Europe Archives - Page 6 of 8 - Relocation Africa

5 New Visa Changes South Africans Need to Know About Before Heading to the UK

UK immigration minister, Caroline Nokes, recently made a number of surprising announcements as the country prepares to make visa reforms.

Below, Breytenbachs Immigration Consultants broke down some of the most important changes and what they will mean for South Africans.

Tier 1 Entrepreneur visa to be replaced by innovator route

The current Tier 1 Entrepreneur route will be replaced by a new Innovator route, for more experienced business persons.

It will have a “similar emphasis on endorsement by a business sponsor, who will assess applicants’ business ideas for their innovation, viability and scalability”.

“We subsequently encourage applicants who still want to apply under the current Tier 1 Entrepreneur route, to contact us without delay,” Breytenbachs said.

New start-up visa route

Earlier in 2018, the UK Government announced that it will establish a new Start-up visa route. This route will build on the Tier 1 Graduate Entrepreneur route.

Applicants under this new route will have to be endorsed by either a business or higher education institution sponsor.

No clarity on Tier 1 investor route

The UK Government announced on 6 December 2018 that the Tier 1 Investor route is suspended.

It added this route will from 7 December 2018 no longer be open for applicants to apply, and that new rules will be put in place sometime during 2019.

However, the Home Office has since released an official statement to the Immigration Law Practitioners’ Association (ILPA) stating the following:

“The Tier 1 (Investor) visa is not currently suspended. However, the Government remains committed to reforming the route. A further announcement will be made in due course.

“Any suspension would be implemented through changes to the Immigration rules.”

Tier 1 exceptional talent extended to architects

The Tier 1 Exceptional Talent route will be expanded to provide for the inclusion of leading architects.

These architects will have to be endorsed by the Royal Institute of British Architects, under the remit of the Arts Council England.

Tier 5 religious and charity workers

Tier 5 Religious Workers and Tier 5 Charity Workers will in future have a cooling off period.

This cooling off period will prevent them from returning to the UK for 12 months, on another Tier 5 visa. This step is taken to underpin the fact that this is a temporary route.

For information as to how Relocation Africa can help you with your Mobility, Immigration, Research, Remuneration, and Expat Tax needs, email marketing@relocationafrica.com, or call us on +27 21 763 4240.

Sources: [1], [2]. Image sources: [1], [2].

France, South Africa

Air France’s New Sister Airline ‘Joon’ Debuts in Cape Town

In a strategic move aimed at sustainable growth, Air France introduced its Joon airline to Cape Town last week, with the first flight on April 3rd.

Described as the “baby sister” of Air France, Joon takes over the direct route between the Mother City and Paris from Air France.

Joon CEO Jean-Michel Mathieu said at a media briefing in Cape Town that the airline represents “the new generation journey by Air France”.

It targets younger travellers and commenced three direct flights between Paris and Cape Town this week. Joon cabin crew, for instance, wear white tekkies and polo shirts.

According to Paul van den Brink of Cape Town Air Access – a partnership between Wesgro, the Western Cape Government, the City of Cape Town, Airports Company South Africa, South African Tourism and Cape Town Tourism – the French market has been earmarked as one of Cape Town’s fastest growing markets.

A total of 17 574 French arrivals are expected through Cape Town International Airport between November 2017 and April 2018 with a 22.9% year-on-year increase forecasted. The French market is now the 6th largest source market for the Western Cape.

Nationally, the top two age groups to visit South Africa are 25 to 34 and 35 to 44 year olds among passengers originating from France and Europe.
Historically, Western Cape tourist arrivals boasts a solid youth market with the 25 to 34 year age bracket showing a consecutive growth rate between 2013 and 2016, indicating sound prospects of continued growth into 2018.

“We aim to offer innovative, high quality service at competitive pricing,” said Mathieu. “Joon will enable Air France to keep on growing and increase our market share. The objective is to have Joon as an innovative lab for Air France.”

In answer to a question from Fin24, Mathieu said he is not sure that the water crisis in Cape Town will impact the city as a destination.

“Joon is not just aimed at the leisure market, but also at the tech and innovation industries in Cape Town,” he said.

“I am still optimistic that the water crisis will not impact the attractiveness of the destination.”

An Air France representative indicated that the aim will be to make passengers aware of the water situation in Cape Town and that the water situation has so far not impacted bookings.

Van den Brink agreed that there has actually been an increase in air passengers to Cape Town and that flight bookings have not decreased.

For a list of Joon’s destinations, click here.

Sources: Carin Smith (Fin24) [1]. Image sources: [1].

Finland

Finland Ranked Happiest Country in The World

Finland is the world’s happiest country, according to the 2018 World Happiness Report, an annual survey published by the U.N Sustainable Development Solutions Network.

The report ranked 156 countries according to their scores in GDP per capita, social support, healthy life expectancy, social freedom, generosity, and absence of corruption.

All of the Nordic countries took a spot in the top 10, and regularly rank highly among the best places to live in the world. All Nordic countries scored the highest in all the “well-being” categories: income, healthy life expectancy, social support, freedom, and trust, and generosity.

Other surveys had previously voted Finland as being the safest, most stable, and best-governed country in the world.

The only non-European countries to make the top-10 list were Canada, New Zealand, and Australia.

For the first time, the report ranked the happiness of foreign-born immigrants in 117 countries, with Finland scoring double-gold as “home to the world’s happiest immigrants”. Denmark, Norway, and Iceland all followed suit.

South Africa ranked in 105th place. Burundi, in Central Africa, came last in the ranking. Latvia and Bulgaria were among the countries that best improved their scores this year.

According to the survey, the top 10 happiest countries in 2018 are:

Finland
Norway
Denmark
Iceland
Switzerland
Netherlands
Canada
New Zealand
Sweden
Australia

For information as to how Relocation Africa can help you with your Mobility, Immigration, Research, and Remuneration needs, email marketing@relocationafrica.com, or call us on +27 21 763 4240.

Sources: [1], [2], [3]. Image sources: Reuters [1].

South Africa, United Kingdom

Valid UK Visa in an Expired Passport

The issue of a valid UK visa in an expired passport has caused problems for numerous individuals over the past year. Although a person can still use a valid visa in an expired passport, the situation is not ideal.

Expired Passport – Home Office Guidance

The official guideline from the Home Office regarding the matter states that a person can still use the valid visa in the expired passport. They will, however, have to show the expired passport together with the new passport when travelling.

UK employers can also check a person’s right to work with the UK Employer Checking Service.

Solution for the Expired Passport, Valid Visa Situation

Probably the safest solution is to replace your visa with a Biometric Residence Permit (BRP). This transfer can be done if you are in the UK.

If you are outside the UK and have an expired passport with a valid visa, it is possible to apply to transfer the UK visa to your new passport.

It is not mandatory for a person to apply for a Biometric Residence Permit where the passport has expired. There are however some benefits of doing so that are listed by the Home Office;

Enhanced security features of the BRP.
It proves that a person has the right to work and access certain benefits.
It will facilitate travel to and from the UK.

Biometric Residence Permits

Fortunately, for newer UK Visa applicants the Biometric Residence Permit is now issued to all applicants.

All successful UK visa applicants, excluding those who apply for visitor visas and EEA Family permits, receive a 30-day vignette in their passports.

The applicant then has 30 days to leave their home country. Once in the UK, they are required to collect the Biometric Residence card or BRP. This card will then, in essence, be the UK visa, settlement, Ancestry, Tier 2 work permit, etc. Once a person applies for Indefinite Leave to Remain, a new Biometric Residence Permit is issued, stating this new status.

In the light of the doubts about the situation that sometimes arise at airports, and with UK employers, it is highly recommended that persons with expired passports rather apply for a Biometric Residence Permit. This should remove all doubts and ensure peace of mind for the visa holder.

For information as to how Relocation Africa can help you with your Mobility, Immigration, Research, and Remuneration needs, email marketing@relocationafrica.com, or call us on +27 21 763 4240.

Source: The South African [1]. Image source: [1].