Sole Representative Visa

The UK Expansion Worker visa and the Overseas Business Representative Visa, which are both intended for certain media professionals, have superseded the Sole Representative Visa For Overseas companies. We are well-versed in the many visa alternatives available to representatives of foreign companies.

For professional advice contact us at 02033844389.

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What is a UK Sole Representative Visa?

One of the best ways for companies to set up business in the UK is with a sole representative visa. This means that a legitimate business whose main location is not in the UK can operate a branch or subsidiary in the UK.

The applicant will be granted a 3-year entrance clearance upon successful application, with the option to extend it for an additional 2-year period. After five years of continuous leave under the category, the applicant may be eligible for indefinite leave to remain in the UK.

Connect with our expert team to explore UK living, working, or studying options. Call now at 02033844389.

What are the Requirements for a Representative of an Overseas Business Visa?

Obtaining a Sole Representative of an Overseas Business visa requires you to prove to UK Visas and Immigration that your foreign company:

  • Is a business that operates and trades overseas;
  • is based outside of the UK and has its main office and centre there;
  • Not having any other branch, subsidiary, or agent in the UK;
  • Plans to open a registered branch or fully owned subsidiary in the UK that will do the same kind of business as the foreign affiliate;
  • Establishing an overseas business or appointing a sole agent will not be done mainly to make it easier for the representative to enter or stay in the country;
  • intends to keep its main office overseas.

It’s also important to show that you:

  • Are a real representative of a business in another country;
  • Are already top employees of the overseas business; 
  • Have been hired and signed up to work for the overseas business outside of the UK;
  • As the main representative of the overseas business in the UK, you must have the business knowledge, skills, and experience to do so.
  • Have the full power to negotiate and make operational choices for the overseas business;
  • Plan to work full-time as an agent for an overseas company;
  • You do not plan to start your own business or work for someone else’s;
  • Do not own or manage more than half of the overseas business, whether that’s through a partnership, a sole proprietorship, a significant shareholding, or some other way;
  • Being able to speak and understand English at least at CEFR Level A1 is required. 
  • You must also be able to show that you can support yourself and your dependents in the UK without using public funds.

Different situations will have different exact standards that you will need to meet. You might want to get professional help from a visa lawyer.

Contact our UK Immigration Solicitors at 02033844389 or fill out our enquiry form to discuss your overseas business representative visa application.

Our experienced UK immigration Solicitors can help you with your immigration process.

Is it possible for your company to open an office or subsidiary in the UK?

An employee can only get a UK Overseas Business Representative visa if the parent company is a real, operating business in another country. The parent company from outside the UK must have its main office and base outside of the UK and plan to keep them there. The business won’t be able to join if the parent company already has a branch, subsidiary, or other agent in the UK. It doesn’t matter if the company doesn’t have a representative in the UK; if an employee sets up an office or subsidiary there, the company will be disqualified because it would move its main operations to the UK. 

The Home Office will also need to be sure that the branch or wholly-owned subsidiary in the UK will actually do the same kind of business as the foreign business and isn’t just being set up to make it easier for the sole representative to come and stay.

Is it possible for your company to open an office or subsidiary in the UK
Our experienced UK immigration Solicitors can help you with your immigration process.

Choosing an Overseas Business visa applicant's sole representative

For a Sole Representative visa, the applicant must really be a top employee of the overseas business who was hired outside of the UK of the overseas company. They will really have the skills, experience, and understanding of the overseas business that is needed to be the only representative of that business in the UK. 

The person applying for a Sole Representative visa will be able to negotiate and make operational choices on behalf of the overseas business. They must also really want to work full-time as a representative of the overseas business. In the UK, they must really not want to do business on their own or serve the interests of any other business.

Our experienced UK immigration Solicitors can help you with your immigration process.

Are sole representatives shareholders?

The Immigration Rules say that someone applying for a Sole Representative visa can’t own or control more than 50% of the foreign business. This is true whether they own or control it through a partnership, a sole proprietorship, a shareholding agreement, or some other way.

This means that people who want to apply can own shares in the business, but not more than 50% of the shares that are offered at the time of application. Existing majority owners may be able to get a Sole Representative visa if they sell some of their shares before they apply. The Home Office will look at how the company shares were distributed both this year and last, so candidates should keep that in mind.

Applicants, whether they are shareholders or not, should also know that the path requires more than just ownership; it also requires control. No matter what kind of ownership stake applicants have, they can’t run the overseas business in any other way.

Get in touch with our London-based immigration lawyers for more information on the ownership and control requirements for a Sole Representative visa.

Our experienced UK immigration Solicitors can help you with your immigration process.

Employment Terms for an Overseas Business Representative Visa

A Sole Representative must be able to open and run a branch or subsidiary in the UK and make most of the company’s important operational business choices in that country. People with a Sole Representative of an Overseas Business visa must also work full-time. People with a Sole Representative visa do not need to make a certain minimum pay or get a specific set of benefits. However, their salary plan should be appropriate for a senior person within the organisation.

Our experienced UK immigration Solicitors can help you with your immigration process.

What is the centre of activities test for a business visa for a sole representative?

A parent company must plan to keep its main place of business abroad in order to meet the standards of the UK’s Representative of an Overseas Business visa. The Home Office will not grant a Sole Representative visa if it is clear that the applicant plans to move the main office of the business to the UK and stop doing business outside of the UK.

If the visa applicant is a major shareholder, the driving force behind the parent company, none or few senior employees will stay abroad, or the company’s success seems to be tied to the applicant’s specific skills and performance, it may be assumed that they want to move the main centre of their business to the UK. You can get professional help from our visa lawyers.

Rules for a Sole Representative's stay

As with all types of immigration rules, a person with an Overseas Business visa must follow certain rules while they are in the country. The most important rule is that Sole Representatives can only work for the company that sent them to the UK in the first place. In the UK, you can’t work for the same company and have any other businesses or do any other part-time or contract work at the same time. 

Dependents of Sole Representatives

Your husband, civil partner, unmarried or same-sex partner, and any children under 18 can come with you or join you as the sole representative of an overseas business. Unfortunately, Sole Representatives can’t bring their parents, brothers, or other extended family members with them. This is true for most other types of immigration rules as well.

Anyone who comes with or joins a Sole Representative must not own or control the foreign business or have a majority stake in it. This includes a spouse, civil partner, unmarried partner, or same-sex partner. This rule is the same whether the ownership or control is through a partnership, a single proprietorship, a shareholding, or some other type of agreement.

Our experienced UK immigration Solicitors can help you with your immigration process.

Sole Representative Visa Extension

If your application for a Sole Representative visa is accepted, you will be able to come to the UK and stay there for up to three years. After this, you will have to apply again for leave to stay, and this time it will be good for two years.

As a Representative of an Overseas Business, you can get an extension of stay as long as you are still working for the same company as when your visa was first granted and have set up the parent company’s first presence in the UK. The main place of business and offices of the employer must still be outside the UK. When applying for a visa, you have to show that you have brought in business (mostly with UK companies) for your company and that they are paying you. If you talk to an immigration lawyer, they can make sure that your application for an extension is presented properly and is correct in all aspects.

Our experienced UK immigration Solicitors can help you with your immigration process.

Settling in the UK as a holder of a Sole Representative visa

You might be able to apply for settlement after five years of living in the UK as the only representative of a business from another country. 

  • You must continue to meet the requirements for an extension of stay. 
  • You must also show that you have spent the five years before the application date in the UK legally as a Representative of an Overseas Business. 
  • Moreover, you must have spent five years in a row in the UK and not been away for more than 180 days in any of the five years before the application date. 
  • You must also be able to talk and understand English at least at level B1 according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages unless you are 65 years or older. You must also meet the Knowledge of Life in the UK requirement. 
  • Additionally, your boss will have to say that they still need you to work for them, that you are getting paid enough, and that they will need you for a while.

On October 6, 2021, more rules were put in place for ILR as a Sole Representative of an Overseas Business. If you are a sole representative asking for settlement, you must now also show that in the five years before your ILR application:

  • The international company you work for has been trading and operating, and its main office and base are still outside of the UK.
  • You have worked full-time for the foreign company you work for or for that company’s branch or division in the UK;
  • You have not done work for another company or started your own business;
  • As a single proprietor, a partner, or through some other arrangement, you have not had a majority stake in, owned, or controlled a majority of the foreign business you represent;
  • As the representative of an international business, you set up and registered a branch or fully owned subsidiary of that business in the UK. The branch or subsidiary did the same kind of business as the international business.

In addition, you will need to provide certain documents to back your ILR application. You might want to get professional help from a visa lawyer.

Settling in the UK as a holder of a Sole Representative visa
Our experienced UK immigration Solicitors can help you with your immigration process.

What is the Processing Time for Sole Representative Visa UK?

  • You can apply up to three months before your trip; 
  • You may be able to get priority service for entry clearance forms, and you should hear back within ten to fifteen days;
  • When you ask for entry clearance from outside the UK, it usually takes about three weeks to process. The working time for applications from within the UK is currently between 8 and 12 weeks.
Our experienced UK immigration Solicitors can help you with your immigration process.

How can UK Immigration Solicitors Help?

For a Sole Representative of an Overseas Business visa application, the Immigration Rules are very strict about the papers that must be shown. An immigration lawyer may be able to help you make sure that your application is presented properly and follows all the rules.

When it comes to business immigration, our lawyers have helped all kinds of companies and partnerships get Sole Representative visas for their workers. Our lawyers know all about the different immigration options for businesses, whether they are small or big multinationals that want to grow in the UK. They will help you understand the complicated Home Office rules and policies.

When it comes to understanding and satisfying our clients’ needs, we take great satisfaction in being both approachable and proactive. Our team is committed to providing businesses with trustworthy immigration advice in a courteous and professional manner.

Our experienced UK immigration Solicitors can help you with your immigration process.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Most of the time, a child needs a visa in order to live in the UK. For instance, if their parent is a foreign national working or studying in the country, the child may need a Child Dependant Visa.

That’s not possible. You can’t change to this category from inside the UK. You have to ask for entry clearance from outside the UK.

An administrative review of the refusal of the entry clearance application is what you can do if your application for entry clearance was turned down because you are the only representative of a foreign business.

The Home Office UKVI can allow a sole representative after an office is set up in the UK, as long as that branch:

  • only lives as a legal entity
  • has opened a bank account
  • has found facilities and set them up

A person can only get entry clearance from the Home Office UKVI if:

  • Nobody works there.
  • A transaction has not yet been made at this branch.
  • In this case, it might be when the company becomes a legal body before expanding into the UK.

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