Apply online for your Tier 2 or 5 permission to stay!

January 19, 2012


Today, the UK Border Agency announced that migrants applying for permission to stay (“further leave to remain”) in the UK under Tier 2 or 5 of the Points Based System, will be able to do online from 14 February 2012.

An online application form will need to be completed, payment made online and if required, an online booking made for the premium service at a Public Enquiry Office (PEO).

In order for the application to be valid, the following requirements must be met:

If you are applying under the non-premium postal route, you must:

  • submit any required supporting documents specified as mandatory within 15 working days; and
  • book and attend an appointment at a public enquiry office to provide biometric information. You must attend this appointment by the date UKBA request you to.

If applying under the premium route:

  • you must attend an appointment at a public enquiry office to submit any required supporting documents specified as mandatory, and enrol your biometric information when requested, within 45 working days.

Please note that if any of the above requirements are not met, your application will be rejected.

Date of application
Your application date will be the date when you submit your online application using UKBA’s website.

Application fee
Your application fee will be the fee that is in place on the date when you submit your application online. You will not pay a different fee if the fee changes between the date when you submit your application online and the date when you are required to submit your documents or attend an appointment at the public enquiry office.

You can find the statement of changes (HC 1733) in UKBA”s statement of changes section.

We are aware that clients often encounter problems when trying to use UKBA”s facilities such as the service for booking online biometric appointments, and indeed we have encountered difficulties ourselves when using the Sponsor Management System.  Therefore, we hope that UKBA have put the necessary provisions in place to ensure that the new system for permission to stay applications runs smoothly and does not experience regular “technical issues!”