Making an initial application will depend whether you are in the United Kingdom or outside the UK. You must supply all the supporting documents, and ensure the documents are originals.

If you are making the application from inside the UK, you must ensure you score enough points on each mandatory and optional categories. The application along with any dependants should be made to the Home Office or can be done through a legal representative, who can process an application within a day.

The procedures are similar when making an application from outside the United Kingdom, you need to ensure that you score enough points and must provide relevant original documents. You make the submission to the nearest consulate or embassy, and can be done through a third party company.

Making an application from the Channel Islands (Jersey, Guernsey, Herm, Sark, and Alderney) and the Isle of Man is different as they have their own immigration laws and policies, separate to those of the United Kingdom. For immigration control, we treat these islands as outside the United Kingdom.

If you are living within the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man, and have been given permission to come or stay (also known as entry clearance or leave tor emain) there by one of the island authorities, you will not be able to make an application for permission to stay in the United Kingdom directly from the islands.

You can apply in two ways. These are:

• by returning to the country where you are normally resident (your home country) and applying for permission come to the United Kingdom (also known as entry clearance) from there; or 
• if your permission to come or stay on one of the islands is still current, you can come directly to the United Kingdom.

Once you are in the United Kingdom, you may apply to switch as long as the immigration category that you were given permission to come or stay on the islands is one that the United Kingdom immigration law allows you to switch into. This is because, once you have travelled to the United Kingdom, Home Office are able to treat the permission given to you under the island laws as if it had been given by the United Kingdom authorities.