with a few provisions altering the existing Tier 1 Exceptional Talent and adding things to it. Apart from the name, there aren’t such drastic changes but I will discuss the full impact of each change on this blog very soon.

The changes are due to take place from 20 February 2020, so I will post something in good time for this. These changes will of course affect those of you who were preparing for your endorsement but haven’t yet applied for it. You will need to follow the new rules now.

Those already under Tier 1 Exceptional Talent, most things should stay the same for you when you extend and apply for ILR but there will be a few things from these changes that you eyou need to take into account…

Anyway, be right back.

View fullsize

Immigration Rules Appendix L: Tier1 Exceptional Talent (HC2642) 16 Dec 2019

So, Christmas 2019 is upon us already🎊🎉. (Where HAS the time gone?!😱⌛️🗓).Well, before we close 2019, I just wanted to give a summary of (not all but) some of the more exciting updates to Tier 1 Exceptional Talent that came about this year.

This is a round-up of what I consider to be the most interesting Tier 1 Exceptional Talent updates for ALL categories: Artists, Writers, Musicians, Dancers, Academics, Scientists, Engineers, Tech Start Ups, et al.

1. HC1779, Statement of Change dated 11 Dec 2018 was inserted into the Immigration Rules from 10 Jan 2019: Tier 1 Exceptional Talent/ Promise now includes British a Fashion Council and The Royal Institute of British Architecture as endorsing bodies. See my previous post ”Tier 1 Exceptional Talent Update: Here come the Fashion!”

2. Yes, also Architects were beginning to be endorsed from early on this year. As the discipline only just opened up there aren't that many takers - at the time of writing, I am (anecdotally) aware of two candidates who were endorsed since the category opened up? You may know more. In any case, I will share the full stats early next year, or as soon as I can get them.

3. HC1919, Statement of Change dated 7 March 2019 was inserted into the Immigration Rules from 1 April 2019: Perhaps THE most interesting change is this - The definition of a Media Recognition evidence for Exceptional Talent endorsements from Arts Council England, (under which sit -for the purpose endorsement - British Fashion Council, the Royal Institute of British Architects) has been ’relaxed’ to include media recognition pieces which do not name the applicant directly, as long as the applicant can produce a letter from the group project lead or someone similar confirming their “direct and significant” contribution in the project. (At this point, some dramatic tears 😭😭😭 shed for some of you who may have been rejected or didn’t even get up to applying because of the high threshold for media recognition pre-April 2019!)

4. HC2631, Statement of Change dated 9 September 2019 was inserted into the Immigration Rules from 1 October 2019: For Tech Nation applicants, three (not two) recommendation letters are required. For academics in research for endorsement under the Royal Society, British Academy, RAEng, National Institute for Health Research is added to the list of peer-reviewed fellowships (for acceleration), and those who have held such a fellowship in the last 12 months may also quality!
   

Of course there are many other ’minor.’ changes to the rules, but these are the changes that seemed the most exciting.

Good luck to all those currently applying. Don't forget the allocation for all endorsing bodies renews in April each year, and their usage is split between April - October and November - April. I would imagine that this thus far little known category will now see a surge of applicants 📈 and increased competition means some strategic planning and preparation will be required along with genuine talent in your field.

If any of these ’expansions’ ’relaxation’ of the rules mean the door to endorsement is now open to you, and you would like assistance putting together your application, get in touch! 💻⌨️