on December 11, 2022
An entrepreneur with a majority shareholding in an innovative artificial intelligence (AI) start-up approached Cranbrook Legal for assistance in enabling him to live and work in the UK before officially launching the business.
The client had considered some of the options available to him. However, with the closure of the Representative of an Overseas Business visa and the lengthy process under the Innovator visa, the client was looking for an easier, alternative way in which he could establish a business in the United Kingdom.
We advised the client that through establishing a UK business, he could be sponsored under the Skilled Worker visa, which would allow him to come to the UK and run his business here.
We went through the client’s business idea and the specific role that he envisaged for himself in the business. We cross-referenced this with the eligible occupations under the Skilled Worker visa, and advised on the possible roles that he could be hired under, and the salary he would need to be paid.
Our team guided the client through the application process, demonstrating the entrepreneur’s genuine intention to start the business and the need for his skilled involvement in the business. We also helped establish compliant HR systems.
As part of the licence application, the client had appointed a UK-based director who would help manage the licence. As part of the licence application, we advised the client that the business needed to demonstrate that it was a genuine trading business, that there was a genuine vacancy, and that there was a robust compliance and HR system in place to manage the employee being sponsored from outside the UK. During this stage, we worked closely with the UK-based director, who would be managing the licence on behalf of the company.
The sponsor licence was granted before the company began trading. We then guided the applicant through the Skilled Worker visa process.
After successfully setting up the business, our client applied for a Skilled Worker visa and was sponsored by their own company, allowing them to work and grow the start-up in the UK.
How Can We Help You?