Thinking of moving to the UK?
In the first episode of our 'Future of the UK post-Brexit/post-pandemic' series, Alan Platt, our Consultant Director of Immigration at Ince, runs you through some of the available immigration routes into the United Kingdom – Tier 1 (Investor), Innovator, Sole Representative and Skilled Worker.
Thinking of moving to the UK?
In the first episode of our 'Future of the UK post-Brexit/post-pandemic' series, Alan Platt, our Consultant Director of Immigration at Ince, runs you through some of the available immigration routes into the United Kingdom – Tier 1 (Investor), Innovator, Sole Representative and Skilled Worker.
0:08
Good day, everyone, and thank you for this opportunity to reach out to you via this podcast, in which I'll be introducing the Ince immigration team and myself and talking about the UK immigration, business, employment, and investment opportunities that are available for those looking to consider a move to the United Kingdom.
0:29
My name is Alan Platt and I'm the Consultant Director of Immigration at Ince.
0:35
I've had a career involved in UK immigration for more than 40 years, and during that time, spent 22 years working in the home office and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, both as an immigration officer and a visa officer.
0:49
I was based at Heathrow, stansted, and the UK Border Force headquarters in croydon.
0:55
I also worked overseas as a UK visa officer at the British High Commission, in Lagos, Nigeria, and Dar es Salaam in Tanzania.
1:05
I dealt with a full range of business and family UK, visa applications, and British Passport applications.
1:12
For the last 18 years or so, I've practiced UK Immigration law in the private sector, first in my own law firm, Platt and Associates, and then more recently with Ince, an established and respected international law firm.
1:27
The immigration team at Ince hasa similar wealth of experience to my own.
1:31
And our four fee earners have worked in the team for many years and come from similar backgrounds to myself with experience in UK overseas, diplomatic missions, and the home office as decision makers.
1:45
My own immigration experience working as a counselor and Visa officer was gained in Nigeria and Tanzania.
1:52
And the five years I spent working in those countries gave me the opportunity to travel extensively in Africa, and to understand the culture and lives and immigration needs of those living in those countries.
2:06
Even though we've lived through difficult times during the last year or so, and we've navigated Brexit and the consequential immigration issues presented, the United Kingdom has remained a resilient and stable economy and an attractive destination to consider investing in, working in, establishing business in or having your children educated.
2:29
We have some of the best academic institutions in the world in the United Kingdom.
2:34
The government encourages those seeking to move to the UK with the following business, and investment immigration routes available: First one, would be as a tier one investor.
2:46
That requires a minimum of £2 million invested into Shak capital, inactive trading UK companies, The investment has to be maintained for a five year period, and at the end of that time, permanent residency can be applied for.
3:02
The permanent residency period can be reduced by making an increased investment, so if you invest $5 million, for example, the period to permanent residency would be three years.
3:16
If you invested 10 million, the period to gaining permanent residency would be brought right down to two years.
3:23
And then British citizenship is possible after five years.
3:27
The second category I'd like to mention is the investor Visa, which gives entrepreneurs the opportunity to apply to establish a business in the UK and through that business to benefit by gaining residency.
3:43
The innovator visa requires an initial investment of £50,000 into a new business in the UK.
3:50
The business idea has to be new, and must be endorsed by a prescribed body and have a reasonable chance of being successful.
3:58
You gain permanent residency in the UK after five years, but depending upon the success and the growth of the business, that period actually can be reduced down to three years.
4:09
The third category that is very popular amongst those in business circles, with established businesses already overseas would be the sole representative category that relates to overseas companies that want to open a branch subsidiary and base a senior employee in the UK to run and develop the branch subsidiary in the United Kingdom.
4:32
There has to be a demonstrated need for the UK brand subsidiary, and the overseas parent company must continue to function.
4:40
Permanent residency can be gained after five years providing the businesses successful and continuing.
4:48
Then if you wish to come and work in the UK, you can look at a skilled worker category, UK based, employers can seek to employ foreign labour where genuine vacancies exist.
4:59
There is no longer a need to advertise vacancies and providing the employer has a sponsor license, and the role is on the Home Office prescribed list of occupations eligible.
5:10
The company may recruit foreign labor to fill the vacancy and apply for work permits.
5:17
With the advent of Brexit, the requirement for the role to be graduate level has been reduced to something around A-level standard.
5:25
And the 25,600 per annum, or £10.10 per hour salary cap has been reduced.
5:34
The fifth category, and the final one, which relates to business related applications, would be global talent.
5:41
The UK encourages those considered to be global talent's, either established, or showing promise, to base themselves in the UK to develop their own ideas and businesses, or to work for companies relevant to their backgrounds and skills.
5:58
The types of roles covered by the global talent route a wide ranging, and are in digital technology, the arts, culture, and the academia.
6:08
These roles all are there to encourage people to come and live in the United Kingdom and to develop themselves, to invest, to work, to establish themselves in business, and are obviously very attractive in, a very attractive environment.
6:23
Thank you for listening to my podcast. If you want to contact me and get further information, I'll be more than happy to provide. My e-mail address is Alanplatt@incegd.com.
6:34
And I'll usually get back to you within a short period of time. Thank you.
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