Other Immigration Schemes

You can stay in the UK if you have been elected to a full time salaried post as a sabbatical officer at the University. If you have a Tier 4 student visa which was granted on or after 31 March 2009 and you have not yet finished your studies, you do not have to make an immigration application as a sabbatical officer but the University must tell the Home Office that you are now working full time in this post. If working as a sabbatical officer means that you will need extra time to complete your studies, you will have to make a Tier 4 (General) visa extension application before your current visa expires. You will have to meet the requirements for Tier 4 (General) Students, including the maintenance requirements, but you will not be expected to study during the period that you are employed in this position.

The requirements you would need to meet in order to be granted a Tier 4 visa for this period are outlined in the Tier 4 policy guidance.

You cannot switch into this immigration category from within the UK. If you are a Commonwealth citizen aged 17 or over and you can prove that you have a grandparent who was born in the UK, Channel Islands or the Isle of Man (or the Republic of Ireland if born before 31 March 1922), you can return to your home country to apply to the British Embassy / High Commission there for a visa on the basis of your UK ancestry. You have to intend to take or seek employment in the UK, and you will be granted up to five years' permission to be in the UK if you are eligible. The Home Office website provides further information about UK ancestry.

Turkish Nationals have the option of setting up in self-employment in the UK under an Agreement between Turkey and the European Community.

In addition Turkish nationals who are working lawfully in the UK have a series of rights over a four-year period entitling them to a renewal of their permission to work.

The Home Office website provides further information for Turkish nationals.