Temporary concession for Syrians announced

The UKBA has today announced that from 15 October 2012, Syrian nationals with temporary permission to stay in the UK will have more ways to extend their stay in the UK.

If you are a Syrian national and your permission to stay in the UK (leave to remain) is about to expire, or has expired in the last 28 days, and you wish to stay in the UK there are now some new options available to you. This concession applies only until 15 March 2013.

Extend your visa

If you are here on a visa for a limited period you can ask for this to be extended for the same length of time as you were originally granted. For example, if you have a 6 month visit visa you may be given permission to stay for a further 6 months.

Switch to a different visa category in the UK

Normally you would be required to leave the UK to switch to another visa category. Under this concession you may apply to switch categories from inside the UK.

There are restrictions on which categories you can apply to switch into. You cannot switch into any settlement routes.

You must apply whilst your current visa is valid or within 28 days of it expiring and pay the correct fee applicable for that route. You must meet the requirements of the category which you are applying under.

If there are any documents which you would normally be expected to provide, but you cannot because of the conflict in Syria, then you should explain why in your application.

Syrian nationals are also advised to continue to monitor the travel advice to Syria, and make arrangements to return only when it is safe to do so.

For advice and assistance with extending your stay in the United Kingdom under the new concession for Syrians, contact our immigration barristers in Covent Garden, London direct on 0203 617 9173 or info@richmondchambers.com