As a non-British national you can establish a new business in the UK or set up a branch to expand your overseas business to the UK. This opens a door for you to enter, live, and work in the UK for your own company. Self-sponsored route in this case can be the suited option for you.
The ‘Self-sponsored’ route is not a visa category but an immigration strategy through which you can live and work in the UK for your company. You must be sponsored by your company in the UK to enter as a skilled worker under the skilled worker visa route. This means your company in the UK must first apply for a sponsor license and once obtained provided it meets the eligibility and suitability criteria it can assign a certificate of sponsorship to you. Self-sponsored route can lead to settlement in the UK and you can also bring your partner and children dependent on you to the UK with you.
Self-sponsorship is the best option for entrepreneurs, business owners, and skilled workers. In the self-sponsorship route, you can be both the employer and the sponsored employee. However, your employment and role must be a genuine one.

Steps for Self-sponsorship route

There are 4 steps involved in the self-sponsorship route:

1. Set up or expand the overseas company to the UK

You can register a UK company as a director of your company don’t need to be a UK resident or British citizen to register your company in the UK. However, you may need director with UK residence to open a UK bank account. You can either set up a new company in the UK or expand your overseas business to the UK by acquiring an existing UK-based company.
If you want to set up a new company in the UK you need to register the company with Companies House. You also need to create a legal structure for your business. You can choose one of the 4 legal structures Sole trader, Partnership, Limited liability partnership (LLP), and Limited company. The type of business structure you create affects the amount of tax you pay.

2. Open a business bank account.

As a foreign national looking to start a new business in the UK, after registering your company with the Companies House you need to open a business bank account. Opening a business account in the UK requires a person to hold a lawful immigration status in the UK.

3. Register for tax obligations.

Register your company with a UK tax corporation to meet your tax obligations as a company in the UK. As an overseas business with a branch overseas in the UK, you need to pay corporation tax to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) on the profit your company makes in an accounting period.

4. Apply for a sponsor license

If you want to come to the UK through Self-sponsorship route the next step is that your company applies for a sponsor license. Only such companies can apply for a sponsor license that is registered with Companies House, has a business bank account, and is registered for PAYE A sponsor license which is granted by the UKVI to UK-based companies allows such companies to assign a certificate of sponsorship to the migrant workers looking to apply for a UK skilled worker visa. So, if your company receives a sponsor license it can assign you a certificate of sponsorship and thus you can apply to come and work in the UK as a skilled worker. This clears the path for a self-sponsorship route in your case.
Your company must meet all the eligibility and suitability requirements to apply for a sponsor license. It needs to submit various documents required to prove it meets these requirements. If it fails to meet these requirements it will not be granted a sponsor license and thus your self- sponsoring route will also fail.
You need an Authorising officer who will need to be settled in the UK or be a British citizen. Such an officer can be an employee or one of the directors in the company. Your organization must meet the compliance requirements for the Home Office

5. Assign a certificate of sponsorship to the applicant.

Once you have incorporated a company in the UK and it has received a sponsor license it will be able to assign a certificate of sponsorship to the skilled worker visa applicants which in this case is you. You must meet the other eligibility requirements to be able to apply for a UK skilled worker visa.
For the CoS you may receive further enquiries from the Home office which should be answered properly.
As a Skilled Worker visa applicant, you must have a genuine job role from your company (an approved sponsor), which proves that your qualification and experience are related to your job which you are being sponsored for.
  
6. Apply for a skilled worker visa.

Once you have the CoS you can apply as a skilled worker. As part of the application process, you need to submit the Certificate of sponsorship, along with proof of financial stability and meeting the necessary English language requirements. You may get a decision on the visa application in 8 weeks if you apply from inside the UK (switching to a UK Skilled Worker Visa) or 15 working days from outside the UK. However, if you want a quicker decision you can apply for priority service (get a decision within 5 working days) or super priority service (get a decision by the end of the next working day). You need to pay £500 to avail priority service and £1,000 to avail super priority service on top of the visa application fee.

7. Ongoing compliance

This is important that your company keeps complying with its sponsor's duties and responsibilities to maintain its sponsor license. This means key people and system must be in place which look after the day-to-day sponsor duties and monitor and report any changes to the company or sponsored employee.
On the other hand in the self-sponsorship route your company sponsored you to come to the UK as a skilled worker even though you are the owner of the company, you must keep meeting the requirements of a foreign skilled worker visa route.

Other Key facts about the self-sponsorship route

• You can be a director and majority shareholder or even 100% shareholder in your company.
• Your company does not require making a minimum investment in the UK to apply for a sponsor license.
• You must be paid a salary by your company in line with the minimum pay requirements under a skilled worker visa.
• Your family members such as spouse/partner and children under the age of 18 can apply as your dependents.
• Self-sponsorship route can lead to settlement indefinite leave to remain provided you complete 5 five-year continuous residence requirements and other eligibility requirements.

How our immigration lawyers can help?

We provide expert advice to our clients in connection with the sponsor licence and skilled worker applications. We also advise on compliance related matters and provide you with knowledge on how to
maintain compliance records. If you need expert advise in connection with self-sponsorship you can contact our team on 02034111261