Overseas nationals who want to work in the UK for their company or expand their business into the UK, the Representative of an Overseas Business Visa, (mostly referred to as a Sole Representative Visa) provide a strong solution. This visa allows you to live and work in the UK for three years, and to bring your dependents to the UK where they can work without restriction.

Businesses based overseas can take advantage of the Sole Representative Visa to establish a presence in Britain to test the market, without the overheads associated with setting up a branch office and hiring local staff.

The Sole Representative Visa applicant must genuinely be an existing senior employee of the overseas business who was recruited and taken on as an employee of the overseas business outside of the UK. They will genuinely have the skills, experience and knowledge of the overseas business necessary to undertake the role of sole representative of the overseas business in the UK. The Sole Representative Visa candidate will have full authority to negotiate and take operational decisions on behalf of the overseas business and genuinely intend to be employed full-time as a representative of the overseas business.  They must genuinely intend to not engage in business of their own or represent any other business’s interest in the United Kingdom.

What are the advantages of the Sole Representative Visa?

The Sole Representative Visa offers many benefits, some of which are:

• Sole representatives can apply for a two-year visa extension if they operate successfully during the initial 3 years of their stay.
• After five years, applicants can be eligible to apply for permanent residency
• After six years, applicants can be eligible to apply for British nationality
• Sole representatives can combine time spent in the UK with other visa categories to qualify for ten-year residency rights.
• For business eyeing for expansion, they can send a single senior employee to the UK to study and test the market without having to outlay large amounts of capital