Can a Start-up Sponsor its Own Employee?
The quick answer to the question ‘Can a start-up sponsor its own employee?’ is yes.
In this blog, our Immigration Solicitors explain how to start the sponsorship process for a Skilled Worker Visa through self-sponsorship.
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The self-sponsorship process
Sponsoring yourself involves a two-stage application process:
- Company application to obtain a sponsor licence
- Individual application for a Skilled Worker Visa
Our Sponsorship Licence Lawyers can guide you through the two-stage application process. For those of you put off by the two applications; don’t let this deter you.
Our Immigration Lawyers in London are specialists in Self Sponsorship Visas and can support you by preparing all the necessary paperwork and identifying the documents you need to provide us with to make the business immigration and individual immigration applications as stress-free as possible. Also, with self-sponsorship comes these added benefits:
- No minimum investment threshold must be met to set up a UK company and secure a Self-Sponsorship Visa
- Family friendly - you can bring close family members with you on Dependant Visas
- Settlement - the route leads to Indefinite Leave to Remain and settlement after you have met the five-year residence requirement. You can then go on to apply for British citizenship
Individual immigration requirements for a Self-Sponsorship Visa
There is no point in getting a sponsor licence for a start-up company unless you know that you will meet the eligibility criteria for a Skilled Worker Visa as a sponsored employee of your start-up company.
You need to meet these five criteria:
- To be age 18 or over
- Have a job offer from a company with a sponsor licence to sponsor Skilled Worker Visa holders. The job must meet the skill level and the minimum salary threshold
- Have had a certificate of sponsorship assigned to you by the sponsor licence holder
- Meet the English language requirement and maintenance requirement
- Have a TB certificate if required – most Skilled Worker Visa applicants don’t need this
Whether you qualify for a Skilled Worker Visa will probably primarily depend on whether your start-up company has a genuine job vacancy that falls within the list of jobs with a Skilled Worker Visa standard occupational classification code. Secondly, you must have the skills to do the job. Currently, there are many jobs with a standard occupational classification code, including highly specialist job roles in the tech sector and more general entrepreneurial and managerial roles.
If you are unsure if your skill set would qualify you for a Self-Sponsorship Visa then speak to our Immigration Solicitors.
Applying for a Self-Sponsorship Skilled Worker Visa
The first step in the self-sponsorship route is to set up a UK company. That isn’t as difficult as it sounds as our Business Immigration and Corporate Lawyers can assist with the preliminary legal work with the help of a specialist business providing shelf companies to purchase and adapt to your business needs.
Once the company is set up you can apply for a sponsor licence. There does not need to be a long wait between company formation and sponsor licence application as the Home Office rules do not say that the business must have been trading for a minimum period and or that the company must meet minimum trading figures.
Once the company has been formed it can apply for its sponsor licence but our Sponsorship Licence Lawyers recommend that you invest some time in having all your systems and paperwork in order so the Home Office has no grounds to refuse your sponsor licence application.
With a sponsor licence start-up application, you need to be able to show that the business is genuine and operating lawfully in the UK. In other words, the company isn’t a sham and was not only set up so you have a route to UK settlement for you, your family and other sponsored employees.
You also need to be able to demonstrate that the company:
- Has systems and procedures so it can manage the sponsor licence
- Has genuine vacancies for overseas workers
Showing your business is operating a genuine company in the UK comes down to providing the right paperwork and providing the appropriate documents to back it up. The Home Office sets out the documents needed in Appendix A of its sponsorship guidance.
The company does not need to have started trading or be generating profit provided you can show that the business is registered with the relevant authorities and is set up to go. Our Sponsorship Licence Lawyers can talk you through how best to present your evidence that the business will be a successful start-up. For example, you may have had a successful company overseas or have a detailed business plan and the money behind the business (savings or loans in principle) to show that the company is ready to go and start trading.
Sponsorship Licence Lawyers
Our Sponsorship Licence Lawyers are here to help you achieve self-sponsorship through a Self-Sponsorship Visa by making what can appear to be a technical morass of Home Office guides and two complex applications into your Skilled Worker Visa.
Arranging your Self Sponsorship Visa is normally the start of our partnership with your new business as we can then provide you with the specialist legal advice you need, such as our Sponsor Licence Management Services, Immigration Law Training, advice on sponsoring additional sponsored employees on Skilled Worker Visas as well as advising on all your employment, commercial contract and business law needs.
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