Professional Fees for AY&J Solicitors, simple & clear

The UK allows dual nationality. Some countries limit it, so check with your country's embassy before you apply.

The Home Office fee is £1,709, plus £130 for the citizenship ceremony, a total of £1,839. The Life in the UK test costs £50. The fee is not refunded if you are refused.

Settled status is digital. You prove it with a share code from your UKVI online account. Make sure the passport or ID card linked to your account is up to date.

Yes. If you are an EU, EEA or Swiss citizen aged 18 or over with settled status, you can apply by naturalisation. You must also meet the residence, absence, English, Life in the UK test and good character requirements.

The UK allows dual nationality, so you do not have to give up your current nationality to become British.

Some countries do not allow dual citizenship. Check the rules of your home country before you apply.

You can apply only after you complete your residence period. On the general route, you must also have held ILR for 12 months.

The Home Office refuses applications made too early, and the fee is not refunded. We work out your exact earliest date before you apply.

The Home Office checks your honesty and your record in the UK. It looks at criminal convictions, cautions and fixed penalty notices, immigration breaches, unpaid tax and debts, and any past deception.

You must declare everything, including convictions that are spent. Leaving something out can lead to refusal, so full and honest disclosure matters most.

Children under 18 do not apply for naturalisation. A child applies to register as a British citizen instead, on a different form. The Home Office fee is £1,000 per child.

Whether a child can register depends on the child's age, where they were born and the immigration status of their parents. We can check this for you.

Our office is at Holborn Gate, 330 High Holborn, London, WC1V 7QT.

Yes. We offer training contract and CPD support to help you grow your legal career.

Yes. Flexible and hybrid working is part of our standard package.

Our standard package includes a competitive salary and bonus structure, flexible and hybrid working, wellbeing support, training contract and CPD support, a generous holiday allowance and a pension scheme.

We post our open roles on LinkedIn. Click ‘Check open positions’ at the top of this page to see current vacancies and apply.

There is no automatic bar, and the requirements are the same each time. What changes is that your travel history is now part of the picture, and the Home Office will look at whether you are living here through repeated visits.

Yes, but only once you understand exactly why the first application failed. We request the Home Office file where that is not clear from the refusal notice.

In most cases there is no right of appeal. Judicial review is the usual route, and an appeal is only available where human rights grounds apply. Reapplying without addressing the refusal reasons rarely works.

Before your biometric appointment you can cancel and reapply, or send a covering letter setting out the correct position. After the appointment, contact UKVI directly. Do not leave it and hope.

You will get an email with the decision. If approved, you get an eVisa, a digital record of your status, which you view in your UKVI account.

Usually about three weeks from your biometric appointment. Priority is about five working days at £500, and Super Priority the next working day at £1,000, where those services are offered.

Yes. They will need to provide their own bank statements, proof of their status in the UK, and evidence of your relationship to them.

There is no fixed figure. You need enough to cover your travel, accommodation and living costs without working or claiming benefits. How the money got there matters as much as the balance.

Only in limited circumstances, and you must show compelling and compassionate reasons. Falling seriously ill during your visit is the usual example. Doctors retaking the PLAB test or taking up a clinical attachment can also extend.

No, not on a Standard Visitor visa. You cannot marry, register a civil partnership, or even give notice of one. That needs a Marriage Visitor visa.

Short courses at an accredited institution are permitted. Longer study needs a Student visa.

No. You cannot work for a UK company or as a self-employed person, paid or unpaid. Permitted business activities such as meetings and conferences are different, and they are listed above.

No. It is not a requirement for a Standard Visitor visa. It is still worth having.

Yes, though each person applies separately and pays their own fee. Applications can be linked so they are considered together.

Up to three months before you travel. Applying early is sensible if you need a priority service that is not offered in your country.

It depends on your nationality. Visa nationals need a Standard Visitor visa. Others need an Electronic Travel Authorisation, which costs £20 as of 8 April 2026. The Home Office publishes the national list.

We are an SRA-regulated firm recommended by The Legal 500, with 5,000+ successful immigration applications. We check your evidence before you apply, so your application clearly shows why you are visiting and that you will leave the UK.

There is no right of appeal against a visitor visa refusal, unless you made a human rights claim. Administrative review is not available either.

Your options are to apply again with stronger evidence that answers the refusal reasons, or to challenge the decision by judicial review if it was unlawful.

If you visit the UK often for business, a 2, 5 or 10-year visa saves you applying each time. Each visit is still limited to 6 months, and you must show you are not living in the UK.

Only if your current permission is for less than 6 months. You can extend up to a total of 6 months. The fee is £1,172.

Longer stays are allowed only in limited cases, such as private medical treatment or some academic visits.

Usually up to 6 months on each visit. Some academics can stay up to 12 months. You must not live in the UK through frequent or back-to-back visits.

Yes, but each family member must apply as a visitor in their own right and meet the rules. They cannot come as dependants on your visa.

The Home Office usually decides within 3 weeks. In some countries you can pay for a faster decision. You can apply up to 3 months before you travel.

A visa for up to 6 months costs £135. Long-term visas cost £506 for 2 years, £903 for 5 years and £1,128 for 10 years. These fees apply from 8 April 2026.

Visitors do not pay the Immigration Health Surcharge, so get travel insurance to cover medical costs.

You will usually need:

• A valid passport or travel document
• An invitation letter from the UK company or event organiser
• A letter from your employer, or evidence of your own business
• Bank statements or payslips that show you can pay for the trip
• Details of your travel and accommodation

Missing or weak documents are one of the most common reasons for refusal.

It depends on your nationality. Some people need a Standard Visitor visa before they travel. Others need an electronic travel authorisation (ETA), which costs £20. Irish citizens need neither.

Use the visa checker on GOV.UK to confirm what you need before you book.

Yes, as long as it is not the main reason for your visit. You can answer emails or take calls for your job overseas. You cannot do work for a UK company or client.

Your overseas employer can keep paying you. You must not be paid by a UK company or client, unless it is a permitted paid engagement.

A permitted paid engagement lets some experts be paid for set activities, such as giving a lecture or examining students. It must be arranged before you travel.

You can:

• Attend meetings, interviews, conferences and seminars
• Negotiate and sign deals and contracts
• Attend trade fairs to promote your business, but not sell
• Carry out site visits and inspections
• Get work-related training, if you are employed overseas
• Give training or share knowledge on internal projects with UK staff of the company you work for overseas

The full list is in Appendix Visitor: Permitted Activities of the Immigration Rules.

No. Business visits come under the Standard Visitor visa. The same visa covers tourism, visiting family and permitted business activities.

People often call it a Business Visitor visa because of the reason for the trip. The rules and the fee are the same.

From 8 April 2026, the Adult Dependent Relative visa fee is £3,635 for each person applying from outside the UK.

From 8 April 2026, the Adult Dependent Relative visa fee is as follows:

• If the UK-based family member has permission to stay as a refugee or with humanitarian protection, the fee is £452 if applying from outside the UK
• For all other applications under this route, the fee is £3,635 if applying from outside the UK

In addition, applicants may need to pay the Immigration Health Surcharge, which allows them to access healthcare in the UK. It is £1,035 a year, so £5,175 for a 5-year stay. It is not charged where indefinite leave is granted.

The elderly dependent visa UK success rate is extremely low, with around 96% of cases being refused between 2017 and 2020. The approval rate is so low because many applicants struggle to meet the strict financial and care requirements set by the Home Office. ECOs are often able to find evidence of another family member or a person who is able to provide care in the applicant's home country.

The Home Office states that it processes Adult Dependent Relative visas within 12 weeks if submitted from outside the UK; however, the actual times can be much longer. This is because the Home Office almost always asks for more documents, medical assessments, and financial evidence to support the application. From our experience, applications under this category take, on average, between 6 and 12 months.

To make a successful application for a UK Adult Dependent Relative visa, both the applicant and the sponsor must provide suitable evidence that:

• The sponsor is a British or Irish national or is settled permanently in the UK (e.g. passport or birth certificate)
• The applicant is a close family member (parent, grandparent, sibling, or child) of the UK sponsor (e.g. birth certificate)
• The applicant requires long-term personal care due to age, illness, or disability, and this care cannot be provided in their home country (e.g. medical records and correspondence from a local government agency that no suitable care is available)
• The UK-based sponsor can financially support and accommodate the relative without relying on public funds (e.g. bank statements)

Unfortunately, bringing a cousin to the UK under the Adult Dependent Relative visa is not possible. The Adult Dependent visa UK is only available for parents, grandparents, siblings, and children. However, there may be alternative visa routes, such as work or study visas, that could allow a cousin to move to the UK. So, if you are asking whether you can bring your cousin to the UK permanently, the answer is unfortunately no under the ADR route.

You may be able to sponsor your brother to come to the UK through the ILR for adult dependent relative route, but the chances of success are slim without a robust case. If your brother is over 18 and severely dependent on you for care due to a medical condition or disability, and if there is no alternative care available in their country, they may be able to secure a visa. We recommend speaking to an immigration lawyer who can help you sponsor your brother to come to the UK under the Adult Dependent visa.

Yes, bringing a sibling to the UK under an Adult Dependent visa is possible, but it must be shown that they are in need of care and meet the strict eligibility criteria. For example, if your brother or sister is over 18 and has a severe disability or medical condition that requires care, and no such care is available in their home country, they may be eligible.

It is important to bear in mind that the success rate for such cases is generally lower compared to applications involving elderly parents. That being said, the elderly dependent visa UK success rate is also extremely low. For this reason, if you are considering bringing a sibling to the UK, speak to an immigration solicitor who can help you build a compelling case to demonstrate that they need to come to the UK to be cared for by you.

Yes, the Adult Dependent Relative visa is most commonly used to bring elderly parents to the UK. If your elderly mother or father (or both) is in need of long-term care from you and it is not available in their home country, then you may be able to bring them to the UK under the settlement adult relative category. It is important to understand that the application process for an Adult Dependent visa is complex and lengthy, and the requirements are stringent.

To bring your elderly mother or father to the UK, you will need to demonstrate to the Home Office that:

• You are a British or Irish national, or you have indefinite leave to remain (or EUSS settled status)
• Your elderly parent is in need of long-term personal care
• The care they require cannot be provided in their home country, either due to a lack of facilities or prohibitive costs, and
• You, as the sponsor, can provide accommodation and financial support without resorting to public funds.

To qualify for an Adult Dependent Relative visa, the applicant must:

• Be over the age of 18
• Have a close relative (called a 'sponsor') such as a parent, grandparent, sibling, or child who is settled in the UK or a British citizen and is able to meet their long-term care needs
• Demonstrate that they require long-term care due to illness, disability, or age. This may include help with performing everyday tasks, for example, washing, dressing and cooking
• Not have access to the care they need in the country where they live, even with the practical and financial help of the sponsor. This may be because it is not available or unaffordable.
• Have a sponsor who can financially support and accommodate their dependent relative without relying on public funds (e.g. disability benefits).

The Entry Clearance Officer (ECO) considering your application will check that no other person is available to provide the care needed where you live, including a son, daughter, brother, sister, parent, grandchild, or grandparent. They will also check whether a wider family member, friend, neighbour, or another person can reasonably provide the care required (e.g. home help or a care home). They will also consider whether the applicant has multiple people who can pool resources to care for them in their home country.

The 'Settlement Adult Relative' category allows a relative coming to the UK to be cared for by a family member to settle permanently without any time restrictions.

The Adult Dependent Relative visa, often referred to as the Elderly Dependant Relative visa, is part of the family visa scheme and enables an individual to come to the UK to be cared for by a British or Irish citizen or a person who is settled here.

To make a successful Adult Dependent Relative visa application, applicants must be in need of long-term care, and this must not be available in their home country.

The UK Adult Dependent Relative visa enables holders to remain indefinitely.

As soon as you are ready. You can apply up to 3 months before you travel, so it helps to start early.

We usually prepare the application within days once we have your documents. The Home Office decision usually takes about 3 weeks after your appointment.

The Home Office fee is £135 for 6 months, £506 for 2 years, £903 for 5 years and £1,128 for 10 years. Our professional fee is fixed and quoted before we start.

No one can. The decision is the Home Office's. What we do is make sure your application is complete, clear and answers the questions a caseworker will ask.

Yes. We read the refusal letter and build the new application around each reason given.

Your purpose, your funds, your ties to home and your travel history. We also check past refusals and which visa length to ask for.

There is no right of appeal for a visit visa. You can make a fresh application that answers each refusal reason with better evidence. In some cases judicial review is possible. You must declare the refusal on every future UK application.

No. Time on a visit visa does not count towards Indefinite Leave to Remain. To live in the UK you need a different route, such as a family or work visa.

No. You cannot extend the visa itself. When it ends, you make a new application. In limited cases you can extend a single stay up to the 6-month maximum.

As many times as you need while the visa is valid. Each stay can be up to 6 months. Long stays close together can lead to refusal at the border or the visa being cancelled.

Yes. If the Home Office is not satisfied you meet the rules for 10 years, it may grant 5 years, 2 years or 6 months instead. You do not get the difference in fee back.

Often, yes. A record of visiting the UK and leaving on time makes a long term visit visa more likely. If you have no UK travel history, a 6-month visa first is usually the safer start.

Usually about 3 weeks after your appointment. Priority service may be available in your country for an extra fee. You can apply up to 3 months before you travel.

As of October 2026: £506 for 2 years, £903 for 5 years and £1,128 for 10 years. A 6-month Standard Visitor visa is £135. The fee is not refunded if you get a shorter visa or are refused.

Apply online on GOV.UK from outside the UK, using the visit visa form. Choose 2, 5 or 10 years and pay that fee. Then attend a visa application centre to give your fingerprints, photo and documents.

No. You can do business activities such as meetings, site visits and training linked to your overseas job, and you can be reimbursed for expenses. You cannot be paid a salary by a UK employer. For a job in the UK you need a work visa.

• Work for a UK company, paid or unpaid, or work as self-employed
• Claim public funds (benefits)
• Live in the UK through frequent or back-to-back visits
• Marry, form a civil partnership, or give notice of either
• Do a work placement or internship
• Sell goods or services direct to the public

The same as a Standard Visitor visa. You can have holidays, visit family and friends, attend business meetings and conferences, negotiate and sign deals, and get private medical treatment.

Anyone who needs a visa to visit the UK can ask for a long term visit visa. You must meet the Standard Visitor rules for the whole 2, 5 or 10 years. That means a regular reason to visit, money for each trip, and strong ties to your home country.

As soon as you are ready. If you need a licence, we begin there. If you hold one, we can move to the Certificate straight away.

Your sponsored workers' visas can be curtailed, usually to 60 days. Protecting the licence through good compliance is far cheaper than recovering from a revocation.

Yes. Today the route leads to indefinite leave to remain after 5 years, but the Government plans to raise this to 10 years for most applicants. This changes the long-term plan for both sides.

The Home Office checks your records and your reporting. Being ready is the difference between a clean visit and a suspended licence. We prepare you.

Report changes on the sponsor system, keep right-to-work and salary records, and cooperate with compliance visits. We set the systems up so this is routine.

The fee is usually lost. Most refusals are avoidable, and where one happens we can advise on the refusal. See our Skilled Worker Refusal page.

Yes. Small sponsors pay a reduced sponsor licence fee and a reduced Immigration Skills Charge. We confirm which rate applies to you.

No. The sponsor licence fee and the Immigration Skills Charge must never be passed to the worker. Doing so can cost you the licence.

The worker usually pays the Immigration Health Surcharge, at £1,035 per year of the visa. Some health and care roles are exempt.

Three main costs. A sponsor licence fee that depends on your size. Then the Immigration Skills Charge each year, and the Certificate of Sponsorship fee. We set them all out first.

From 8 April 2026, the Home Office checks salary each pay period, not just the annual figure. A short month can put you out of compliance.

A fee the sponsor pays for each year of sponsorship. It rose by about 32% from 16 December 2025, with a lower rate for small sponsors.

B2 for new applicants from 8 January 2026, up from B1. It can be met by a test, a degree taught in English, or nationality.

RQF Level 6, degree level, since 22 July 2025. Over 100 previously eligible occupations were removed at that point.

At least £41,700 a year, or the going rate for the occupation code, whichever is higher. Some Salary List roles use a £33,400 floor, but that list is being phased out.

Usually yes, as dependants. The exception is workers on the Temporary Shortage List, who cannot bring a partner or children.

No. The role must be genuine, at RQF Level 6 skill, with the correct occupation code. It must also meet the salary rules. Many lower-skilled roles are no longer eligible.

Yes. Tier 2 (General) became the Skilled Worker route in December 2020. The rules have changed a great deal since, especially in 2026.

Around 8 weeks on standard processing. A priority service, where available, can cut that to about 10 working days.

Yes, to sponsor a Skilled Worker you must hold a valid sponsor licence. If you do not have one, that is the first step, and we can secure it for you.

The decision stays in force. We can advise on your next step, such as a new application, an appeal on human rights grounds where available, or a Judicial Review.

Usually not. The review looks at your original application. If the Home Office asks for more documents, we will help you prepare them.

£80 per application. You may not need to pay if you did not pay for your original application or the fee was waived. You can ask for a waiver if you cannot pay because of exceptional circumstances.

14 calendar days if you are in the UK, 7 days if you are detained, and 28 days if you are outside the UK.

Complete the form and send it in the way your refusal letter states. Mention each reason for refusal and say why you think a mistake was made. We write a detailed covering letter to support your request.

No. There is no Administrative Review for refused visitor visa applications. Other options may apply, such as a new application or a Judicial Review.