Journey to citizenship

The AFF Foreign & Commonwealth team receives many enquiries from soldiers trying to navigate the immigration process and apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) in the UK. Wesley Grant Nell, who serve...

AFF resolves eVisa issues

After being contacted by veterans and families having problems proving their settled status, the AFF F&C team realised that instead of the status on the eVisa saying ‘settled’ it was stating ‘armed forces...

eVisa concerns

Since the introduction of eVisas on 1 January 2025, the AFF Foreign & Commonwealth team has received numerous enquiries from spouses worried about travelling back to the UK and proving their status. Here ...

Double success for AFF teams

A soldier was given assistance by two of AFF’s specialist teams while he was on assignment overseas. Pte Jeannick Serieux contacted the Foreign & Commonwealth team when he needed assistance with the non-...

Global Health Insurance cards change

AFF’s overseas team spotted a trend in forces personnel assigned overseas reporting difficulties fulfilling the UK residency rules when applying for their first Global Health Insurance Cards (GHIC), and renew...

Apply for ETA to travel to UK

All visitors to the UK who previously did not need a visa to visit for six months or less, will now have to apply for an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) before they travel. The ETA is not a visa, it is ...

Complex casework

AFF’s Foreign & Commonwealth team is made up of qualified immigration advisors and responds to thousands of visa and immigration enquiries a year from serving personnel and their families. As well as bei...

The detail on COBSEO clusters

The Confederation of Service Charities (COBSEO) hosts a number of different cluster groups to help collaborative working between charities and to ensure that issues are raised and solutions and actions identi...

A step in the right direction for F&C families

AFF Foreign & Commonwealth Specialist, Katherine Houlston, discusses some recent positive changes to the immigration rules… MINIMUM INCOME REQUIREMENT CHANGE From 11 April 2024 the Minimum Income Requir...

Immigration rules for young people

The immigration rules for children and young people differ widely to those for adults, allowing caseworkers to exercise discretion in line with the UK’s duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of the child....