UK Sole Representative

This visa category enables an overseas company to send a senior employee over to the UK in order to establish and operate a registered branch or a wholly owned subsidiary there, which is concerned with the same type of business activity as the parent company.

Benefits

• A sole representative enables a company the opportunity to establish a business presence in the UK
• Dependents, including unmarried partners and same-sex partners, may accompany the sole representative
• A spouse of a sole representative is entitled to take up any lawful employment
• Becoming a sole UK representative can lead to permanent status after five years.

A company qualified to send a sole representative to the UK

• An overseas company should be a genuine enterprise and have been operating for at least twelve months
• If operating for less than twelve months, applications will have to justify the need to establish a UK branch
• The majority of business should continue overseas after a sole representative has been transferred
• Therefore an application should not be filed with the intention of being headquartered in the UK
• A company should show that expansion to the UK is viable and practical through the application.

An employee qualified to be sent as a sole representative

• The sole representative must be a senior employee recruited and employed directly by the non-UK company
• They must not be a majority shareholder of the company
• A senior employee representative should possess full authority to make the majority of operational business decisions locally, but does not necessarily have the latitude to make decisions on all matters individually
• The senior employee must be receiving a “full time” salary sufficient to maintain themselves and any dependents joining them in the UK
• Sole representatives must pass an English language test with at least standard C1 of the Common European Framework Reference, or have a bachelor’s degree equivalent taught in English
• It is advised that an applicant should spend a minimum of nine months per annum in the UK
• A sole representative is likely to have been employed in the overseas organisation for at least twelve months
• The employee may not work for another employer whilst in the UK. 

Sole Representative Visa process

• Entry into the UK is granted for an initial three years
• You may apply to extend sole representative status at least four weeks before permission to stay ends
• You may extend your status for an additional two years
• If you have been in the UK for over five years legally as a sole representative, you may apply to settle

Our service

• Supplying a checklist for any and all documents to be submitted
• Confirmation of the office where documents must be submitted
• Streamlining supplementary documents
• Handling legal questions received from the authorities.