The provision of immigration advice and services are regulated activities in the UK. This means that only certain professionals are authorised to engage in those activities. Both immigration advisers registered with the IAA and solicitors are entitled to provide immigration advice and immigration services within the UK. However, whereas solicitors' advisory capacity is generally not restricted, the capacity of IAA's immigration advisers are delimited in three incremental categories , known as level 1 ( to assist clients with majority of the applications) - level 2 ( where an application does not comply with all the legal requirements and needs to be supported by detailed representations) and level 3 ( immigration appeals) . From the point of view of competence, the pre-registration requirements and post-registration CPD of an IAA's adviser are more focused on immigration law, whereas solicitors need to cover all areas of the law and of the legal practice.

UK Immigration rules not only define the documentation to support a visa application but they also specify from where ab application should be submitted. If the rules state that a particular request for a UK visa should be submitted from within the UK , we say that is an-in-country application. Conversely, if the rules say the applicant cannot be in the UK when submitting the application, we say that is an out-of-country application.

An applicant can validly submit an out of country visa application, from his or her Home State or another state where he or she is legally resident. This basic principle follows from section 28 of the UK immigration rules section 28, as stated in the case Barlas v. British Consulate, Amsterdam [2007] EWHC 1709)

Prior to the approval of the Statement of Changes HC667 applicants had 28 days from the expiration of their visa to regularise their immigration status in the UK. With the entry into force of the Statement of Changes on 24 November 2016, the 28 day grace period was abolished and it was replaced by a 14 day period, still in force today. According to section 39D of the Immigration Rules , an out of time application can be admitted if lodged within 14 days from the expiration of the previous visa and the applicant shows a good reason for the delay, beyond the control of the applicant or the representative. If your visa has already expired but the 14 days period has not yet passed, you can book the same day or next day appointment with me, through the contact form .

Only full days passed outside the UK count as absences. So if you are leaving the UK on the 1st of May and your flight back into the UK before midnight of the 10th of May, you have been absent from the UK only 8 days . 10 calendar days – departure day – arrival day = 8 days.

On submission of a UK Visa application, the applicant is advised whether he or she needs to attend a biometric appointment as a part of the of the post application process and the time limit to carry out that activity. If the applicant fails to attend a biometric appointment in the given timeframe his or her application might be rejected.