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on July 5, 2022
We were instructed by a UK company which had recently been incorporated. The company had two directors and was operating as IT software development company.
They had spoken to a few other law firms, which had advised that while they were open to applying for a sponsor licence, it was unlikely that they would be successful as the Home Office was reluctant to provide start-ups with a sponsor licence.
During our initial consultation, we discussed with them their aims and objectives for the company from an immigration perspective. They intended to bring in one software developer from outside the UK in order to begin a project they had identified and were confident of landing. They were concerned that their status as a “start-up” would impact their chances of obtaining a licence.
We advised them that the Home Office has specific documents that a company must provide in order for an application to be considered. Importantly, as a start-up, the company could not rely upon bank statements or a bank letter from an Internet/digital bank such as Tide. They would have to have a bank account with a traditional “high-street” bank. In addition to this, we advised them of the mandatory documents needed and the minimum amount of documents they would be expected to provide. We also advised about the need to evidence their recruitment practices as well as compliance.
The clients were grateful for the advice, specifically about the bank account, as they had identified a business account with Starling.
We later provided the clients with a bespoke documents list, which outlined the documents we identified the clients could supply to us in support of the application. The list contained the mandatory documents as well as the additional documents that we felt would strengthen the application.
Our clients provided us with their documents, which we reviewed and provided feedback on. Some amendments were made to the documents, and further documents were requested. After a second review, we prepared the application for their approval.
After a seven-week wait, the Home Office notified our clients that their sponsor licence application was successful and that they could now sponsor their identified worker.
Our clients were extremely happy with outcome, and commented on how professional and assured we were throughout the whole process.
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