Minister of Religion Visa

To come to the UK as a religious worker you will need to meet the requirements for the Minister of Religion Visa, these include:

• Having an offer for an eligible job from a registered UK sponsor company – your job must be as a type of religious worker, this can include working as a ground staff missionary, as one of the members of a religious order and other types of work in the field of religion. The company hiring you must hold a sponsor licence.
• Having a valid Certificate of Sponsorship – this is an electronic document, your employer can provide you with your Certificate of Sponsorship reference number.
• Demonstrating that you have a knowledge of the English language – to do this you may need to pass an approved English test at least level B1. You do not need to prove this if you are from a majority English speaking country or if you have a qualification of degree level or above that was taught in English.
• Meeting the maintenance requirements – you will need to prove that you can support yourself financially whilst you work in the UK, you must have at least £1720 available in your bank account and the money must have been available for at least 28 days.

Visa applications for the Minister of Religion visa must be made online up to 3 months before you intend to be working in the UK. You can apply for the visa using the form available on the gov.uk website. As well as filling in the visa application form, you must provide supporting documents to the Home Office to prove that you can meet the requirements.

The current application cost is £610 if applying from outside of the UK and £704 if you are applying to switch from another UK visa whilst in the UK. As well as the application fee, you should also be aware of other costs that you will incur, including:

• The cost of an English language test
• The cost to have your biometric information taken for your biometric residence permit, this costs £19.20
• The Immigration Health Surcharge, this is an annual fee of £624 but may be lower in some circumstances

You should usually receive a decision about your visa application within 3 months. If you are applying from inside the UK, the Home Office offers a priority service. This costs £500 and you will get a decision on your work permit application within 5 working days.

Minister of Religion visa applicants will need to provide evidence that they can meet all of the requirements. To do this, you will need to provide a portfolio of supporting documents. Some of the documents that you will need include:

• Your certificate of sponsorship reference number, you can get this from your sponsor
• Proof of your knowledge of English, such as your test results
• Evidence that you can support yourself financially whilst in the UK, for example, bank statements
• A valid passport or another form of ID, you’ll also need a blank page in your passport for your visa
• Expired passports or travel documents to show your travel history

You may also be required to provide your tuberculosis test results, depending on the country that you are coming from.

Workers in the UK on a Minister of Religion Visa must follow the relevant immigration rules. There are some restrictions as to what you can do, as well as many benefits to coming to the UK on this visa.

With this visa you can:

• Bring family members with you to the UK, a family member includes a partner or children.
• Take a second job, if you’re working up to 20 hours a week in the same profession as your main job or a job on the Shortage Occupation list then you may take a second job.
• Do unpaid voluntary work
• Study in the UK, as long as it doesn’t interfere with your job
• Travel abroad and enter the UK again

However, it is worth keeping in mind that you cannot:

• Own more than 10% of your sponsor’s shares (unless you earn over £159,600 per year)
• Access public funds

The Minister of Religion visa allows you to remain in the UK for up to 3 years and 1 month, or the time given on your CoS plus, whichever period is shorter. If you would like to continue to work in the United Kingdom then you can apply for a visa extension. You can extend this worker visa a period of one of the following:

• 3 years
• The time on your CoS plus 14 days
• The time required to take your total stay up to 6 years

Your visa will be extended for whichever period is shorter.

To be able to extend your work visa, you must be able to meet the original eligibility requirements and will also need a new Certificate of Sponsorship to continue your employment. You can also include your partner and children on your extension application.

Once you have spent 5 years in the UK on this worker visa, you could be eligible for Indefinite Leave to Remain. Having Indefinite Leave to Remain will allow you to make the United Kingdom your permanent home.

Here at IAS, our solicitors are highly experienced in the field of immigration law. It can be complex to apply for a visa to work in the UK, but our lawyers have successfully assisted many applicants.

It’s highly recommended that workers who plan to come to the UK seek the help of a professional UK immigration lawyer, to give their visa applications the best chance of success. Our lawyers can guide you throughout the application process. They can explain all of the requirements to you and will help you to meet them. As well as this they can assist you with filling in your application form and gathering any evidence that you may need.

Our immigration lawyers have a track record of success with assisting foreign workers who would like to come to the UK. With their help, your application will have the highest chance of success.

Our lawyers can also assist with visa applications for other types of workers, including sportspersons and those looking to transfer to a UK branch of their company. For more information contact our UK immigration lawyers today on 03300579050.