Does the epidemic affect British visas? Influence of epidemic situation on work visa in Britain.

Many partners' visas may be affected in this epidemic. If you pay attention to the partners who plan to work in the UK, let's take a look at the information about British visas for your convenience when you travel.

Does the epidemic have an impact on British visas? Yes, let's take a look at the latest information about visas.

Foreign citizens with British visas

On March 24th, 2020, the British Home Office announced that foreign citizens who hold a British visa in the UK and are valid between 1 year 1 October 24th and May 24th can extend their visas to May 30th1year if they are unable to leave the UK due to travel restrictions or self-isolation regulations caused by the COVID-19 epidemic.

Relevant personnel should provide information such as name, date of birth, nationality and current visa number. The COVID-19 Immigration Working Group of the British Home Office explained why they could not leave the UK on schedule.

The Ministry of the Interior will notify all parties concerned after the visa extension formalities are completed.

The contact information of the migration working group participating in the COVID-19 epidemic is as follows:

Tel: 0800678 1767 (09:00- 17:00 Monday to Friday)

Mail :CIH@homeoffice.gov.uk

In addition, some long-term visas that need to return to the country of residence according to the current regulations can also be submitted directly in the UK before May 3 1.

International students with British visas

Theoretically, students with T4 visa are not allowed to take remote online courses.

However, in view of the current epidemic situation, if foreign students with T4 visas continue to study in the UK, or continue their current courses through distance online learning, it will not be considered as a violation of the guarantor's duties to continue to provide guarantees.

Under the present circumstances, the guarantor does not need to cancel the guarantee. If students permanently interrupt or formally postpone the course, the regular application requirements are still valid.

New international students who hold T4 visas but fail to arrive in the UK as scheduled are allowed to attend distance online courses, and the guarantee does not need to be revoked.

New international students who haven't applied for a visa don't need to go to the UK to attend the course if they plan to attend the distance online course, so they don't need to ask for a guarantee according to the T4 visa.

The above arrangement will take effect before May 3 1, and relevant information will be updated continuously.

Impact on work visa. The visa will be issued on 65438+1October 24th-

People who expire between May 3 1 in the UK, regardless of nationality, can have their visas extended to May 3 1 in 2020 as long as you send an email to the designated UKVI in advance (for details, I explained it in the article "Update on the Latest Epidemic Policy: All Expired visas are postponed to May 3 1");

Visa on 65438+1October 24th-

People who expire between May 3rd1in the UK, regardless of nationality, can transfer to other UK long-term residence visas as long as you complete the application form before May 3rd1(but recently, due to the epidemic, the UK visa center was closed, and the applicant could not make an appointment, and the Ministry of Home Affairs did not give a specific solution);

If you haven't sent an email, please take prompt action to avoid the potential risk of overstaying and violating immigration laws.

Impact on T2 employment contract employers

Employers with T2 work permit qualifications must fulfill the responsibility of managing T2 employees. They need to supervise the work files of every T2 employee, and also need to report the unconventional changes of every T2 employee to the Immigration Bureau. For example:

If T2 employees don't go to work according to the stipulated time, the employer needs to notify the Immigration Bureau;

If T2 employees change their work addresses, employers need to notify the Immigration Bureau;

If T2 employees change their accommodation address, the employer needs to notify the Immigration Bureau;

If the salary of T2 employees is reduced, the employer needs to notify the Immigration Bureau;

If T2 employees take unpaid leave, the employer needs to notify the Immigration Bureau;

With the spread of the epidemic and the closure of local enterprises in flight ban and other countries, it is difficult for employers to fulfill their work permit qualifications and report to the immigration bureau according to the regulations, because the changes are too fast and there is basically no time to respond. In addition to the current situation, the primary task of the employer is how to maintain the enterprise itself out of economic difficulties, rather than cumbersome declaration procedures. Immigration has self-knowledge. In order to cooperate with the instructions of NHS and Downing Street and let everyone stay at home as much as possible, the Immigration Bureau announced a temporary policy on February 27, pointing out that employers do not need to report to the Immigration Bureau for T2 employees who have to stay at home because of the epidemic.

Impact on T2 employees

On March 24th, the Ministry of Interior updated the temporary policy again. This time, T2 workers need to pay attention to the following points:

1. According to the original regulations, employees who have just obtained work visas need to issue their own visas.

Start work within 28 days after the date, otherwise the employer needs to cancel the COS of the employee and cancel the employee visa, and the employer will immediately report to the Immigration Bureau. Under the new temporary policy, as long as the employee's visa was obtained after 65438+1October 24th, and the employee could not go to work due to the epidemic, the employer does not need to cancel the COS and keep the employee's visa, but the employer still needs to report to the immigration office.

2.

According to the original regulations, if an employee changes his/her work address, the employer needs to report to the Immigration Bureau within 10 working days. According to the new temporary policy, as long as employees are in the UK and work in their homes affected by the epidemic, employers do not need to report to the Immigration Bureau. But other situations still need to be reported. For example, if an employee changes to work abroad (many office workers have not had time to return to Britain and can only work in their own homes in China), then the employer needs to report this situation.

3. According to the original regulations, the maximum unpaid leave of employees is 4 weeks, and the employer must cancel it after 4 weeks.

COS, the employee visa is reduced, and the employer needs to report to the immigration office immediately. Under the new temporary policy, if the employees affected by the epidemic take unpaid leave for more than 4 weeks, the employer does not need to cancel COS and maintain the employee visa, but the employer still needs to report to the Immigration Bureau.

4. If the employer plans to reduce the salary of T2 employees, the employer still needs to report to the Immigration Bureau within 10 working days. And employers need to pay attention to how much to cut, Tier2.

Visa, all employees have a fixed salary threshold. Employers should ensure that employees' monthly income will still be higher than the salary threshold corresponding to visas after salary reduction, otherwise T2 employees will face the problem of renewal;

5.

If the employer decides to dismiss the T2 employee due to economic impact, the employer still needs to report to the Immigration Bureau within 10 working days after the employee is dismissed. After receiving the report, the Immigration Bureau will immediately handle and notify the employees and shorten the employee visa to 60 days;

Although the Ministry of the Interior has paid attention to the contract workers this time, the above adjustment is far from enough and can only cover the difficulties faced by a small number of office workers. ILPA has also been trying to contact relevant members of Congress last week to get more practical answers. Finally, we are in MP

Kevin Infoster got further information. He is now the minister of future order,

It can be seen that it has more say in the British immigrant visa. In a recent House of Commons lawsuit, he said:

"We all know that no one will have negative results.

The development of the immigration system is beyond their control.

Because they were not punished.

Next is advice and did, what they can protect.

Life. "

This is very clear. Although Policy No.24 cannot cover the problems of most T2 work permit holders, the Immigration Bureau will increase the flexibility in processing work permits and qualifications for work permits. If you are affected by the epidemic and cannot comply with the regulations of immigration guidance, as long as you have practical and reasonable reasons and evidence, the Immigration Bureau will handle it as appropriate.