KNOWLEDGE

CENTRE

Costs in Immigration Judicial Review Proceedings

As outlined in our previous series of blog posts, immigration judicial review allows you to challenge decisions by the Home Office when the decision does not attract a right of appeal or administrative review.  An...

English Language Requirement for Spouse Visas

The English language requirement for partner and parent visas was introduced on 29 November 2010 by then Home Secretary Theresa May, who stated at the time that ‘the new English requirement for spouses will help...

What is a Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS)?

This article was first published in August 2019. Read our updated April 2022 guide to Certificates of Sponsorship: Certificates of Sponsorship: All You Need to Know. Migrants moving to the UK on a Tier 2 (General)...

Court of Justice rules on source of income for Derivative Residence applications

On 2 October 2019, the Court of Justice delivered its judgment in Bajratari v Secretary of State for the Home Department (Directive 2004/38/EC) Case C-93/18 which concerns Chen applications and the source of funds...

Sole Representative Visa: The Centre of Operations Test

For a parent company to satisfy the requirements of the representative of an overseas business visa category it must be a genuine commercial enterprise with its principal place of business outside the UK.  Importantly,...

Can a sole representative bring family members to the UK?

Yes, if you are applying for a sole representative of an overseas business visa, you can be joined or accompanied by your dependant family members.   What family members can a sole representative bring to the UK?...

Terms of employment as a sole representative

In this article we examine the working arrangements of sole representatives, looking at the terms and conditions of employment that the Home Office will expect a sole representative to have in order to qualify...

Choosing a sole representative of overseas business visa candidate

Choosing a sole representative of your overseas business is important.  The applicant must have the relevant skills, experience and status to represent your business in the UK on your behalf. Work for the company...

What can I do (and not do) as a sole representative?

The Sole Representative of an Overseas Business Visa is a category which is intended to be used by senior employees of companies which are based abroad and are seeking to establish a branch or subsidiary...

Can Sole Representatives Be Shareholders?

The Immigration Rules require that an applicant for a sole representative visa is not “a majority shareholder in the overseas business”. What is a majority shareholder? The Home Office guidance states...

What is a sole representative of an overseas business visa?

If you are a senior employee of an overseas business and would like to come to the UK to set up and run a UK branch or wholly-owned subsidiary of that business, you may be able to make an application for a...

End of the ‘centre of life test’ in Surinder Singh cases?

In the recent case of ZA (Reg 9. EEA Regs; abuse of rights) Afghanistan [2019] UKUT 281 (IAC), the Upper Tribunal found that there is no basis in EU law for the centre of life test, as set out in Regulation...