What Was the Turkish Worker/Businessperson Visa?

This visa is for Turkish nationals over the age of 18 who desire to either start a new business in the UK or come to help run an existing business. However, the Turkish Business Person Visa - Ankara Agreement Visa (ECAA Visa) has been abolished as of 31.12.2020, the results of the UK's Brexit and the European Union.

With this category, the rights of registered users in the UK are protected. Accordingly, visa extension, family reunification, indefinite residence and citizenship procedures continue. You can contact us for detailed information and explanations regarding this.

Requirements

If you already have permission to stay in the UK as a Turkish Worker/Business person, are still in the UK, and your employment is still ongoing, you may apply to renew your visa.

In addition, you would need to provide the following for a Turkish Businessperson extension:

• Your company is still operating 

• You are still able to pay for your part of the company's liabilities 

• Your share of the profits will be sufficient to maintain you and your dependents without requiring you to work a different job 

• You have not violated any immigration rules

You would be eligible to an administrative review within 14 days after receiving a refusal of your application for an extension.

Take our free online evaluation if you're considering applying for a Turkish Worker/Businessperson extension. One of our experienced immigration solicitors will review your documents. Gurler Legal is able to ensure the success of your case in this way. Before submitting your application, we will review all of your supporting documentation, contact your accountant if required, complete any necessary translations, and verify all of the evidence.

Gurler Legal has very high success rates and cheap pricing. Our fees range from £850 for a Turkish Worker/Business Person Visa extension.

You can apply for a spouse/partner visa if your spouse or partner satisfies 1 of the following criteria:

• your spouse/partner is a British citizen; or 
• your spouse/partner has settled or pre-settled status in the UK; or
• your spouse/partner has a Turkish Businessperson Visa; or
• your spouse/partner has a Turkish Worker visa ; or
• your spouse/partner has a refugee status.

Spouse/Partner visa allows you to stay and work in the UK. You can stay in the UK for 2 years and 9 months with the spouse/partner visa. However, if you are applying as a fiancé, fiancée, or proposed civil partner, then you can stay 6 months. After these periods, you will need to extend your visa. After spending 5 years under this visa you will be eligible to apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain.

There also some other requirements that need to be satisfied:

• Both spouses/partners must be 18 years old or over.
• The couple must intend to live together in the UK permanently.
• Both individuals must prove that they have sufficient knowledge of English language (CEFR Level A1).
• The couple must have a sufficient economic funds.
• The couple must have a rented or purchased house where they can live comfortably.

Indefinite leave to remain is a form of settlement in the UK. It gives you the right to live, work and study in the UK for as long as you like, and apply for benefits if you’re eligible. You can use it to apply for British citizenship.

Requirements

There are specific, different requirements based on your circumstances, including the type of visa you hold. The common requirements are:

• Lawful Living in the UK for a minimum amount of time (which is usually 5 years).

• Passing the Life in the UK test.

• No breach of immigration laws during your stay and no criminal record.

• Proving the B1 level of English.

• Not spending more than 180 days in a 12-month period outside the UK during the qualifying period.

It is important that the correct documentation and evidence is submitted to avoid any refusal for ILR applications. Our expert immigration advisers and solicitors can guide through the application process and prepare your application in the best way possible.

There are different ways to apply for British citizenship (or ‘naturalisation’) based on your circumstances.

If you’re married to or in a civil partnership with a British citizen, you must have lived in the UK for the last 3 years to apply for citizenship. You’ll also need to have either:

• indefinite leave to remain (ILR)
• settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme

If 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.

We help your company get a Sponsor Licence by understanding the many complicated laws and requirements that a Sponsor Licence application entails.

What is a Sponsor License?

Employers in the UK may employ foreign workers through the Skilled Worker route to fill specific positions there. A UK-based company must first apply for a Sponsor Licence before it may sponsor a worker under the Skilled Worker route. This is authorization and registration as a licenced sponsor, enabling the business to afterwards issue Certificates of Sponsorship (COS) for eligible occupations and sponsor an immigrant to work in the UK on a Skilled Worker visa.

Requirements

You should know who you will sponsor before you apply for a sponsor licence, or at least what roles or occupations you intend sponsoring. The job must be on the skilled worker shortage occupation list or the skilled worker eligible occupations list. Additionally, you must pay a minimum salary, which varies depending on the position and the person you wish to sponsor.

Please find the eligible occupation codes here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/skilled-worker-visa-eligible-occupations/skilled-worker-visa-eligible-occupations-and-codes

Additionally, you need to understand the compliance aspect of sponsorship and, if necessary, modify your HR processes. You should also identify the people in your organisation who will serve as Key Personnel to carry out sponsor licence roles. Then you can apply for a sponsor licence.

You must compile a number of supporting documents, write a cover letter outlining your need to employ  before you can apply for a sponsor licence online. Then all supporting document and evidence should be sent to the Home Office.

The supporting documents may include:

• Latest audited annual accounts.

• Latest corporate bank account statement.

• HMRC registration evidence, such as including PAYE number and accounts office reference number.

• Lease or ownership of Business premises

• Employer’s liability insurance certificate.

• Certificate of VAT registration.

In most cases, applications for sponsor licences are decided within 8 weeks. After receiving a licence, you will submit a COS application for each skilled worker you wish to employ. You will also have Tier A rating for sponsor licence.

Finding the occupation code and complying with the extensive documentation requirements is a difficult task that calls for special consideration and experience. Our experienced immigration advisers and solicitors can advise you on the process and assist you with collection of the necessary supporting documents and submission of the application.

You can visit the UK on a Standard Visitor Visa for tourism, business, study (courses up to 6 months) and other permitted activities.

If you intend to travel to the UK for a short (up to six-month) trip, you must apply for a UK Standard Visitor visa. If you intend to visit the UK frequently, you may decide to apply for a long-term Standard Visitor visa, which is valid for 2, 5, or 10 years. A maximum of six months may be spent in the UK during each visit.

Visitor Visa Types

• General Visitor visa

• Business Visitor visa, including visas for academics, doctors and dentists

• Sports Visitor visa

• Entertainer Visitor visa

• Family Visitor visa

• Child Visitor visa

• Student Visitor visa

• Visitor in Transit visa

• Marriage Visitor visa

• Medical Visitor visa

Eligibility Criteria

There are some essential eligibility criteria to meet to apply for visitor visa and you must show that:

• You will leave the UK at the end of your visit;

• You are able to support yourself and your dependants during your visit (or have funding from someone else to support you);

• You are able to pay for your return or onward journey (or have funding from someone else to pay for the journey);

• You will not live in the UK for extended periods through frequent or successive visits, or make the UK your main home.

Documents Required

A general list of documents typically needed for applications for UK Standard Visitor visas is provided below:

• Your passport

• The dates you are planning to travel to the UK

• Place you will be staying during your visit

• Cost of your trip

• Your current home address and how long you have lived there

• How much you earn in a year (if you have an income)

• Details of any criminal, civil or immigration offences you may have committed.

What you can do:

You can visit the UK as a Standard Visitor:

• For tourism, for example on a holiday or vacation.

• To see your family or friends.

• To volunteer for up to 30 days with a registered charity.

• To pass through the UK to another country (‘in transit’).

• For certain business activities, for example attending a meeting or interview.

• To take part in a school exchange programme.

• To do a recreational course of up to 30 days, for example a dance course.

• To study, do a placement or take an exam.

• As an academic, senior doctor or dentist.

• For medical reasons.

What you cannot do:

• Do paid or unpaid work for a UK company or as a self-employed person.

• Claim public funds (benefits).

• Live in the UK for long periods of time through frequent or successive visits.

• Marry or register a civil partnership, or give notice of marriage or civil partnership - you’ll need to apply for a Marriage Visitor visa.

How long does it take?

Once you've applied online, verified your identity, and submitted your supporting documents, UK Standard Visitor visa applications typically take 3 weeks.

What if your application is refused?

If you are refused a UK Standard Visitor Visa, it is possible to challenge through a Judicial Review process or re-apply to the visa. You must address the grounds for refusal in the previous refusal letter in your new application to maximise your chances of success.

Fee for Visa

The Home Office fee is £100 for a Standard Visitor visa (6-month visa). If you visit the UK frequently, you may want to consider applying for a long-term Standard Visitor visa, which will cost higher.

How can we help?

Immigration law in the UK is a highly complicated and dynamic area of the law. If you do not completely understand the applicable immigration law(s) and eligibility requirements, there is a strong likelihood that your visa application will be denied.

Our expert immigration advisers and solicitors will handle your Standard Visitor Visa application by advising you step-by-step, prepare the necessary documents and ensure that you meet all the requisite criteria.