The UK Expansion Worker Visa enables overseas companies to send key staff to the UK to establish and grow a business practising there. This route is aimed at companies quickly coming into trade in the United Kingdom from offshore but lacking senior executives to establish the UK business for them. However, the UK Expansion Worker visa has stringent requirements for companies’ employees and organizations outside the UK to meet. Failure to meet them will result in application rejection. 

Common Mistakes to Avoid 

The UK Expansion Worker visa application is complicated and often leads to refusal as a result of many common mistakes made by the applicants. Here are some of the major reasons for a refusal:

Inaccurate or Delayed CoS

One of the most familiar causes of refusal is when the certificate of sponsorship issued contains some information errors or a condition of employment contrary to the current Rules of Home Office (relating to salary, hours of work, and the term of employment, etc.). Any mistakes or delays at this point could lead to the rejection of the application or delay in the application process.

Wrong Occupation Code

If the Home Office realizes that the sponsor chose the wrong occupational code for the job, then probably they will reject your visa application. The occupation code must accurately reflect your qualifications and the nature of the job. 

Not Meeting the UK Footprint Requisite

If you are already trading in the UK, then as an overseas employer you will fail to qualify as a sponsor under the UK Expansion Worker visa. You will be required to show a ‘UK footprint’ by exhibiting evidence of business premises within the United Kingdom, through purchase or lease agreements. You must show that as an entity you are registered in the UK as either a new company subsidiary of an overseas-linked organization that is registered in Companies House or an overseas company branch. 

Failure to Secure a Sponsor Licence

To apply as a sponsor for the UK, the UK-based company that will ‘receive’ the visa worker would apply to secure a UK Expansion Worker visa sponsor licence from the Home Office. As an entity, if you fail to provide evidence that the entity has an existing presence in the United Kingdom. Failure to show appropriate qualifying links to an overseas company from which it will receive workers and not having appropriate key personnel to run and manage the sponsor licence will result in application refusal. Here is what you can do to avoid the refusal in such a case:

Make sure to meet the regulatory requirements before applying for a sponsor licence. 

If the Authorising Officer is a settled person in the UK, as a sponsor, you can apply for an A rating and also request up to 5 COSs for the UK Expansion Worker. 

In case the entity does not have someone from the UK who is settled or able to take on the role of Authorising Officer, then under the UK Expansion Worker sponsor licence, the company may nominate a Proposed Authorising Officer coming from outside the UK, hence, the sponsor company gets a rating as ‘provisional’ with only one initial CoS. This CoS would be supplied to the Proposed Authorising Officer as the first sponsored worker of the entity. 

When the Proposed Authorising Officer is in the UK, the sponsor will require re-rating to an ‘A-rating’ and subsequent application for up to 4 extra CoS. 

Failure to Establish Credibility

The overseas business’s credibility operations will also be checked. If a company is older than three years, it needs to show it has been around trading for the 3 years leading to the date of application for a sponsor licence to avoid refusal. Failure to provide evidence like business bank statements of the entry along with audited accounts for the entire time of its trading existence will result in application refusal. 

Not Having an Expansion Plan in Place

An Expansion worker visa in the UK can only be concluded when creating a market presence in the UK by successfully expanding from within an existing overseas business. If you proceed with setting up an entirely new business and direct your effort towards a new line of undertaking, the Home Office will reject your application. 

If your application for a UK Expansion worker visa is denied, you may request an administrative review or make a new application with the amendments for the reason of refusal.

Other Requirements

The ownership could be 100% owned by the overseas business in case of no initial presence in the UK, or at least have the same legal standing such as in the form of a branch. The Home Office will require sight of the business’s expansion plan as proof that the sponsored personnel is needed in the UK to implement the plans for expansion into the UK and that the business is genuinely capable of doing so.

A company needs to show why it needs a senior manager or skilled worker to come to the UK. It must be a genuine job of at least the same calibre as such an individual would expect to do or qualify for in the United Kingdom, not a job created especially for obtaining a visa.

It can determine the offer as not real or fictitious through examination by the Home Office.

Conclusion 

It is an excellent opportunity for an enterprise to penetrate the UK market through a successful UK expansion worker visa. Key things to be considered by the employer are getting the sponsor licence and compliance with immigration regulations in the process. Also, the employer must ensure that the personnel must have the proper skill level specified in their COS, following the conditions of their visa.In the meantime, understanding eligibility requirements, needed documents, and an application schedule could be the lifeline to successful applications. Get the advice of an immigration lawyer in London specializing in UK immigration to lead you through every step of the visa application process.