UK Business Visas

Wherever you’re coming from in the world, if you want to establish your business and begin operating in the UK, your first priority should be obtaining a relevant visa. Applying for UK business visas is a straightforward process, and is often completed in just a few weeks for representatives of businesses that are already established overseas.

Applying for a Representative of an Overseas Business Visa

Once you begin taking solid steps to establish your business in the UK, you’ll need to apply for a representative of an Overseas Business visa. These visas are made available to the sole representatives of overseas companies to help them establish themselves in the UK.

To be eligible for this visa you must:

Have enough money to support yourself without help from public funds (learn more at www.gov.uk/business-finance-support)
Meet the English language requirement

UK government guidelines dictate that if you are coming to the UK as a sole representative, you must:

Be recruited and employed outside the UK by an active and trading business (whose headquarters and principal place of business are, and will remain, outside the UK)
Have the skills, experience and knowledge to do the role
Hold a senior position within the business (but do not own or control the majority of it) and have full authority to make decisions on its behalf
Intend to establish the overseas business’s first commercial presence in the UK, either as a registered branch or a wholly owned subsidiary

The visa enables you to work in the UK for three years, with the option to extend it for a further two years as required. Once you have been in the UK for five years, you’ll be able to apply for permanent settled status – ensuring you don’t need any further visas to live and work here.

Other UK business visas

The UK Government offers a number of other UK business visas that you may be eligible for as an inward investor establishing a business in the UK:

The Start-up visa

If you’re an entrepreneur with a high-potential business idea that you want to set up in the UK for the first time, this visa might be for you. Currently, start-up visas can be issues for a period of two years, at which point then can be transferred into an Innovator visa.

To successfully apply for this visa, you’ll need to acquire an endorsement from an approved endorsing body. Examples of those include higher education institutions and leading businesses in the UK.

Find out more at gov.uk/start-up-visa

The Innovator visa

This visa is for established, operational businesses with a minimum of £50,000 funding invested into them – making it a great follow-up for those that established themselves using a start-up visa.

Innovator visas are issued for three years, after which you can either apply for a three-year extension or apply to settle permanently in the UK.

Find out more at gov.uk/innovator-visa