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Keep up with UK Immigration Updates
Stay up to date with the latest government policies and processes, evolving issues and immigration hot topics in the UK.
Blogs
News & Insights
Tier 1 Entrepreneur Visa
Tier 1 Entrepreneur Visa Changes Announced
The Tier 1 Entrepreneur Visa and Tier 1 (Graduate) Entrepreneur Visa are to end and be replaced by “Start-Up” and “Innovator” routes.
September 7, 2026
Case Studies
Dependent Visa
The advice was to wait
A hotel group asked for an urgent dependant application before an employee's family travelled. We raised the fee for urgency, then advised against it, and put the fee back.
Dependent Visa
Instagram to instruction in twenty-seven hours
A dental therapist saw our Instagram ad, used our eligibility tool and spoke to us the same morning. Her partner was in India and she had no time to shop around.
Dependent Visa
Three visit visa refusals, and a route nobody had suggested
His wife had been refused a UK visit visa three times. She was not trying to visit. She was trying to join her husband, so we changed the route.
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Skilled Worker Visa
Her application was already with the Home Office, and her sponsor never came through
Her employer never received its sponsorship allocation. She found a new sponsor, with her application already filed and biometrics eight days away.
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Skilled Worker Visa
Twenty-one days to an expiry, and a different job than the one on the visa
With 21 days to his visa expiry, a skilled worker wanted his extension filed under a different occupation code, with his wife and two children on the same application.
Skilled Worker Visa
From no licence to first hire: a software company's first sponsored employee
A construction-technology firm had never sponsored anyone. It needed an account executive who required sponsorship, so we ran the licence and the hire as one instruction.
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Sponsor Licence Revocation / Suspension
Two unannounced visits, a New Year's Eve suspension letter, and twenty working days
After two unannounced Home Office visits, a bakery group's sponsor licence was suspended on 31 December. It had twenty working days to respond or lose the licence.
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Sponsor Licence Revocation / Suspension
"Uncle" meant something else, and the licence went anyway
A patient transport company lost its sponsor licence because a worker called the director her "uncle" on a visa form. In his community, the word means respect, not kinship.
Sponsor Licence Revocation / Suspension
130 care workers, one revocation letter, and fifty-four days
The Home Office revoked a care provider's sponsor licence after cross-checking payroll data, putting around 130 care workers at risk. The licence was reinstated after our challenge.
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Sponsor Licence Compliance & Audit
The licence came back. Then the real work started.
A care provider with around 130 sponsored workers won back its revoked sponsor licence, but the Home Office kept the right to look again. It instructed an audit straight away.
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Sponsor Licence Compliance & Audit
A shareholding change in 2024, and a reporting deadline that had already passed
An architecture practice restructured its shareholding in 2024 and nobody reported it. Up to 20 sponsored employees were tied to a licence that now needed replacing.
Sponsor Licence Compliance & Audit
Four weeks' notice of a Home Office visit, and eight years of gaps in the files
An IT consultancy with eight sponsored workers had four weeks before a Home Office compliance visit, and HR files that had not been kept properly for years.
Sponsor Licence
A clinic that could not hire the clinician it had already found
A private orthotics clinic had found its Australian specialist but had no sponsor licence, and was not VAT registered, which removed the easiest proof it was a real business.
Sponsor Licence
They applied themselves, were rejected, and had three weeks before their new hire's start date
A software company's own sponsor licence application was rejected in May. By July it had a new hire starting in three weeks and still no licence.
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Sponsor Licence
A university spin-out with no revenue, and a Home Office test that asks about trading
A university spin-out building NHS maternity software needed a sponsor licence before a researcher's visa expired. It had investors and a product, but no revenue.
Global Business Mobility
Two founders, seven people, and a route that does not lead where they wanted to go
Two South African founders wanted to move their business and families to Britain and settle. The Expansion Worker route could get them here, but not to settlement.
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Global Business Mobility
Nine years of hospitality in Lagos, rebuilt as a British business case
A Nigerian hotel owner wanted to bring her business and family to Britain. The route needed proof she was expanding a business that already worked, not starting a new one.
Global Business Mobility
The UK company was already incorporated, and that was the problem
A Japanese games developer set up its UK subsidiary before taking advice. If it had started trading, the Expansion Worker route its European president needed would have closed.
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Global Talent Visa
Two routes, one career, and a recommendation the firm refused to rush
An AI researcher fitted two Global Talent routes with different endorsing bodies. Picking the wrong one would cost her the endorsement, so we reviewed the evidence first.
Global Talent Visa
Twenty-five papers, five patents, two books, and an employment gap
An AI researcher with 25+ papers, five patents and two books had one weakness: no full-time role since 2025. We told him so in writing before he instructed us.
Global Talent Visa
Two Sports Emmys, twenty years of credits, and none of it in a form the endorsing body reads
A VFX supervisor with two Sports Emmys and 20 years in film, TV and sports broadcasting needed his career turned into evidence Arts Council England could assess.
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British Citizenship
Removed from the council tax bill by someone else, and a paper trail that said he had left
An Italian citizen in the UK since 2003 had a clean record. One gap stood in the way: a third party removed him from the council tax account and said he had left.
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British Citizenship
465 days away, every one of them for her parents
An NHS doctor had spent 465 days outside the UK caring for her parents in India, over the 450-day guideline. She wanted to know if that was fatal to her citizenship.
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British Citizenship
Fifty-seven years in Britain, and two years in Spain that nearly cost him
He came to England aged eleven in 1966. Two pandemic years in Spain broke the naturalisation absence limits, so his citizenship rested on Home Office discretion.
ILR / Settlement Application
A marriage that works, and a settlement rule that assumes it does not
A BN(O) mother settling with her two daughters had to prove sole responsibility while her marriage was intact and her husband worked in another country.
ILR / Settlement Application
Two hundred days abroad, and the reason the Home Office never heard
He spent over 200 days outside the UK in one year caring for a critically ill parent. The rules allow 180. The case had to be built on evidence of the reason.
ILR / Settlement Application
Two sons, one deadline, and a father who was rarely in the country
A BN(O) mother and her twin sons had to settle together, but the father's absences meant he could not. The sole responsibility exception had to carry the boys' case.
Spouse / Partner Visa
"Do I have to stop working while you file this?" An extension, and the answer that changed the year
A returning client running her own UK business asked one question about her spouse visa extension: would she have to leave the UK while it was decided?
Resource guides
Looking for something specific?
Browse our guides by visa type to find clear, practical answers from our immigration solicitors.
Sponsor Licence
Practical guidance on applying for, managing and renewing your sponsor licence with confidence.
Sponsor Licence Suspension
What to do if your licence is suspended or revoked, and how to put things right.
Sponsor Licence Compliance & Audit
Stay audit-ready with clear advice on sponsor duties and Home Office compliance visits.
Skilled Worker Visa
Everything employers and applicants need to know about the Skilled Worker route.
Global Business Mobility
Insights on transferring overseas staff and expanding into the UK through the GBM routes.
Spouse / Partner Visa
Clear answers on requirements, finances and timelines for joining your partner in the UK.
Global Talent Visa
Guidance on endorsement and applications for leaders and emerging talent in their field.
Indefinite Leave to Remain
How to qualify for settlement and prepare a strong ILR application, step by step.
British Citizenship
From eligibility to ceremony, your route to British citizenship clearly explained.
Dependent Visa
Help for family members joining visa holders and settled persons in the UK.
UK Immigration Application Refusals & Appeals
Understand your options after a refusal, from administrative review to appeal.
Visitor Visa
Guidance on visiting the UK for tourism, business meetings or seeing family.
General
News, updates and expert commentary from across UK immigration.
Free Eligibility Assessment
UK Immigration Assessment Resources
Free visa assessments, guides and articles from AY&J Solicitors. Use them to understand your visa options and move forward with confidence. We are with you all the way.
Sponsor Licence Eligibility Assessment
Find out if your business can sponsor skilled workers from overseas. We will help you see where you stand.
Visit Visa Application Assessment
Find out the gaps in your practice visit visa application before applying for the real one.
Business Visa Selector
Not sure which business visa fits you? Answer a few questions and we will show you the routes that do.
Indefinite Leave to Remain Eligibility Assessment
Find out if you can settle in the UK. See what you meet and what you still need.
Spouse Visa UK Eligibility Assessment
Check if you meet the requirements to live in the UK with your partner. We will help you see where you stand.
Global Talent Visa Eligibility Assessment Tool
See if your skills and achievements could qualify for a GTV, and what evidence you may need.