Self-sponsorship visas – The Loch Ness Monster of immigration law

Quick read: Self-sponsorship visas – The Loch Ness Monster of immigration law

Over the last 12 months we’ve noticed a big increase in enquiries on a certain topic: the self-sponsorship visa. In fact, it’s one of the most common enquiries we now receive, regularly being asked “How do I get a self-sponsorship visa?”. The most common answer we give? You can’t.

Like the Loch Ness Monster, whispers of the self-sponsorship visa have cropped up all over the internet and just like Nessy herself, they don’t exist.

What’s the appeal of self-sponsorship visas?

We understand the allure, it can be increasingly difficult to secure a sponsored work visa due to recent rule changes. Even for those who have secured a work visa, while there are many benefits to a being a skilled worker, it can also be the cause of a low level of anxiety as your visa status remains dependant on your employer creating an imbalance of power. We’ve all worked in jobs where we’ve been unhappy or wanted more and it’s hard to be in a position where you can’t make a change without putting yours and your family’s visa status at risk.

What do people really mean by ‘self-sponsorship’?

When you see references to a self-sponsorship visa the promises that seem to be made are that you can register your own business, get a sponsor licence and sponsor yourself as a skilled worker.

What you need to know is that this isn’t a special process, it’s just a regular sponsor licence and this approach is generally not consistent with the function of the licence.

A licence works by satisfying the Home Office that you are a legitimate, responsible business and that you are capable of monitoring your employees to ensure that they stick to their work and visa conditions. If they breach those conditions, it needs to be reported to the Home Office and the worker’s visa is curtailed. This process is overseen by a British or settled worker known as an Authorising Officer who sits at Director level and takes ultimate responsibility for the licence.

Why we usually think it’s a bad idea

Do you see the complications? Who will act as the authorising officer? If you own a majority of the business, how are you going to satisfy the home office that the business can effectively monitor you when the consequence of a report being made about you could be everyone losing their jobs? How do you satisfy the Home Office that the business you have just registered is legitimate? These are all factors you need to consider in advance.

Now, it’s important to keep in mind that there are not hard limits on how much shareholding you can have in a business as a sponsored worker, and a sponsored worker can in theory be a majority shareholder but what matters is that the business is credible and not a vehicle to secure a visa.

Even if you get the licence, are you ready to bear the additional cost and risk? Sponsor licences are expensive to operate and you still need to satisfy all the same occupation and salary requirements for the skilled worker route. If the Home Office conduct an audit and choose to revoke your licence, your visa would be curtailed and you may find it harder to secure a visa or licence again in the future.

Throughout this blog you’ll have seen qualifiers like “generally” and “the most common answer”. We try to give readers and clients as straight forward answers as possible but as with everything law related, there are always some edge cases and grey areas.

As with anything there are no blanket rules

There are limited circumstances where it may be appropriate to sponsor an owner or part owner of a business. However, these are usually well-established businesses that have already seen significant success. Usually where the owner was on a different type of visa that has expired, such as someone who started a business at the beginning of their graduate visa that took off, or they were a dependant on another visa holder or British citizen and the relationship broke down. We’ve seen cases of business partners, one British, one from overseas, who wish to set up a company together. Alternatively it could be a well established overseas business who would rather jump straight to a sponsor licence rather than using an expansion worker visa and it is an owner of the business who is the most appropriate to oversee that expansion.

Even in these cases, the standard of evidence to prove the legitimacy of the business and appropriate monitoring processes is extremely high. This is why you normally need a well-established business to stand up to the scrutiny.

Be cautious, be sceptical

Our advice to clients is always to stick to the system. Unless you have a real, genuine need to secure a licence for a business you intend to operate, play it safe. It can be hard, but all being well after your five-year qualifying period you can safely and securely move onto bigger and better things with indefinite leave to remain. Be cautious with your visa status and be sceptical of those offering you simple answers. You don’t want to spend all that time, money and stress only to discover that the solution you thought you’d found is like Nessy. A weird shaped log a lake of broken promises.