OTS Solicitors win the award for the Most Innovative Business Immigration Law Firm 2019 from SME News

So far, 2019 has been a brilliant year for OTS Solicitors. We were all still delighted by our inclusion in the leading law directory, Legal 500, for our expertise in business immigration law when we discovered that we had won the award for the Most Innovative business immigration Law Firm 2019 from SME News. That is a great achievement for a firm that was only set up five years ago.

Why did we win an award for the Most Innovative business immigration Law Firm 2019? We believe it is down to our ambition to be the best at what we do by providing Immigration law solutions delivered by tenacious London Immigration law solicitors. Many individuals and businesses ask OTS Solicitors for help after they have unsuccessfully applied for a visa or for a Sponsor Licence without legal representation. Alternatively, an applicant may have instructed an advisor who is not as experienced in preparing paperwork to meet Home Office requirements or challenging Home Office refusals. The applicant then realises that they need the best London immigration solicitors. Those cases are particularly challenging but they are ones that we relish.

When it comes to innovation at OTS Solicitors, we are focussed on providing solutions for clients, whether they are individuals, SMEs or large multi-national companies. We recognise that our Immigration clients do not want or need a traditional lawyer spouting the law at them. Whilst the Immigration solicitors at OTS Solicitors are interested in the latest case law on Judicial Reviews or the latest change in Immigration Rules we know that our clients do not want to know the ins and outs of Immigration law, they want one-stop solutions to their Immigration law issues.

Nowadays being a good Immigration solicitor is not just about knowing the law and helping with a one-off piece of advice but being a trusted advisor to individuals and businesses, fostering long term relationships. What does that mean in practice?

Take the case of a young entrepreneur who needs help applying for a Tier 1 Entrepreneur Visa. We will not just fill in the application form. Our specialist Immigration solicitors also:

• Check the documentation to see if help is needed with the business plan that has to accompany a Tier 1 Entrepreneur Visa. If we assess that significant help is needed to ensure that the business plan is fit for purpose, we can put the applicant in touch with business plan writers or accountants who understand the needs of Entrepreneur Visa applicants and start-up businesses;

• Once the entrepreneur has secured his Tier 1 Entrepreneur Visa, our retainer does not stop there. The next step is to help the business grow, for example by recruiting a skilled migrant workforce by helping the company obtain a Sponsor Licence from the Home Office;

• Obtaining a Sponsor Licence is the start of the migrant recruitment process. Specialist Immigration and employment law solicitors at OTS Solicitors can then guide a SME in the migrant recruitment process and sort out the Certificates of Sponsorship and an individual Tier 2 (General) Visa for a new employee;

• After a Sponsor Licence has been secured and the workforce recruited the next key task is to manage the Sponsor Licence to comply with Home Office rules and regulations and ensure that the Sponsor Licence is not revoked or downgraded. The specialist Immigration and employment law solicitors at OTS Solicitors do that by either providing in-house HR teams with bespoke training packages catering for the specific industry needs of the company or taking over the management of the Sponsor Licence so the business can operate with less HR staff or the HR and management team can focus on recruitment and the growth of the business ;

• When it comes to growing a SME business the company law solicitors at OTS Solicitors will help with the incorporation of a company, a new shareholder agreement or cross option agreement, understanding the particular challenges and rules that an Entrepreneur Visa applicant must follow if they want to apply to extend their Tier 1 Entrepreneur Visa ;

• As the business client continues to grow, completing right to work checks on employees and advising the HR department on changes in Immigration Rules relating to the recruitment of migrant workers and the paperwork required. If employment law issues crop up with workers our employment law solicitors can help resolve disputes or if necessary, provide tribunal representation;

• No business is immune to Brexit. As specialist Immigration solicitors we appreciate that a deal or no-deal Brexit will have a massive impact on all employers and the UK economy. With talk of low unEmployment figures, the UK skills shortages, the end of free movement and the continued Immigration hostile environment it is vital that all business owners, from start-ups, SMEs and multi-nationals are “Brexit ready”. OTS Solicitors provide the Immigration and employment law expertise to ease the passage of companies through a time of potential economic uncertainty and myriad changes to Immigration and employment law. For example, OTS Solicitors can help provide business and Employment continuity by helping company employees’ secure settled status under the Settlement Scheme. We also advise business owners on the implications of the Immigration White Paper and the end of free movement on their Employment of EEA workers;

• For individual visa applicants, the Immigration solicitors at OTS Solicitors do not just look at the initial visa application but the future. Potentially, there will be a need to apply for family members to join an Entrepreneur Visa applicant or to extend a Tier 1 Entrepreneur Visa or after 5 years to apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain. For other individual visa applicants, proactive Immigration solicitors will advise on switching from a student visa to a Tier 1 (Graduate entrepreneur) Visa or moving from a spouse visa to an application for Indefinite Leave to Remain and from there to British Citizenship.

How can OTS Solicitors help you and your business?

If your business or employees need proactive Immigration law advice tailored to individual, personal and business needs, then call us on 0203 959 9123 to discuss how our experienced London Immigration law solicitors can provide exceptional service, cost effective legal expertise in a friendly but professional business-like manner.