Tier 2 Sportsperson

This category (Tier 2 Sportsperson) was designed for top class sportspersons and coaches who have world-wide recognition at the top-level, who also will make noteworthy input into the growth of the sport in which they are involved. It is important to note that applications must be endorsed by the sport's governing body of his/her country of origin.

For the individual to be issued a Certificate of Sponsorship, his/her sponsor will be required to get an endorsement of the application from the suitable body presiding over the sport in which the individual is involved. The endorsement will reaffirm that:

• The individual has world-wide recognition at the top-level as a player or coach;
• The individual will make noteworthy input into the growth of the sport at top-level in the United Kingdom;
• The individual intends to reside in the United Kingdom for the period of time he/she is authorised to stay;
• The individual's position cannot be occupied by an appropriate resident employee.

The Premium Service of the Home Office (Same Day Visa Service) is available for applications under the Tier 2 Sportsperson category.

Initial application As Tier 2 Sportsperson

For this individual to be granted a Certificate of Sponsorship the sponsor would be required to make available for the applicant an endorsement issued by an appropriate body that governs the sporting activity where the application belongs. The endorsement is required so as to verify that:

• The applicant individual is truly an internationally recognised player or coach at the highest levels of the sport;
• The individual will add significantly towards the development of the sporting activity at the highest levels;
• The individual has the intention to live in the UK for the period of the authorised leave to remain;
• The applicant's role cannot be filled by a qualified settled worker.

Dealing with refusals

If your entry clearance application as a Tier 2 sportsperson is rejected, you can contest the Home Office' decision by lodging an admin review. This is basically asking the Entry clearance Manager to kindly review the decision the Entry clearance officer has just made. If there are no valid reasons to ask the Entry Clearance manager to review the decision, it is most likely that the Entry clearance manager will uphold the decision of the entry clearance officer.

If however you still do not feel satisfied and feel that there was an error of judgement; believing that the law was not applied correctly, you may take it a step further by lodging an appeal for Judicial review in the Upper Tribunal. Here, you are simply taking the matter (in this case the refusal decision) to court to challenge the refusal.

If you have reasons to believe that your application has been unfairly refused, please contact our immigration lawyers for a free assessment.

Switching Into Tier 2 Sportsperson

Switching into the Tier 2 Sportsperson visa is possible if you are currently holding a valid leave from the one of the following categories:-

Business immigration visa ;

• Work Visa Tier 2 - General, ICT, Minister of Religion and Sportsperson
• Student visa and dependants
• Tier 5 Temporary Worker switching into Tier 2 (Sportsperson) only;
• Highly-skilled Migrant Programme;
• Innovator;
• Fresh Talent: Working in Scotland Scheme;
• International Graduates Scheme
• Sports and Entertainment work visas
• Jewish Agency Employee;
• Member of the Operational Ground Staff of an Overseas-owned Airline;
• Representative of an Overseas Business;

Should you need the service of professional legal advisers to advice you on switching, please do not hesitate to give us a call 020 3744 2797 or drop us an email on info@reissedwards.co.uk and one of our Tier 2 lawyers would contact you as soon as possible.

Our immigration solicitors boast of over 4 decades experience in immigration law; be sure that you will be getting a top-quality service if you choose to instruct us.

Tier 2 Sportsperson Visa Extension

For persons who are currently in the United Kingdom as a Tier 2 Sportsperson and are looking to renew their visa in the country, they should ensure to apply for a leave to remain before their current leave expires.

You may apply for extension provided you are still gainfully employed by your sponsor and will continue to be needed by the employer. It is important that your employer evidence by way of a personal statement or a letter that you are still needed on the job.

Please note that you can only extend your leave as a Tier 2 sportsperson if your last and current leave is an entry clearance as a Tier 2 sportsperson. You cannot switch into an extension from another route.

Importantly you will have to be issued another Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) for your extension application. Also, we would normally recommend that the salary on the new CoS is either equal to or above the one which was stated on the preview CoS.

Tier 2 Sportsperson Indefinite Leave to remain

Persons on a Tier 2 sportsperson visa who have remained on that visa route and have lived in the UK for over 5 years may be eligible for settlement under the same route

As a general rule, you will normally be eligible for an indefinite leave to remain in the United Kingdom after remaining in the country on one visa route for 5 years. A combination of routes would lead to settlement in 10 years. Note also, that the 10 years route would only be applicable where there was a continuous and legal residence.

Continuous and legal residence refers to periods of breach of immigration rules. In more simple terms, within that 10 year period you must have always had a valid leave to remain. This is why we mostly advice our clients to never overstay their visa. There is a 28-day period you can take advantage of as well as the 2C and 3C leave. These are there for you not to become an overstayer. Once you have overstayed your visa, chances are that subsequent visa application will almost be automatically rejected

2C and 3C leave mentioned above refers to the process of lodging an application before or at the expiration of your current leave, the application allows you to continue to remain in the UK on the terms of your last leave while the current visa is in process. A practical example is where you have stayed in the UK for 5 years as a student, probably studying something related to sports. Let's say you have now gotten a job and now making a Tier 2 application, even though your Tier 4 may have expired at the time of your Tier 2 application, the terms and conditions of your Tier 4 will continue to be in place until your new Tier 2 visa is approved.

Given the example above, periods of stay under the Tier 4 visa will not count towards Indefinite Leave to remain as a Tier 2 Sportsperson. This is because ILR in this circumstance is based on you living in the UK for a period of 5 years under the same visa category.

However, if for some reason you do not complete 5 years under this route (on a continuous residence basis), you will then need to wait to complete 10 years (lawful) residence in the UK to be eligible for ILR.

Dependants Of a Tier 2 Sportsperson

The dependant of a Tier 2 Sportsperson includes the migrant's husband/wife, partner (civil, unmarried or same-sex), or child. Be advised that only children under the age of eighteen would be recognised as dependants under this immigration route. However, child dependants who have become 18 in the country whilst under the PBS visa route will still qualify as dependants.

Dependent of Tier 2 Sportsperson application from outside the UK

For entry clearance applications under this route, as a PBS dependant of a Tier 2 Sportsperson, both parties must be first and foremost over eighteen years old as at the date of the application.

Importantly, for child dependant applications under this route, the child must be under 18 years of age as at the date of the initial application. Note that for extension applications under this route, a child dependant may be over the age of 18 and still qualify as a child dependant provided that they were under 18 as at the time of their entry clearance application.

Switching into a Dependant Of Tier 2 Sportsperson

Except where an individual is currently on a visit visa, or on temporary admission or release, the immigration rules now allow persons to switch to the PBS Dependant of a Tier 2 Sportsperson in the UK.

Please note that applicants looking to switch into the Point Based System Dependant visa must be at least 18 years as at the time of the application. This however does not apply to child dependants who have to be under 18 to qualify as dependants in the United Kingdom.

Note also that for children who are dependants over the age of 18 may yet be seen as dependants if they became 18 in the UK while with a valid leave to remain as a PBS Dependant

Extension of a Tier 2 Sportsperson visa

If you are currently in the United Kingdom as a dependant of a Tier 2 Migrant you may be able to renew your PBS dependant visa under the same route in line with your sponsor.

Indefinite Leave to Remain as a Dependant Of Tier 2 Sportsperson

Where an applicant has a valid leave to remain in the UK as a dependant of a Tier 2 sportsperson under the rules in place before 09-07-12, such an applicant would be able to make an ILR application after residing in the country for at least 2 years. A major factor here is that the sponsor must have been granted settlement in the UK or has just lodged an ILR application as a Tier 2 Sportsperson.

For applications under the rules in place after 09-07-12, dependants will have to wait for 5 years as dependants of Tier 2 sportsperson in order to qualify for settlement. Importantly, the main applicant (sponsor) must have either obtained settlement or is just lodging his/her ILR application.