Decoding the UK's Sole Representative of an Overseas Business Visa

What is a Sole Representative of an Overseas Business visa?
This is for businesses that want to send a senior employee to the UK in order to establish a business presence for the company within the UK.

The Sole Representative of an Overseas Business (SRoB) visa allows this employee of an overseas business to come to the UK, set up and run a UK branch or a subsidiary of the overseas parent company.This employee will be eligible for Indefinite leave to remain (ILR) after 5 years in the SRoBvisa category.

How to access if your business is eligible to establish a UK branch or subsidiary?
You will need to prove to the Home Office that your overseas company is all of the following...

• an active and trading overseas business
• has its headquarters and principal place of business outside the United Kingdom;
• has no other active branch, subsidiary or representative in the UK;
• Intends to establish a registered branch or subsidiary in the UK that will actively trade in the same business as the overseas parent company;
• Intends to maintain the centre of its operations overseas.

What you need to be eligible?

• That you are an existing senior employee of the overseas business;
• That you have been recruited and taken on as an employee of the overseas business outside of the UK;
• You have the skills and experience necessary to undertake the role of sole representative of the overseas business in the UK;
• You have full authority to negotiate and make operational decisions on behalf of the overseas business;
• You intend to work full-time as a representative of the overseas business;
• You do not intend to engage in business of your own or work for any other business;
• You do not have a majority stake in, or otherwise own or control, a majority of the overseas business, whether that ownership or control is through means of a shareholding, partnership agreement, sole proprietorship or any other arrangement;
• you can show English language ability to at least CEFR Level A1 (speaking and listening);
• You can adequately maintain and accommodate yourself and your dependants in the UK, without recourse to public funds.

How we can help
We will work with you and your parent overseas company to make sure all the relevant documentation is available to support the visa application.

We will help you research the UK economy and your business sector, specifically, so that the UK set up can be properly planned and costed.

We will prepare a business plan for you, which will include the above research findings and details of how operationally you will set up in the UK, including location, timescale and costs.

We will manage the visa application process and train you for a possible interview with the UKVI on your proposed UK venture.