Self sponsorship visa UK

Changes Immigration will guide you through the challenges of the self sponsorship visa strategy:

• Company officer – The UK company must have a company officer or employee based in the UK who can act as the person responsible for the company’s sponsorship activities. We can introduce you to a company officer.
• Setting up the UK company – Changes Immigration’s trusted corporate law partner can set up your company with a focus on smoothing the process of opening a business bank account.
• Opening a business bank account – Changes Immigration will kick start the bank account opening process for you with an introduction to a banking contact specialised in businesses expanding to the UK.

There are no strict requirements relating to a business plan or investment.

The company should have enough money in the bank to operate. This should include sufficient funds to start paying workers’ salaries, including your own salary as a Skilled Worker at the level required under the Immigration Rules for your role. There is no set minimum amount required.

The company is not required to submit a business plan as a supporting document. Nor is there a requirement for an innovative business idea. However, be ready for the Home Office to make checks to assess whether the business is genuine, and that the role proposed for sponsorship is a genuine vacancy.

A sponsor licence application involves the following steps:

• Implement HR systems and processes to ensure that your company can fulfil sponsor duties. Changes Immigration will advise on what you need to have in place. For a belt and braces approach, consider our ‘HR systems review for sponsor compliance’;
• Gather the documentation and information required to support the sponsor licence application. We will provide guidance on the required documentation and ensure that it is as robust as possible before submission. Changes Immigration lawyers have been making sponsor licence applications since the sponsorship regime was introduced in the UK in 2008. We know what the Home Office will request at every stage:
• We will draft the sponsor licence application form for review and submission;
• We will submit the supporting documents and a covering letter with the information required by the Home Office;
• The Home Office processes the application. The Home Office might conduct a compliance check or compliance visit to evaluate your systems and processes for compliance with sponsor guidance. The standard processing time is 8 weeks. A priority service is available for processing in 10 working days. A compliance check or compliance visit would extend the processing time; and
• Once the sponsor licence is granted, the company can sponsor you and others to work in the UK under the Skilled Worker visa route.

Once your company has a sponsor licence, it is authorised to assign Certificates of Sponsorship (COS). A COS is essentially a work permit that is issued directly by a UK employer to a non-UK national.

Before assigning a COS to you, the sponsoring company must collate documentation and information to evidence its compliance with sponsor duties. Changes Immigration will ensure that your organisation fulfils sponsorship requirements, e.g. salary requirements. We will ensure that documentation on file demonstrates compliance, e.g. details of the role and evidence of your ability to fulfil the role.

Once the documentation and information required to support the COS is in order, Changes Immigration will assign the COS on behalf of your company.

Once your company has assigned a Certificate of Sponsorship (COS) to you, you use the COS to apply for a Skilled Worker visa. Changes Immigration will advise you on meeting the sponsored Skilled Worker visa requirements and on the required documentation.

Eligibility requirements include the following:

• English language ability to Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) level B1. You might fulfil this requirement by virtue of your nationality or a UK degree. A non-UK degree that was taught in English can also be relied on but needs to be supported by certification from UK ENIC, the UK’s agency for assessing qualifications. You could sit an approved English language test to demonstrate the requisite level of English or fulfil the requirement via a couple of other means;
• Depending on your residence during the 6 months before submission of your Skilled Worker application, you might need a certificate from an approved TB clinic confirming that you are free from TB; and
• A financial maintenance requirement applies which can be fulfilled by the sponsoring company undertaking to maintain and accommodate you until the end of the first month of your employment in the UK.

Other supporting documents might be required, depending on the circumstances of your case. We will review the supporting documents before submission to ensure the best presentation of your application.

Changes Immigration will start off the correct application form for you, support you in drafting the form and agree any changes with you before submitting the application form on your behalf. We will submit your supporting documents and book an appointment for you to submit biometric data as appropriate, finalising the application for you.

The Home Office will process your application. The standard processing times are 3 weeks for applications made from overseas and 8 weeks for applications made from within the UK. A priority service is available for processing in 5 working days.

Your partner and children under the age of 18 can accompany you to the UK. A spouse, civil partner or an unmarried partner with whom you have been in a relationship akin to marriage for at least two years is eligible for a Dependent Partner visa.

Your family members’ permission will be granted in line with yours, i.e. they will have the same visa end date as you. Your partner will have the right to work in the UK.

After spending 5 years in the UK as a Skilled Worker, you may be eligible to apply for indefinite leave to remain or ‘settlement’ in the UK. Eligibility requirements at the settlement stage include the following:

• Your sponsor must confirm that they still need your services for the foreseeable future;
• Your salary must meet salary requirements that are dictated by your role and by the circumstances of your sponsorship, e.g. whether your role is on the Immigration Salary List;
• You must not have been absent from the UK for more than 180 days in any 12-month period in the 5 years before you apply; and
• You must sit and pass the Life in the UK test.

Your family members may be eligible to apply for indefinite leave to remain after spending 5 years in the UK as your dependent family members.

After you have held indefinite leave to remain for one year, you may be eligible for citizenship.

Changes Immigration is excited to support your UK business as it grows. Your company will benefit from ongoing support with regular updates and free webinars.

Whether you are sponsoring further non-UK nationals to work, needing compliance advice in advance of a Home Office visit, checking employees’ right to work or you would like training, we are happy to help.