Business Immigration Lawyers

Business Immigration Overview

The free movement of capital and goods worldwide raises the question of the global movement of talent. Addressing skill gaps existing among the UK domestic workforce cannot be solved by policymakers overnight. Faced with such a skills shortage situation, UK companies must be able to tap the global talent pool to avoid any threats to their current profit margins or future growth prospects.

On the other hand, many foreign entrepreneurs, innovators, business leaders, and start-up founders today wish to expand their business footprint in the UK, given the country’s strategic importance in the global financial and technological space. They often struggle to understand what they require from a legal standpoint to expand in the UK and how to comply with the business immigration law to continue operating legally in the country.

Business immigration requirements are often the strictest in every country’s immigration policies. The UK government is no exception. The Home Office not only wants to protect the interests of its domestic workforce but also ensure that employers do not abuse work visa routes or indulge in malpractices leading to “modern slavery” or illegal working conditions. Regarding welcoming international companies or start-ups, the benefits they bring to the UK and its citizens are rigorously scrutinised.

Compliance is the key if you want to employ (and continue employing) foreign workers and run your business operations in the UK. Therefore hiring a corporate immigration attorney is crucial in your strategic planning phase.

Professional Immigration Law Advice for Businesses: Our Areas of Service

We at IAS have a team of highly qualified and expert lawyers who specialise in UK business immigration issues. Over the years, we have been advising businesses and individuals globally on immigration matters, visa applications, appeals, and visa/permit extensions.

At IAS, we understand your business immigration-related challenges and requirements vary. You might, for example, be looking for legal and immigration assistance as well as practical advice with one or more of the following: 

• Expanding your business operations in the UK
• Obtaining sponsor licences in the UK to enable you to sponsor your foreign workers
• Complying fully with the complex immigration laws and the Home Office guidelines while recruiting foreign national employees
• Transferring your staff from overseas offices/branches
• Managing visa/permit application processes for your international employees
• Managing any other risks associated with the immigration process
• Recruiting international students or graduate trainees/interns, etc.
• Complying with tax and social security regulations for migrant workers
• Adhering to data privacy rules and employment laws, including meeting the minimum compensation and benefit thresholds
• Sponsor licence renewal or improving your licence rating to ‘A’ from a ‘B’-rated licence
• Complying with any other government or immigration system restrictions

Our expert and experienced business immigration lawyers also offer bespoke services in the following areas:

• Advising on and thoroughly reviewing your business plan before it is presented to a designated body for endorsement (for Innovator Founder visa)
• Strategic planning and multi-jurisdictional immigration assessments for individual and team relocations
• Global, regional and country-specific business travel advice and compliance assessments
• Explaining visa/immigration permission requirements in layperson’s terms (i.e., avoiding legal jargon)
• Visa/permit eligibility assessments and strategic advice
• Drafting, reviewing, and updating your company’s internal global immigration policies
• Providing comprehensive training for your HR staff and preparing them for the Home Office visits, covering global immigration basics, distinctions between business travel and work permission, etc.
• Liaising with country governments on your behalf as necessary

Business Immigration Routes to the UK

The UK business immigration visas can be classified under two broad heads. One category is the documentation and approvals you require as a UK-based employer to hire overseas staff in the host country and the suitable visa options for your foreign workers.

This also includes the global business mobility routes (intracompany transfer routes) where multinational companies wish to transfer their overseas staff to work in their UK branch or subsidiary for a fixed period or to set up and run their business operations in the UK.

The second category deals with the business and immigration requirements for foreign entrepreneurs and company owners who wish to set up and run their businesses in the UK. From getting your business plan endorsed by a UK-designated body or acquiring an existing business in the country to migrating to the UK to work for one’s own company, business immigration solicitors can provide legal and professional support services that can be vital at every step of your journey to expand a business footprint in the UK.

Hire Skilled Foreign Nationals for Your UK Company

There are several work visa options in the UK through which you can hire international workers (often through a points-based system) to fill in the positions in your company to perform duties and responsibilities that cannot be performed by your British citizen employees or European Union nationals having settled or pre-settled status in the UK through the EU Settlement Scheme. 

A Skilled Worker visa allows overseas talent to work for your company in the UK. The offered job type must be on the eligible occupations list and meet the minimum salary threshold for that occupation.

Similar to the Skilled Worker visa, the Health and Care Worker visa is for qualified foreign doctors, nurses and other health and care professionals who must be sponsored by a licensed health and care sector employer to come and work in the UK in roles that are listed as eligible occupations and meet the specified salary levels.

Another sponsorship option for hiring a skilled foreign worker in the UK is a Scale-up visa, provided your UK branch or subsidiary meets the criteria and holds a suitable sponsor licence. Unlike a Skilled Worker visa, Scale-up visa holders may change jobs and/or employers after six months without a Home Office permission, so comes with greater flexibility for both employers and employees.

A Skilled Worker visa and a Health and Care Worker visa are valid for up to five years and can be extended. A Scale-up Worker visa is initially valid for 2 years. You can extend your visa by 3 years as many times as you like, as long as you still meet the eligibility requirements. All these visas provide a settlement route, meaning the visa holders can apply to settle permanently in the UK after living and working in the country for five years if they are otherwise eligible.

Hiring Temporary Workers for UK companies

You may also hire workers for your UK business to come and work for you in the country on a temporary basis. Your UK company will need a Temporary Worker licence to let you sponsor such overseas workers, including for volunteer work as well as job-shadowing.

There are six Temporary Work visas: 

• Seasonal Worker visa
• Government Authorised Exchange visa
• Creative Worker visa
• Religious Worker visa
• Charity Worker visa
• International Agreement visa

Self-Sponsored Skilled Worker Visa

Although the UK does not offer a self-employment visa, as a foreign business owner, you may take the Skilled Worker visa route to come and work in the UK for your own company. Your UK company must be a genuine and viable business and hold a Worker sponsor licence to sponsor a Skilled Worker in the UK. However, this is not a straightforward option.

If you wish to use your UK company’s sponsorship licence to assign yourself a certificate of sponsorship (CoS) to come and work in the country, you should seek legal advice if you considering self-sponsorship. Note a family member must not issue the CoS to you as it is not permitted to assign a CoS to a family member.

Move Your Overseas Employees to Your UK Operations

Overseas businesses with a presence in the country can use the global business mobility routes to temporarily transfer their foreign national staff to the UK for a specific work assignment that their UK-based employees cannot undertake.

There are five Global Business Mobility immigration routes to the UK:

Senior or Specialist Worker

When your overseas worker is a senior manager or specialist employee who is being assigned to your UK branch or subsidiary company to undertake temporary work assignments, they will need to apply for a Senior or Specialist Worker visa.

The Senior or Specialist Worker visa has replaced the Intra-Company Transfer visa. Applicants must be paid at least £48,500 or the ‘going rate’ for their job, whichever is higher.

Graduate Trainee

The Graduate Trainee visa is applicable where your overseas worker is on a graduate training programme leading to a senior management or specialist position and is required to do a work placement in the UK as part of the said training programme. They will be assigned to your UK business to undertake temporary work assignments.

UK Expansion Worker

When your overseas worker is a senior manager or specialist employee undertaking temporary work assignments in the country related to your business’ expansion plan in the UK, they must apply for a UK Expansion Worker visa.

Service Supplier

The Service Supplier visa is applicable where the foreign staff in question is either a contractual service supplier employed by you as an overseas service provider or a self-employed independent professional based outside the UK, and they need to undertake an assignment in the country to provide services covered by any of the UK’s international trade agreements, either in force or being provisionally applied.

Secondment Worker

A Secondment Worker visa is applicable for your overseas employees undertaking temporary work assignments in the country where they are being seconded to the UK as part of a high-value contract or investment by their overseas employer (i.e., your company).

Set Up a Business in the UK

The Innovator Founder visa is for foreign entrepreneurs with a unique business idea who want to set up and run an innovative business in the UK. To be eligible for this visa, you must:

• Have a business offering that is different from anything already existing in the market, has potential for growth, can create jobs in the UK, and can expand nationally and internationally
• Have your business idea endorsed by an approved endorsing body or a legacy endorsing body recognised by the Home Office.
• Meet the other eligibility criteria, such as:
  • You are 18 or over
  • You meet the English language requirement
  • You have sufficient funds to support yourself and your family (if any) in the UK

An Innovative Founder visa is valid for three years and is renewable after that, provided you continue meeting the initial conditions. You may also apply to settle in the UK after three years. However, your visa validity may be cut short if the endorsing body withdraws its approval. 

Migrate to Work in the UK Without a Job Offer

Certain UK visas allow foreign nationals to come and work in the UK without a job offer. This means you will not need a sponsoring employer if you are eligible for the following visas:

Global Talent Visa

The Global Talent visa is for individuals who are leaders or potential leaders in academia or research, arts and culture, or digital technology. This allows them to live, work and study in the UK without requiring a valid job offer from a UK-based employer.

To apply for a Global Talent visa, you must either be endorsed by a recognized UK body as a leader or potential leader in your field or have won an eligible award.

A Global Talent visa can be granted for up to 5 years. You can apply to extend your visa as many times as you like, in increments of 1 to 5 years. You may be able to apply for indefinite leave to remain after 3 or 5 years, depending on your specific situation.

High Potential Individual Visa

If you have been awarded a qualification by an eligible university as specified on the Home Office website in the last five years, you may be eligible to apply for a High Potential Individual (HPI) visa to come and work in the UK. This visa also allows you to be self-employed.

You will be allowed to stay in the country for a maximum of two years, or three years if you have a PhD or other doctoral qualification, on an HPI visa. You cannot renew an HPI visa or apply to settle in the UK on this basis. However, you may be able to switch to a different visa (eg a Skilled Worker visa).

Visit the UK for Business Purposes (Short-Term)

Foreign citizens can apply for a Standard Visitor visa for business purposes to engage in certain types of activities in the UK, such as:

• Take part in business meetings or negotiations
• Attend training, interviews, conferences, seminars, trade fairs, etc.
• Sign deals and contracts with a UK company
• Visit supplier sites or carrying out business inspections
• Deliver corporate training or giving a one-off or series of lectures
• Provide certain technical or IT-related services if you represent an overseas business with a service contract with a UK company or organisation, etc.

Please note that you will not be allowed to do any paid or unpaid work for a UK business or as a self-employed professional in the UK on this visa.

A Standard Visitor visa for business will allow you to stay in the UK for six months. Frequent business visitors may also be able to apply for a long-term Standard Visitor visa with a validity of two, five or 10 years. However, you cannot stay in the UK for more than six months on each visit.

Sponsor Licence UK: Eligibility, Requirements, and Compliance

Licensed UK companies can issue CoS to eligible foreign nationals, enabling them to apply for a UK work visa. These work visas require sponsorship by a licensed UK employer:

• Skilled Worker visa
• Global Business Mobility visa
• Health and Care Worker visa
• Temporary Worker visa

The type of sponsor licence you apply for depends on whether you are hiring foreign nationals for skilled or long-term employment or temporary workers for specific types of temporary employment. For example, if you hire a foreign national on a Skilled Worker visa, you must apply for a Skilled Worker sponsor licence.

You may apply for a licence covering both types of workers. Hiring foreign nationals for unpaid employment, such as working for a charity in the UK, will also require a sponsor licence.

UK businesses must meet the following criteria to be eligible to apply for a sponsor licence:

• Have appropriate systems in place to monitor sponsored workers and people to manage sponsorship in your business
• Not have unspent criminal convictions for immigration offences or financial crimes like money laundering, fraud etc.
• Not had a sponsor licence revoked in the last 12 months
• Have suitable HR systems, policies and processes in place to meet their sponsor duties

In addition, UK businesses can only sponsor a foreign national worker if:

• There is a genuine vacancy (although there is no longer necessary to conduct a resident labour market test)
• The job offer complies with the UK minimum salary requirements and working time regulations. The company may lose their sponsor licence, and the foreign national worker may be refused a UK work visa if this criterion is not met
• The foreign national worker meets the other requirements for their work visa

You must prove that you can carry out your duties and meet all regulatory requirements as a licensed employer. UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) may visit your business premises during your application review process to establish your trustworthiness as a licensed employer.

UK Sponsor Licence Duties

A UK sponsor licence comes with specific responsibilities, which you must meet to keep your sponsor licence valid. The sponsor licence guidance, as specified by the Home Office, mentions four primary responsibilities: 

• Record-keeping
• Monitoring and reporting (part of day to day management of your sponsor management system)
• Absence monitoring of your sponsor workers
• Notifying the Home Office of changes in circumstances

Immigration Compliance Audit

If the Home Office has reasons to believe that your HR systems are inadequate to comply with any of the above sponsor duties, your sponsor licence application may be refused, or your existing sponsor licence may be revoked.

To avoid this, please conduct an internal audit of your existing HR systems periodically to identify potential issues and breaches of compliance obligations. If your internal audit findings report any such issues or gaps, please address them before making a sponsor licence application.

Even after you are granted a sponsor licence, you must regularly check whether practices and procedures at any of your offices, where sponsored employees will be working, continue to meet the Home Office standards to ensure full compliance.

Challenging Refusals in Business Immigration

If the Home Office refuses to grant your UK business immigration visa application, you will receive a refusal letter explaining the reason(s) thereof, as well as whether you are eligible for an administrative review.

Please note that not all UK work and business visa decisions can be challenged in this way. This option is available only when a decision has been made on an eligible work or business visa. Usually, an administrative review is possible for the following visas:

• Skilled Worker
• Scale-up Worker
• High Potential Individual
• International Sportsperson
• Seasonal Worker
• Religious Worker
• Charity Worker
• Creative Worker
• International Agreement Worker
• Government Authorised Exchange Worker
• Innovator Founder
• Global Talent
• Global mobility routes

Administrative Review

Asking for an Administrative Review is possible if you have reason to believe that the Home Office’s decision of refusing to grant you a business immigration visa is based on erroneous grounds as it contains one or more case working errors as defined in the UK immigration rules.

The visa refusal letter from UKVI will confirm whether your case qualifies for an administrative review. If so, you must apply online for an administrative review within 28 days of receiving your visa rejection letter if you are applying from outside the UK or 14 days if applying from within the UK and pay a £80 fee.

The Home Office then will review its decision and rectify it if it agrees that a relevant case working error was made while finalising the previous refusal decision. However, if the Home Office stands by its original refusal decision even after a review, you cannot request a second review (unless the result of the first review found new reasons for refusal), nor can you appeal the administrative review decision.

Therefore, seeking professional legal support is recommended if you are contemplating an administrative review. In case of an unsuccessful administrative review, your UK business immigration lawyer can also help you seek a judicial review of the outcome.

Judicial Review

If the administrative review for your UK business immigration visa application has been unsuccessful and you have exhausted all other options to remedy such a situation, a judicial review may be your last resort. It involves a court proceeding where a judge will review the lawfulness of a decision or action made by the Home Office concerning your UK business immigration application.

Judicial review is procedural in nature, meaning the judge will focus on how the Home Office reached its decision. They will not review whether the decision was correct.

Instead, the judge will review whether the Home Office has had the legal power to make the decision (‘illegality’), whether the process leading to the refusal decision has been improper (‘procedural unfairness’), and whether the decision under challenge is so unreasonable that no reasonable person, acting reasonably, could have made it (‘irrationality’).

You will need an expert UK business immigration lawyer, preferably one with vast experience in dealing with such cases and advising clients, to guide you through the complex web of a judicial review application, which can be costly, risky and complex at its best.

Is It Expensive to Hire a Business Immigration Attorney?

The cost of engaging business immigration law firms will vary depending on what services you are looking for, the complexities involved in your situation, and the extent of services required.

For example, the attorney fees will be higher for a multinational corporation moving several foreign employees to the UK (or hiring a considerable number of overseas workers) than a start-up founder who needs to hire just one key staff internationally.

Likewise, if you need us to provide end-to-end support for your Innovator Founder visa, starting from assisting you in putting together your business plan, guiding you through the endorsement process, and helping you with the visa application for yourself and your dependent family members, the service charges will be higher than if we are only helping you with the visa application part.

Irrespective of the cost, please note that it is crucial to hire an experienced and reputed business immigration lawyer to guide and advise with your visa/licence/permit applications and/or represent your company in a tribunal if your application is refused or challenged. 

Professional legal advice can increase your chances of receiving a favourable decision, especially in complex immigration situations.

Our International Business Immigration Attorneys Can Help

At IAS, our business immigration team of lawyers has the expertise and experience to assist you with your business immigration requirements, regardless of the complexity of your case. We have helped several companies and organisations with their business immigration challenges so far.

We understand that it is of utmost importance for any business to comply with all relevant rules and regulations in a country so that you can continue operating legally there. As your business immigration and employment lawyers, we can help your company meet the compliance requirements in the UK, leaving you free to focus on the strategic and operational sides of your business.

We can also handle your immigration requirements, such as applying for a spouse visa for your husband/wife or partners.

IAS is here for you at every step of the process, from helping you decide which visa/permit option would be most suitable for your foreign worker in your circumstances to advising you on the required licences and documentation to complete your workers’ visa/permit applications on their behalf.

You might choose from any of our below packages and/or ask for more customizable services as required in your immigration situation:

• The Advice Package: Comprehensive immigration advice tailored to suit your needs and situation
• The Application Package: Legal advice and actual assistance in completing your visa application process
• The Fast-Track Package: A premium service for those on a tight deadline for submitting the visa/permit application
• The Appeal Package: Preparation of your appeal case and full legal representation in any hearings/tribunals on your behalf

To learn more about our full-service offering and how we can help you, please call us on +44 (0)333 414 9244 today to speak to our team of specialist immigration solicitors.

How Does Business Immigration Impact International Trade and Economic Growth?

Global movement of talent leads to increased trade between the home countries and the host countries by raising demand for certain goods and helping to establish business relationships. They can also help reduce the informal trade and economic barriers between countries arising from cultural, linguistic, or institutional differences. 

Immigrants have a profound impact on the host country’s economy by addressing skills and labour shortages in the domestic markets. They bring innovative ideas and fresh perspectives to business, leading to new market opportunities. On the other hand, they also contribute to the economic growth of their home countries through foreign remittances and by increasing global economic and trade connections.

For Individuals Seeking a Business Visa in the UK, What Is the Minimum Investment Amount Required for Eligibility?

No minimum investment amount is specified to be eligible to apply for a business visa in the UK. If you wish to apply for a Standard Visitor visa for business purposes, you must submit evidence that you have (or your sponsor has) sufficient financial means to cover your expenses during your stay in the UK.

If you are applying for an Innovator Founder visa, you must satisfy the endorsing body that you have initial funds to set up and run your company in the UK (and prove the origin of such funds).