Business immigration is of growing importance for employers and education providers. The government’s policy is to encourage skilled migration into highly paid positions and into roles where there is a recognised shortage of UK based talent. The government also encourages international students to study in the UK. Overseas graduates at UK universities can be recruited by UK employers with few immigration hurdles. The rewards from business immigration are potentially very great but the penalties for mistakes are high. The maximum civil penalty for employing a migrant worker illegally is £20,000. An organisation that sponsors workers or students will lose its licence to do this if they do not comply with their duties.
Our business immigration services include:
- Acting for Entrepreneurs applying under Tier 1
- Recruitment of overseas workers by UK businesses, using Tiers 2 and 5 of the points based system
- Challenging Home Office decisions to suspend or revoke Tier 2 and Tier 4 sponsor licenses, including judicial review applications
- Advice and training on routine Tier 2 and Tier 4 sponsorship duties
- Conducting Tier 2 and Tier 4 compliance audits
- Guidance on the special immigration routes available for tech sector recruitment
- Brexit guidance regarding EEA workforce
- Advice and training on right to work checks and related disputes concerning illegal working
- Intra-company transfers for multinational businesses
- Obtaining and renewing Tier 2 and 4 sponsor licences and re-organising licences when businesses are restructured
- Challenging civil penalty notices in relation to illegal working
- Acting for overseas businesses setting up their first UK office
Helping UK companies to comply with business visitor rules in relation to overseas guests
We aim to give our client the best possible guidance on immigration and compliance options, taking into account the needs of the business. We make clear recommendations on the best approach and will always consider the wider picture. Our service is prompt, efficient and thoughtful. Timescales are heavily influenced by the government’s service standards and total costs by the government’s application fees but we ensure our clients fully understand these factors. We will whenever required work directly with the sponsored worker to submit their application, overseas or in the UK to remove.
We work on fixed-fees for all standard applications to ensure cost certainty. Please get in touch to request a copy of our fee sheet. For routine queries we can offer a retainer. For major projects and tailored advice we will provide clear estimates.
