By Tamer Ulay – Senior Consultant/ 18 April 2026 For years, Turkish ECAA applicants built their lives in the United Kingdom on the basis of a route that was supposed to reward genuine self-employment, lawful trading, and long-term contribution. They established businesses, paid tax, supported their families, renewed their leave, and lived on the understanding…
If you are planning to study in the UK and hope to move with your partner or children, this is one of the first things you need to check. A lot of people still talk about student dependent restrictions as if they are only being planned. In reality, the main restriction is already in force….
If you are in the UK as a visitor and your circumstances change, it is natural to ask whether you can stay and switch into a different visa route without leaving. You may meet a partner, receive interest from an employer, find a course you want to study, or simply decide that you want to…
If you are hiring from overseas, or applying for sponsored work in the UK, salary is still one of the easiest areas to get wrong. By 2026, the Skilled Worker route is operating under a tougher salary framework than many employers and applicants were used to a few years ago. For most new Skilled Worker…
On 20 November 2025, the UK Government launched a major public consultation on reforming Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR), also called “settlement”, under a new “earned settlement” model. The consultation paper – A Fairer Pathway to Settlement (CP 1448) – runs to 60 pages and sits alongside the 2025 Immigration White Paper, Restoring Control over…
The UK Government has introduced another set of important changes to the Skilled Worker visa route, further tightening eligibility criteria and reshaping the landscape for both migrants and employers. Under the revised rules, the minimum salary threshold has been raised to £41,700 per year, a substantial increase designed to prioritise higher-earning roles. At the same…
In a significant shake-up of UK immigration policy, the government has announced major revisions to the Skilled Worker visa criteria aimed at attracting higher-skilled professionals and aligning immigration more closely with the nation’s economic priorities. Under the new rules, the Skilled Worker visa programme will predominantly focus on graduate-level roles. Applicants will now face stricter…
The UK government is considering the introduction of a new investor visa aimed at attracting foreign capital into sectors deemed strategically important, such as artificial intelligence (AI), clean energy, and life sciences. This initiative follows the closure of the Tier 1 (Investor) visa in 2022 due to concerns over misuse and aims to bolster the…
The UK Government’s latest immigration white paper, Restoring Control over the Immigration System, published in May 2025, outlines a raft of sweeping reforms that signal a much harsher environment for migrants, international students, workers, and families hoping to build a life in the UK. At Garth Coates Solicitors, a firm that has long championed the…
The UK Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, is preparing to publish a wide-ranging immigration white paper outlining fresh plans to reduce net migration, which reached 728,000 in 2024, according to the latest government figures. The anticipated proposals mark the latest attempt by a UK government to lower net migration—the difference between the number of people entering…
