Sole Representative Visa
Outline
The Sole Representative of an Overseas Business visa category is for businesses that wish to send a senior employee to the UK in order to establish their commercial presence in the UK.
Who can apply:
You can apply as a representative of an overseas business if you’re either:
- the sole representative of an overseas business planning to set up either a UK branch or wholly owned subsidiary OR
- an employee of an overseas newspaper, news agency or broadcasting organisation posted on a long-term assignment to the UK
To be eligible for this visa you must:
- have enough money to support yourself without help from public funds
- meet the English requirement
To apply as a sole representative, the individual must:
- be recruited and employed outside the UK by an active and trading business (whose headquarters and principal place of business are, and will remain, outside the UK)
- have the skills, experience and knowledge to do the role
- hold a senior position within the business (but do not own or control the majority of it) and have full authority to make decisions on its behalf
- intend to establish the overseas business’s first commercial presence in the UK, either as a registered branch or a wholly owned subsidiary
- You may also be eligible if the business has a legal entity in the UK that does not employ staff or do any business.
- If your employer has been working to establish a UK branch or subsidiary, but it is not yet set up, you can replace a previous sole representative.
Additional information:
The sole representative must comply with certain conditions of stay. The most important condition is that the individual is only able to be employed by the company that sent them to the UK. It is not possible to have any other business interests or undertake any other part-time or consulting work in the UK.
Additionally, the sole representative may bring their spouse, civil partner, unmarried or same-sex partner and any children under the age of 18.
Required Documents:
When you apply you’ll need to provide:
- a current passport or other valid travel identification
- evidence that you can support yourself and any dependants during your trip, for example bank statements or payslips for the last 6 months
- proof that you meet the English requirement
If you’re applying from overseas, you’ll also need to provide:
- details of where you’ll be staying during your stay
- your tuberculosis test results if you’re from a country where you have to take the test
When applying as a sole representative of an overseas business you’ll need to provide:
- a full description of the business’s activities, including details of assets and accounts
- a letter confirming the overseas business will set up a wholly owned subsidiary or register a branch in the UK in the same business activity as it runs overseas
- your job description, employment contract and salary details
- a letter confirming you’re familiar with the business and have the power to take operational decisions
You should also provide evidence that you:
- are directly employed by the business and are not acting as a sales agent (for example, hired by a business to sell or distribute their products within the UK, but working for yourself and providing your services for a fee)
- were recruited to the business outside of the UK
- hold a senior position in the business, with the authority to make decisions on its behalf and set up and run a registered branch or wholly owned subsidiary
- will be working full time for the business or subsidiary for the duration of your stay and will not carry out any other work
- do not own or control a majority of the overseas business
Frequently Asked Questions
1- Who can be a representative?
First, you must be a senior officer hired on a permanent basis with a business headquartered outside the UK. It is also essential that you have the authority to make operational decisions in your region on behalf of the business. You must also intend to continue working full-time as a representative of the sending business when you arrive in the UK. At the end of your 5th year in the UK, you may be eligible to get permanent residency. Until this date, you will not have the right to work in a different company. You must also not be a majority shareholder (50 percent or more) or otherwise control a majority stake in the company that sent you as a representative. The Department of Home Affairs will consider certain limitations on shareholding in the country in which the entity operates.
2. How long do I need to have been working for the company?
There is no minimum time to have been employed for the company. On the other hand, if you have been recently employed, you are expected to have a good career in the same industry or in a related field. It is important to demonstrate that the person who is a senior manager at the company in question will easily manage their operations in the UK, as that person is competent in that field or has been working for that company for many years. This way, the business plans for the branch and representative will be considered reasonable. Your job or role must not have been created primarily to facilitate your entry into the UK.
3. Is there a minimum salary requirement?
Sole Representative Visa applicants are not required to earn any minimum salary level or receive any special assistance. However, your compensation package must be appropriate for a senior employee in the company. For example, in a company that is at the level of opening a branch in the UK, if a senior manager receives an amount close to the minimum wage will adversely affect the genuineness of the application.
4. Can the Sole Representative be a shareholder in the company?
Yes, but must not own more than 50 percent of the company at the application stage.
5. I currently own the majority stake in the company. Can I transfer these shares and apply?
You can ensure your eligibility for the Sole Representative Visa by reducing your shareholding rate below 51 percent. However, you must also submit the documents pertaining to the previous year’s share sharing in your application, and then demonstrate that you have transferred them.
6. Is my employer eligible to open a branch or subsidiary in the UK?
The company sending you as a representative must be headquartered overseas, or should be a business with headquarters or offices outside the UK. The business must intend to open a branch in the UK under its sole control. The business must not currently have any agents, active branches or offices within the UK.
7. If the business already has a UK branch, can I still apply?
You can still apply for the visa as long as you can prove that the existing branch exists only as a legal entity (eg for opening a bank account, leasing a workplace). However, the said branch must not employ personnel and must not have made any money transfers.
8. Is there a minimum income or profit amount that the company that will send a representative has to declare?
There is no minimum amount set for this. However, the business in question must be a foreign-based, genuine corporate venture. It is important that the business was not set up with the intention of moving any person to the UK.
9. In which sectors can the branch to be opened in the UK operate?
The activities performed by the parent business may also be carried out by the branch to be opened in the UK. For example, the branch to be opened should offer a similar product or service. Or the UK branch of the company that produces a product abroad may carry out the sales or service operations of the product or service produced.
10. Can the parent company send more than one representative?
11. Can a sole representative be a shareholder of the UK branch or subsidiary?
In order to qualify for an extension of stay as a sole representative, all shares issued by the UK entity must be held by the parent company.
12. Can the headquarters of the main company be moved to the UK with the Sole Representative Visa?
No, as a result of the branch or subsidiary established, the company overseas cannot move its headquarters of its operations to the United Kingdom.
13. How does the Home Office, the UK Home Office, decide where the business is headquartered? How to pass "Center of operations test"?
One of the issues that needs to be clarified in the application for a successful Sole Representative Visa application is the assurance that the business headquarter will stay outside the UK. For assurance, a few-step query called “centre of operations test” is made specific to the documents given in the application. Assurance can be provided through a letter to be provided by the business and objectives presented under the minimum 3-year plan declared in the business plan.
Relocating the business headquarters to the UK and restricting activities abroad may only be possible in certain circumstances. For example, if the sole representative in the UK is now a significant shareholder, if they are the main driver of the development of the parent company, if there are no or few senior employees left outside the UK, if the success of the company is dependent on the skills and performance of the sole representative, it is possible to move headquarters to the UK.
14. Is a business plan necessary?
According to the rules explained, it is not obligatory to submit a business plan for Sole Representative Visa applications. However, presenting the business plan will enable you to meet many of the criteria requested from you within the framework of immigration rules. For example, in order for the outcome to be entry clearance, the branch that will perform the same or similar activities. Thus, in the business plan to be written, the scope of the activities of the branch to be opened can be clearly stated. Such further confirmations via business plan affects the application in a positive way.
15. Can my employer be the branch/subsidiary in the UK?
You must be employed by the parent company at the application stage. You can then be employed by the UK-based organization following the opening of the branch or subsidiary. However, if you lose your position as the main decision maker for this business, you will need to switch to the Skilled Worker Visa.
Latest Articles About the Sole Representative Visa
Contact Us
Meridien House
42 Upper Berkeley Street
W1H 5PW
London, England
+44 7739 699 968
+44 20 3988 0575
contact@lexlegal.com
