Minister Of Religion Visa (T2)
To make a successful Minister of Religion visa application, you must meet all the Minister of Religion visa requirements & submit all the supporting documents.
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Minister Of Religion Visa (T2) & Requirements
The T2 Minister of Religion Visa is for individuals who have been sponsored to perform a mainly pastoral leading role within a bona fide faith-based organisation or religious order in the UK.
The T2 Minister of Religion route can lead to settlement in the UK and the applicant can bring his / her family members as dependants.
If you wish to support the activities of a UK religious institution by conducting religious work such as working in a religious order or undertaking non-pastoral work for a religious order, for no more than 2 years, you may wish to consider the Temporary Work – Religious Worker Visa instead.
Our highly experienced immigration solicitors based in Levenshulme, Manchester can provide free general immigration advice online via email, online chat, or an enquiry form. For detailed advice, please book an appointment with our expert immigration solicitor today.
You can contact us on 01612258181 or leave your details here for a call back request regarding your immigration matter.
Requirements for T2 Minister Of Religion Visa
You must meet the following requirements to qualify for a Minister of Religion Visa (T2):
- You are aged 18 or over;
- You have an offer of a job as a minister of religion from an approved sponsor that holds a T2 Minister of Religion Visa sponsor licence (which requires a valid Certificate of Sponsorship for the role you wish to undertake);
- You genuinely intend, and are able, to undertake the role for which you are being sponsored;
- You satisfy an English language requirement;
- You have personal savings to support yourself in the UK;
- Your application does not fall for refusal under the general grounds for refusal;
- You have provided a valid TB certificate, if required.
The exact requirements you will need to satisfy may vary depending on your circumstances. You can book an appointment or call us on 0161 225 8181 to discuss your immigration matter.
T2 Minister of Religion Role and Activities
The T2 Minister of Religion Visa is available to individuals who are qualified to do the job of a Minister of Religion. You will have a key leading role within your religious establishment or organisation in the UK, such as a minister of religion, missionary, member of a religious order, or other religious worker in a mainly pastoral role.
As a Minister of Religion you will be expected to perform religious duties within your sponsor’s organisation or directed by your sponsor’s organisation in the UK. These duties may include preaching, pastoral and non-pastoral work. However, your work should be mainly of a pastoral nature, such as leading a congregation in performing rites and rituals, and preaching the essentials of the creed. This would include, but not be limited to, religious leaders such as priests, imams, rabbis and other ministers of religion.
Your role as a Minister of Religion should not involve mainly non-pastoral duties, such as school teaching, media production, domestic work or administrative and clerical work, unless your role is a senior position within your sponsor’s organisation (such as a financial controller). Applicants for these other roles should consider being sponsored on an alternative route such as the Skilled Worker route.
You can book an appointment for detailed consultation or call us on 0161 225 8181 to seek legal advice regarding the T2 Minister of Religion Visa.
Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) for T2 Minister of Religion
In order to obtain a Minister of Religion Visa (T2) you will need to have a valid Certificate of Sponsorship from a Home Office approved sponsor for the role you are applying to undertake in the UK. Your sponsor will need to hold a valid T2 Minister of Religion sponsor licence.
Your sponsor will be a bona fide religious organisation which:
- Has charitable status;
- Is the structure for a faith-based community with a common system of belief and spiritual goals, codes of behaviour and religious practice, which exists to support and/or propagate common beliefs and practices and where beliefs:
- include any religious belief or similar philosophical belief in something transcendental, metaphysical or ultimate;
- exclude any philosophical or political belief concerned with man, unless that belief is similar to religious belief;
- Does not exclude anyone from its community on the basis of gender, nationality or ethnicity;
- Receives financial and material support for its core religious ministry from its congregation or community on a voluntary basis, without promise or coercion;
- Does not breach, or encourage others to breach, any UK legislation;
- Does not work against the public interest, or have a detrimental effect on personal or family life as commonly understood in the UK.
Your Certificate of Sponsorship will confirm information such as details of the job and salary that has been offered to you, that you are qualified to do the job of a T2 Minister of Religion, that you are a member of the sponsor’s religious order (if your sponsor’s organisation is a religious order) and that you will perform religious duties within your sponsor’s organisation or directed by your sponsor’s organisation in the UK.
You will need to apply for a Minister of Religion Visa (T2) within the 3 month period before the start date of your role as stated on the Certificate of Sponsorship.
Financial requirement for T2 Minister of Religion
Unless you have been in the UK with a valid visa for at least 12 months or your employer agrees to cover your costs during your first month in the UK (and this is confirmed on your Certificate of Sponsorship) you will need to have at least £1,270 in your bank account, held for at least 28 days, ending not more than 31 days before the date of your Minister of Religion Visa (T2) application.
English language requirement for T2 Minister of Religion
You will need to have English language skills at level B2 on the Common European Framework of Reference for language in reading, writing, speaking and listening.
Switching into T2 Minister of Religion Visa
If you currently have leave to remain in another immigration category, you may extend your stay in the UK by switching into the Minister of Religion (T2) route unless you have, or were last granted, permission as a Visitor, Short-term student, Parent of a Child Student, Seasonal Worker, Domestic Worker in a Private Household or outside the Immigration Rules.
Duration of Minister of Religion Visa T2
If your application for a Minister of Religion Visa (T2) is successful, you will be permitted to enter and remain in the UK for either the period of employment stated on your Certificate of Sponsorship plus 14 days or 3 years and 1 month, whichever is shorter.
Ministers of Religion can spend up to 6 years on the T2 Minister of Religion route. If you apply to stay in the UK as a T2 Minister of Religion from within the UK, you will be granted permission to stay in the UK for either the period of employment stated on your Certificate of Sponsorship plus 14 days or 3 years or the difference between 6 years and the period you have already been granted permission on the T2 route, whichever is shorter.
Settlement on T2 Minister of Religion T2 route
You can apply for settlement / ILR as a T2 Ministers of Religion in the UK after 5 years’ continuous residence.
Time spent in the T2 Minister of Religion category can be combined with time spent in the International Sportsperson, Skilled Worker, Tier 1 (other than Tier 1 (Graduate Entrepreneur), Sole Representative of an Overseas Business, Innovator and Global Talent routes.
You must not have been outside the UK for more than 180 days in any 12-month period during the 5 year period relied on.
Your sponsor will need to confirm that they still require you to work for them for the foreseeable future and that you will be paid an appropriate salary. Unless you are exempt, you will need to demonstrate English language ability on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages in speaking and listening to at least level B1 and pass the Life in the UK test.
Dependants of Minister of Religion T2 Visa holders
T2 Ministers of Religion may be joined or accompanied by a dependent partner over the age of 18 and/or dependent children under the age of 18.
As well as providing evidence of relationship, dependents may need to satisfy a financial requirement. Unless they have been in the UK with a valid visa for at least 12 months or the T2 Minister of Religion’s employer agrees to cover their costs during their first month in the UK, the T2 Minister of Religion – or their partner or child – will need to have £285 for a partner, £315 for one child and £200 for each additional child. The money will need to have been held for at least 28 days, ending not more than 31 days before the date of their visa application.
In order to qualify for settlement, dependent partners of T2 Ministers of Religion need to complete 5 years residence in the UK, with absences of no more than 180 days in any 12-month period and, unless exempt, demonstrate English language ability on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages in speaking and listening to at least level B1 and pass the Life in the UK test.
T2 Minister of Religion visa processing time
Most Minister of Religion Visa (T2) applications are decided within 3 weeks. It may be possible to secure a faster decision if the visa application centre offers a priority service.
Most applications to extend stay as a T2 Minister of Religion are decided within 8 weeks.
Our legal fee
We charge a fixed fee starting from £700 + VAT to £1000 + VAT for our professional legal services in relation to Minister Of Religion (T2) visa applications. The agreed fixed-fee will depend on the complexity of the matter and the casework involved in the matter.
We will:
- Agree to represent you on a “No Win, No Fee” basis which means you pay nothing to us but you might be liable to pay the defendant costs if you lose and;
- Make sure you receive your maximum entitlement to compensation. We won’t settle for less.
How Can We Help With Your UK Visa Application?
Our expert UK immigration solicitor will guide you through every step of your application process including advice about legal requirements, eligibility criteria and required documents.
- Detailed immigration advice
- List of documents and assessment of supporting documents
- Direct Access to your case handler and supervisor
- Remote & face to face service
- Submission of your immigration application after your approval
- We book an appointment for you to enrol your biometrics
- We prepare our legal representations/cover letter
- We upload all the supporting documents
- Unlimited chase up letters to the Home Office
- We keep you updated with every stage of your application
- 24/7 support in urgent matters
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