Citizens of Turkey |
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Under the European Community Association Agreement (ECAA) with Turkey, you have certain rights if:
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you are a Turkish citizen;
you are already in the United Kingdom legally; and
you want to apply to establish yourself in business in the United Kingdom.
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As a Turkish citizen and you are legally in the United Kingdom under an immigration category, you have certain rights if you want to establish yourself in business in the United Kingdom.
You can apply under the 'Turkish ECAA business' category, and your application will be considered under the business provisions that were in force in 1973 (see below).
However, you cannot benefit from the ECAA if you have breached United Kingdom immigration law in order to be able to make your application to establish yourself in business here. If this is the case, you will need to meet the requirements of the current immigration rules - which mean that you will need to apply to switch into the ‘entrepreneur’ category under Tier 1 of the points-based system.
If you already have permission to stay in the United Kingdom as a Turkish ECAA businessperson and you want to extend that permission, please contact us.
If you have been living in the United Kingdom as a Turkish ECAA businessperson for four years and you want to settle here permanently, please contact us.
If you are in the Turkish ECAA business category, you can also apply for permission for your dependent to remain or settle here with you.
If you are legally employed in the United Kingdom because you have a visa that gives you permission to work, a decision by the Association Council of the ECAA has given you certain rights. You may:
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apply for further permission to stay in the United Kingdom after you have worked here for one year, so that you can continue to work for the same employer (if a job is available);
change employers after you have been working here for three years, if you are continuing to work in the same occupation; and
work in any type of job for any employer after you have been working here for four years.
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You will not be able to apply for permission to stay here permanently (known as 'indefinite leave to remain').
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Dependants
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You qualify as a dependant if you are the husband, wife, civil partner, unmarried partner, same-sex partner or child of a person who has valid permission to stay under the ECAA.
There are two ways of applying to extend your permission to remain as a dependant: |
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a Turkish ECAA Worker or Turkish ECAA Businessperson can include their dependent(s) on their own application form
a dependant can apply separately using application form ECAA Turkish Dependant.
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Dependants have to be lawfully present in the United Kingdom when an application is made.
If you need advice on this category, please contact us.
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