FINANCIALS & MAINTENANCELATEST NEWS
This page covers all the latest news about meeting the financial requirements when entering or remaining in the UK regardless of your visa status.
So many visa applications are refused because people simply do not fully understand the importance of meeting this rule to be able to financially support themselves without resource to public funds.
Date Published: 22 June 2018
News Title: Three 'simple' questions for EU citizens to stay in UK.
Brussels could make Britons buy £52 visas to travel to EU countries after Brexit.
A draft plan by the European Commission proposes that Britain be put on either a 'visa required' or 'visa free' list.
Martin Selmayr, a senior civil servant in the European Commission told MEPs last week that the EU has to decide whether UK citizens would need visas after Brexit.
Should Britain be placed on the visa required list, travellers could be charged £52 for a visa for a short stay of 90 days or less in any 180 day period.
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What does this mean to people who hold a British passport?
We are not surprised by this news at all. Since the UK voted to leave the EU, it has been tic for tat as both the UK and the EU want a fair deal.
If EU nationals need to pay a £65.00 or £32.50 to come to the UK, then is it right that British nationals have pay to enter the EU?
Do you agree with this?
At present any non-EEA family members and any settled non-EEA nationals permitted to be in the UK that want to visit the EU must apply through the Schengen Visa route. We can only assume the EU will do something
similar to the UK if they decide we must pay a fee to visit any EU country or introduced a scheme similar to what the USA introduced.
This news article also states that British people wanting to visit the EU may have to pay 7 EURO travel authorisation fee, this would be similar to what the USA charge which is known as applying for an ESTA.
If we need to pay for a visa or travel authorisation fee, the question is, will we need one per country we want to visit which means if you wish to visit a number of countries, could it be a cost per country you wish to visit.
If we hear more on this subject, we will keep you updated via this page.
Date Published: 21 June 2018
News Title: Three 'simple' questions for EU citizens to stay in UK.
EU citizens will have to answer three "simple" questions online if they want to continue living in the UK after Brexit, the home secretary has said.
Sajid Javid said the government's "default" position would be to grant, not refuse, settled status.
People will be asked to prove their ID, whether they have criminal convictions and whether they live in the UK.
Their answers will be checked against government databases and a decision given "very quickly", said Mr Javid.
The scheme will operate online and via a smartphone app, Mr Javid said, and would be "as simple as people can reasonably expect", with most decisions turned around within two weeks or sooner.
The £170m scheme will be compulsory for all EU citizens living in the UK - the government expects a total of 3.5 million applications.
EU citizens and family members who have been in the UK for five years by the end of 2020 will be able to apply for "settled status", meaning they are free to go on living and working in the UK indefinitely.
Those who have arrived by December 31, 2020, but do not have five years' residence, can seek to stay until they have, at which point they can seek settled status.
The scheme also includes citizens of Switzerland, Iceland, Lichtenstein and Norway.
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What does this mean to the estimated 3.5 million EU citizens currently living in the UK?
Since 2016 when the UK voted to leave the EU, it has been unclear how the UK Government would deal with the EEA nationals exercising their treaty rights in the UK but today it seems a little more clearer up until 2021 that it is.
Any EU citizen living in the UK that wishes to remain in the UK even those holding residence or permanent residency status will need to register for an online account and answer 3 simple questions, they are:
- provide their biographical information, and
- declare whether they have any criminal records, and
- upload a facial photograph.
Any EEA cards held by EU citizens would become invalid from 1 April 2019.
The process to obtain your new card will take approximately 2 weeks if not sooner. We believe it will take a little longer at first purely on the sheer volume that has to be processed.
The Government have used great commonsense by trialing the new system in Autumn 2018 as they know from past experiences they had many teething issues. We will keep you posted when you can apply using their trial beta platform.
EU citizens already in the UK
If you already hold pre-settled status, you can apply for settled status free of charge which is great news.
If the EU national and their family members been in the UK fro 5 years by the end of 2020, can apply for settlement status and carry on living and working in the UK and no need to leave the UK.
If by the end of 2020 you and any family members not lived legally in the UK for 5 years, you will just have to apply for further leave until you have lived legally in the UK for 5 years, then you can apply for settlement status.
What is a EEA Family Permit?
This is required for a non-EU national to enter the UK to join loved ones who are EU nationals. This visa stamp is issued for 6 months.
What is a Resident Permit?
This is issued to either EU nationals or family members of EU nationals for 5 years. It is only
compulsory to have if you are an 'extended' family member of an EU national but if you are a 'Direct' family member it is optional to have but recommended .
What is Permanent Residency?
This is issued to EU and non-EU family members who have legally lived in the UK for 5 years. This is known as settlement status.
Under EEA application types, you have different visa routes into the UK and to remain but all of these routes will cease when the UK leaves the EU.
