Alison Hunter

Staying in the UK: Legal Pathways for International Students

16th September 2025 By Alison Hunter

The Home Office has recently raised concerns about the number of students claiming asylum at the end of their student visas.

From January to June 2025, around 14,800 asylum applications were made by students, accounting for 13% of all claims. In response, the Home Office launched a campaign warning students and their families about the consequences of overstaying visas or submitting meritless asylum claims, including sending out text messages to those coming to the end of their student visas.

However, it’s important to know that there are still lawful ways for international students to remain in the UK after their studies.

Graduate Visa: Your First Step

After completing your course, students can apply for a Graduate visa, which currently allows you to stay and work in the UK for up to two years if you have a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree. If you have a doctoral qualification, you can stay for up to three years. (The Home Office has recently announced that this period will be reduced to 18 months but has not stated when this change will take place, nor whether this will apply to doctoral students as well). During this period on a graduate, you could consider seeking employment with a licensed sponsor to then allow you to transition to a Skilled Worker visa.

Skilled Worker Visa: Building Your Career

The Skilled Worker visa is a great option for those who find employment with a licensed sponsor. This visa offers long-term options for settlement and professional development in the UK. However, it is important to talk early to any potential employer about sponsorship as it entails significant costs and administrative burdens for the employer.

Global Talent Visa: For the Exceptionally Talented

If you have demonstrated exceptional achievement in fields like science, engineering, humanities, medicine, digital technology, or the arts, the Global Talent visa could be your pathway. This route does not require a job offer and provides greater flexibility for building a career in the UK.

Seek Legal Advice

Given the complexities of obtaining immigration status after being a student, you may well find it beneficial to seek legal advice to navigate the UK immigration system, not only to solve your immediate immigration situation, but also to plan longer term for the future. Despite the unwelcoming rhetoric from the government in relation to students at the moment, it is likely that there will also be pathways for students to work in the United Kingdom after their studies. We can guide you on the best visa options, help prepare necessary documentation, and ensure compliance with Home Office regulations.

For further advice, contact us at 020 7401 6887 or email contact@gryklaw.com.

Recognition for Wesley Gryk Solicitors from Legal 500 and Chambers 2025

24th October 2024 By Alison Hunter

We are delighted that our work has been recognised again in the Legal 500 and in Chambers 2025 in the areas of personal immigration law and human rights. We have been described as “a niche specialist firm with one of the top personal immigration teams around”. These legal directories are widely regarded as the best researched and take soundings from other immigration solicitors, barristers and clients to determine the leaders in various fields of law. Our inclusion highlights the breadth and depth of our practice and how we use this to benefit each and every client for whom we act.

All four partners have been recognised for their expertise in different areas of immigration law, including complex partnership and family cases, international surrogacy and adoption work, nationality law, and immigration law affecting Europeans and their families. Here is a selection of the quotes which speak for themselves:

‘Diana Baxter is very knowledgeable and an expert in nationality law.’

‘Alison Hunter is razor sharp and an expert in international adoption cases.’

‘Katie Dilger is fantastic and always goes that extra mile for her clients.’

‘Barry O’ Leary’s deep knowledge, balanced with emotional intelligence was the perfect fit for what we needed.’

We are also very pleased that our colleagues are rightly being noticed: Ciera McCartney has been recognised in Chambers as an ‘Associate to watch’ Ciera McCartney, UK | Chambers Profiles and was described as ‘excellent – knowledgeable, compassionate, tenacious and kind’. Andrew Jones has been noted as a key lawyer in the Legal 500 L500 | Wesley Gryk Solicitors LLP > Immigration: personal > England | Legal 500 law firm profiles. He was described as ‘…outstanding. Super attentive, professional and empathetic’.

Barry O’Leary has also deservedly been recognised as a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion champion, in recognition of him going “above and beyond in making the world a fairer place”. In his case, it is for his particular dedication to immigration and the LGBTQI+ community and his ‘career-long dedication to supporting LGBTQI+ migrants. He was among the first solicitors in the UK to successfully represent gay men and lesbians in obtaining asylum in the UK on the basis of their fear of persecution because of their sexual identity’.

We have also had the new ‘client satisfaction’ accolade by the Legal 500 bestowed on us, demonstrating the truly outstanding scores we received in client satisfaction.

Most of all though, we hope that these awards show that not only are we experts in our field, but that we take real pride in guiding our clients through the immigration process to successful results. We very much see our work as being in partnership with the clients, working together to achieve a positive outcome.

If you have an immigration issue you would like to discuss with one of our lawyers, please do not hesitate to contact us at enquiries@gryklaw.com or by calling 020 7401 6887.

The EU Settlement Scheme – where are we now?

10th July 2023 By Alison Hunter

As the EU Settlement Scheme approaches five years date its start date, it is an interesting point to take stock of what has happened and what is currently happening.

As of 31 March 2023, the EU Settlement Scheme had received 7.2 million applications, of which roughly 50% were granted settled status and just under 40% have been granted pre-settled status. The balance were refused, withdrawn, void or invalid applications.

For those who were granted pre-settled status early on in the process, and the first of those would have been in August 2018, their five years of this status will shortly be coming to an end. Had it not been for the judicial review brought by the IMA, to remain legally in the United Kingdom, they would now have had to apply for settled status. As we know from this case (which you can read more about on our previous blog), the Home Office has conceded that applicants with pre-settled status do not need to apply for settled status. However, as of yet, they have not provided any guidance or any indication of what they intend to do with people in this situation. It is therefore difficult to assess how easily these people are going to be able to prove specific rights that they have, such as the right to work or right to benefits or how they will show a landlord that they are legally residing in the United Kingdom if they do not apply for settled status. Our current advice therefore remains that people should apply for settled status before their pre settled status expires. We know that this will give our clients the ability to prove their immigration status. Obtaining settled status is also still going to be essential if somebody wants to naturalise to become a British citizen in the future.

One of the other difficulties that we are aware are the significant delays in administrative reviews. An administrative review is a way of challenging an initial decision made by the Home Office. Unfortunately, these are currently outstanding at the Home Office for roughly a year, causing clients to be left in limbo without knowing whether or not they will be able to gain status in the United Kingdom. Many clients may want to look at a different way of resolving their immigration issue such as reapplying and we can discuss that option with you if you find yourself in this situation.

Although the Home Office initially stated that the EU Settlement Scheme was to close on
30 June 2021 for new applicants, they have since then been accepting late applications. In general, the Home Office have taken a very reasonable view of how to deal with these cases and have not forced clients to provide detailed reasons as to why the application is late. However, we are finding that clients, for example who are not living in the United Kingdom but have a historical five-year period of residing here and have returned within five years of leaving the United Kingdom, are routinely having their applications refused. Our input has been used successfully to have such cases overturned.

If you are affected by any of the issues addressed above or anything else in relation to the EU Settlement Scheme and would like expert legal advice, please do not hesitate to contact us at enquiries@gryklaw.com or on 020 7401 6887.

Global Talent in the UK

13th December 2022 By Alison Hunter

One of the endorsing bodies, TechNation has recently published its report about the Global Talent visas which are endorsed by TechNation. It includes some very interesting statistics:
• Roughly 2,500 Global Talent visas have been granted in this category;
• A quarter of the Global Talent migrants own their own company;
• 73% of investment in this sector comes from overseas;
• 18% of UK Tech scale ups have at least one non-UK founder; and
• The overall sector valuation is considered to be roughly £1 trillion.

In short, the government sees the technology sector as a growth industry and wants to continue to attract highly skilled tech professionals. Currently, the UK is home to the third most valuable tech economy in the world, behind only the United States and China. The areas span a wide range of industries, including health, finance and energy.
In total, there are now roughly five million people working in UK tech start-ups and scale-ups which is a two million increase over the figures in 2019. Not only are the jobs in tech occupations, but the industry also provides opportunities to people in HR, legal, finance and sales.

Over a 120 different countries are represented in the applicants for the Global Talent tech visa. It is entirely likely that demand for highly skilled tech talent will continue on an upward trend in the future, particularly as domestic supply is unlikely to be able to fulfil the necessary demand for jobs.
Applying for a Global Talent visa is a two-stage process. The first stage is to present an application to an endorsing body, such as TechNation, with evidence to show that you are a leader in your field or that you have the potential to become a leader in your field. Although this may sound daunting, but clear guidance and support means that all sorts of people with very different ideas can make successful applications.

If you are interested in pursuing this route, we have expertise in guiding people through the Global Talent visa structures and helping them get endorsements from Tech Nation but also Arts Council England and the endorsing bodies for Academics. Please contact us on 020 7401 6887 or at Alison@gryklaw.com.

Global Talent – How talented do you have to be?

26th November 2021 By Alison Hunter

The so-called “prestigious prize” visa route was launched in May of this year and was intended to make it easier for academics or researchers to apply to come to the United Kingdom. At the time of the launch of the visa, the Home Secretary, Priti Patel, stated:

Winners of these awards have reached the pinnacle of their career and they have so much to offer the UK. This is exactly what our new point based immigration system was designed for – attracting the best and brightest based on the skills and talent they have, not where they have come from.

It has been widely reported in the Press recently that not a single scientist has applied under the fast track visa route which was intended for prize award winners in science, engineering, the humanities and medicine. Many scientists have been dismissive of the scheme stating it is far too narrow and would only allow a tiny handful of talented people to apply.

But does the Global Talent visa allow people who are not necessarily at the ‘pinnacle’ of the scientific world or creative world to apply? The answer to this is a resounding ‘yes’.

The Global Talent visa allows people who are leaders in their field or potential leaders in their field to apply and be endorsed by a designated endorsement body such as Tech Nation, the British Academy, the Royal Society for Science and Medicine, or Arts Council England. The beauty of the visa is that an individual does not need to be sponsored by their employer and has access to the labour market in the United Kingdom as an employee or on a self employed basis. So for example, academics can work at a university without being tied to them. Actors, performers and musicians can develop their careers in the United Kingdom, supporting themselves for example through teaching. Those endorsed by Tech Nation may have technical skills or business skills in the field of technology and can come here to develop businesses or run their start ups. In short, a large number of people are able to qualify, even if they are towards the beginning of their careers.

The process is a two stage process: an applicant initially applies to the endorsement body and if endorsed can then apply for a visa. This is a category which leads to indefinite leave to remain, although of course there are some criteria that need to be fulfilled before that is possible, including showing that you have worked in your field of expertise in the United Kingdom.

So despite the off putting headlines that nobody has been granted a fast track visa and that you have to be unbelievably talented and experienced, this does not paint the full picture. Successful cases for Global Talent visas have ranged from applicants just leaving university, to people who are well established in the field in which they have built their career. If you fall within the remit of one of the endorsement bodies, it may well be worth you looking at the criteria which they assess against to see if you may be eligible.

We have expertise in submitting applications to the various endorsement bodies and are able to guide applicants through the process. If you would like to discuss a possible application with us further, please do not hesitate to contact us on 020 7401 6887 or contact Alison@gryklaw.com