An Immigrant facing challenges while setting up a business in UK
An immigrant willing to set up a business in UK has to get prepared for a complex process. However, the process gets simpler when you follow a certain guidelines.
United Kingdom had introduced a new Visa System for Entrepreneurs to enter the country and run a business.
Following is a step by step guideline for those willing to start a business in UK as an immigrant:
Settlement issues
The first and foremost challenge you may would be to find a place for yourself in the country. As because you are not a permanent resident yet, you may have to prove your worth at very many places.
Hiring workers
Another hurdle as an immigrant for you would be to hire workers. When you have to hire workers, you will have to get registered as a sponsor with the UK Border Agency (UKBA). The process of approval may take as long as 6 months’ time. This means you will have to wait for this a long period to get workers for your entrepreneur. Your process of hiring will start when you get a license from the concerned department.
Criteria for becoming a sponsor
• Physical presence of a key personnel located in UK as a point of contact. This person will be regarded as Authorizing Officer who is appointed by the company planning to the established in UK.
• This person will be responsible for administering the process of application.
• Parent Company should not have a branch or any other representative in UK before applying for the process.
Appointing an Authorizing Officer
An Authorizing Officer can be a British citizen so that he can meet all the legal processing without keeping the deadline of his stay in the country in mind. Else, the incumbent company can deploy somebody in UK for a quite long time.
The required Documents
The number of documents required will vary from company to company. Some of the common ones are mentioned below:
• Evidence of a UK corporate bank account
• Employer’s liability insurance certificate
• Certificate of VAT registration
A few more tips
Start the application process without any delay. You can apply for as many categories as possible. You can apply for more than one category at the same time which will include, sponsoring employees for intra-company transfer and even hiring other general employees.
Try and obtain the license as soon as possible because this will enable the employees to process their applications.