Uk Religious Visit Visa
If you are going to the UK for a short-term religious job, you may be able to get a UK Temporary Religious Work Visa. This visa allows you to stay in the UK for a limited time and take part in religious work or activities.
Our immigration experts are ready to help you with your visa application. Get in touch today on +2080162308 to learn more.
If you are going to the UK for a short-term religious job, you may be able to get a UK Temporary Religious Work Visa. This visa allows you to stay in the UK for a limited time and take part in religious work or activities.
Our immigration experts are ready to help you with your visa application. Get in touch today on +2080162308 to learn more.
What is a Religious Visitor Permit?
The Religious Visitor Permit is designed for international religious staff who wish to visit the UK and undertake short-term, non-paid religious work. This can comprise preaching, visiting religious conferences, or other pastoral activities.
This visa is classified as a Standard Visitor visa in the UK and allows stays of up to 6 months. Under this visa, the person does not acquire any permanent residency in the UK. Every person is expected to submit an individual application, even when traveling with others.
In the UK, to qualify for a Religious Worker Visa, the applicant must fulfill specific requirements that do not involve merely possessing a job offer. The following are the primary criteria that you should meet to be eligible:
Age Requirement
You should be 18 years old by the date of your application.
Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS)
There must be a valid CoS. This is a special reference number provided by your religion-based organisation that should be based in the United Kingdom and should be a licensed sponsor. Details of your position, personal information, and religious activities of the sponsoring organisation in the UK will be provided in the certificate.
Proof of Financial Support
You need to demonstrate financial ability to sustain yourself throughout the stay. This implies that you must have a minimum of 1,270 in your bank account within the preceding 31 days with a 28-day successive engagement acknowledged by the clock.
No Recent Visa usage
Unless you can show that you spent the whole of the last 12 months abroad, you should not have held a Religious Worker or Charity Worker visa during the last 12 months.
Compliance with Labour testing
Through a Certificate of Sponsorship, your sponsoring organisation is required to express that a local citizen of the UK can fill the position. This makes the position a desirable option for international hiring.
Wage Requirements
Although there is no fixed minimum salary limit for this visa route, the salary offered must be in line with or above the National Minimum Wage in the UK, unless the job is exempt. You also have to be remunerated reasonably by what a person in the UK, or a person who was working in the UK, would earn doing the same job.
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When you are applying to immigrate to the UK as a Religious Visitor Visa holder, you will be required to prove to UK Visas and Immigration that the purpose of your visit is legitimate and approved under the visitor visa regulations, and that you will undertake no prohibited actions during your stay.
Permitted Religious Practices
As a Religious Visitor, you can perform some religious activities in the UK, but temporarily. These could be the following:
- Presiding or serving in worship services
- Preaching or spiritual speeches, or prayer
- Delivering sermons, spiritual speeches, or prayer
- Officiating hour-once ceremonies (e.g, weddings or funerals), provided that:
- They are irregular and not regular
- No payment of any kind is being paid to you to perform the service
- Your main job is not within the UK
- They are irregular and not regular
Restrictions on Religious Visitors
One should mention the following limitations:
- You cannot accept formal work or a position in a UK religious organisation
- You are not allowed to assume a permanent or long-term appointment
- You cannot have employment or payment to do regular religious work
- In case you want to work or have regular employment in a religious institute in the UK, apply for a Temporary Work – Religious Worker Visa or a Minister of Religion (T2) Visa, depending on the type of work
Additional Permitted Activities
As this is a visa under the broader Standard Visitor Visa scheme, you can additionally carry out other permitted activities, which include:
- Meeting or attending conferences
- Engagement in religious study or training
- Contributing by taking part in pre-arranged paid engagements, provided that:
- The exercise will be conducted before travelling to the UK
- It is done within 30 days after your entrance
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When intending to accept a short-term religious work in the UK, you have to apply for the Religious Temporary Worker Visa and process it before traveling to the country. The following is how the application process works:
When to Apply
You could start with your application up to 3 months before your intended start date in the UK. Online applications should be done outside the UK through the official UK government site.
Submitting Your Application
To apply:
- Fill in the online visa application
- Post or submit accompanying documents
Make payments of the application fee and Immigration Health Surcharge (where there is a requirement)
Proving Who You Are
In the application process, you will be asked to authenticate yourself. This can be done in either of the following ways, depending on nationality and type of passport:
Biometrics in Visa Application Centre
Instead, you might be requested to go and appear at an appointment to take fingerprints and a photograph. They may retain your passport and documents during the processing of the same.
With the UK Immigration: ID Check App
Certain applicants using the UK Immigration ID app can scan their identity documents without having to come to a centre.
The business will inform you which method they will apply to you once you have made your application.
Visa Decision Timeline
It usually takes the UK Home Office 3 weeks to process applications once all the steps have been completed.
Faster Processing Options
Should you require a faster decision, you can select one of the following value-added services:
- Priority Service – Get a decision within five working days (additional fee of £500)
- Super Priority Service – Decision within 1 working day (extra charge of £1,000)
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To be awarded a Religious Visitor Visa, you will have to demonstrate that you possess the financial means to sustain yourself during your stay in the UK. This entails the payment of a cover of:
- Incoming and outgoing travel within the UK
- Lodgings for your visit
- Daily living costs
This is the prohibition of working or seeking social benefits during a stay in the United Kingdom on this visa.
Approved Sources of Funding
Your costs are either:
- Through your savings, in a controlled financial institution
- A sponsor (like a family member, religious organisation) in the case that:
- They share an actual personal or professional relationship with you.
- They are legally in the UK and are complying with immigration laws.
- They can sustain your visit solely with their finances, without utilizing publicly funded financial resources.
English Language Requirement
Under the Religious Visit Visa category, applicants are not required to have an English language requirement. There is no requirement for language tests or evidence of English ability.
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When seeking a Religious Worker Visa in the UK, a suite of documents must be presented to prove that you qualify and are prepared to travel to the UK to do religious work. The application will follow the paperwork without:
- You must have a reference number in your Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) issued by a UK licensed religious sponsor. This is a compulsory part of your application.
- A passport or a national ID document must also be valid and must have at least one blank page where the visa will be affixed.
- You will also be required to demonstrate that you do have enough personal finances to sustain yourself in the UK, usually bank statements, which need to be recent.
- However, when applying in a country where TB testing is mandatory, your TB test results should be included in the documents.
- You will also incorporate giving biometrics, which includes a digital photograph and fingerprints, generally obtained at a visa application centre.
- In case you desire to take people who are dependent on you (spouse or children), then you shall have submissible documents to affirm your affiliation to each other i.e., marriage certificate or birth certificate.
It is also worth noting that documents not submitted or written in English or Welsh should be professionally translated.
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People under a Religious Visit Visa cannot work in the UK. This limitation is general and covers every employment or income-generating pursuit. You cannot:
- Find a paid or unpaid job
- Start a business or run a business.
- Provide payment or non-payment of goods or services.
- Do full-time internships or work placements
- Be paid by a UK source on account of rendering such services.
Despite being under the Standard Visitor Visa category, and thus permitting certain extra-visitor activities (e.g., pre-arranged paid engagements), these activities are limited:
- Any such activity should be arranged before you arrive
- It has to be finished within 30 days after entering the country.
It is allowed to have remote work with an employer in another country, but such a job has to be incidental: it cannot be the source of your stay. You should also stay focused on the permitted religious or visitor-related activities during your visit.
You can also visit job interviews and seek a job during your stay. But once you receive an offer, you would be expected to leave the UK and submit the relevant work visa to take up the position.
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You can extend your Religious Temporary Worker Visa, yes, but with a set of conditions attached to it. In case you already have a specific visa, and it has been issued to you within less than 24 months, you can obtain its extension on the condition that your overall stay is not more than 24 months or the duration mentioned in your Certificate of Sponsorship and 14 days, whichever is shorter.
You will have to meet all the original visa requirements to extend, such as:
- Being employed by the same licensed sponsor
- Having adequate financial backing
Extensions to your visa should be made online before the expiry of your current visa. In case you are in the UK with dependents (spouse or partner, or children), then they will need to apply separately to extend their stay.
Have a problem with your application?
Our immigration department will be on hand to help you through the process. To see how we can help your extension, contact us on +2080162308.
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Our immigration experts are highly successful in assisting religious workers with their visa requirements, including first-time applications, extensions, and appeals in the event of denial. We provide specific recommendations on whether the Religious Visit Visa or the Temporary Worker Visa is the most appropriate for your case.
Knowing how to collect the documentation, filing your application is just one of the rewards we offer as we walk you through the process step-by-step and with precision.
If your application has been delayed or denied, we may also offer legal services to assist you in addressing the issue.
We believe in offering straightforward, realistic, and honest immigration services, and we will be fair to provide you with the best possible guidance in a friendly yet professionally sound manner.
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I be employed in the UK on a Religious Visitor Visa?
No, on the Religious Visitor Visa, you are not allowed to do any kind of paid or unpaid work. This includes the town businesses, acts of providing, full-time internships, or being remunerated by a UK source.
Which religious-related activities can a visitor on a Religious Visa engage in?
You can take part in activities like preaching, worshipping, presiding at odd ceremonies (e.g., a wedding or a funeral), attending religious training, or conferences, however, without receiving any payments and on an uneventful basis.
Do I need to fulfill an English language requirement for a Religious Visitor or Worker Visa?
No, applicants under the Religious Visitor Visa category are not required to know the English language.
Which documents do I need to file a Religious Worker Visa?
You will have to present your valid Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS), a valid passport with a free page, evidence of financial support, biometrics, your TB test results (if any), and your translated documents (if required). They also need to establish that if they are bringing dependents with them, these dependents are related to them.
What is the procedure and timing of applying for the Religious Temporary Worker Visa?
You can make the application up to 3 months before your intended start date in the UK. You will have to fill in the forms online and submit some form of identification through biometrics or the UK Immigration ID Check app.
Is this possible with the Religious Temporary Worker Visa?
Yes, you can extend that, but no longer than 24 months or the period on your Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS), plus 14 days. You would still be required to meet the initial visa qualifications, and your dependents would need to apply individually.
Where will my Religious Visa accommodation be funded?
You can finance your stay yourself or have a sponsor (a family member or a religious organisation) who is already lawfully in the country and who can cover the entire cost of the stay without recourse to any publicly funded funds.