What Does Our Business Immigration Team Do?

The UK’s immigration laws are undergoing a rapid change following the UK’s departure from the European Union and in response to fast-changing economic circumstances.

The Law Lane business immigration team can leverage its cross-practice expertise to cut across the complexity and provide down-to-earth, practical immigration advice to employers on their workplace immigration needs.

Employee Sponsorship

Our business immigration team have expertise in advising about employee sponsorship, emphasizing advising employers who employ or wish to employ workers under the Skilled Worker and Global Business Mobility routes.

The Global Business Mobility routes include the Senior or Specialist Worker and Graduate Trainee routes (formerly known as the Intra-Company routes) and the UK Expansion Worker route (which replaces the Representative of an Overseas Business route).

Businesses wishing to use Skilled Worker or Global Business Mobility visas must first obtain a sponsor licence from UKVI so they may sponsor the employee in question.

The business immigration team advises about all aspects of employee sponsorship and sponsor licensing, including:

• Sponsor licence applications;
• Whether a job meets the necessary criteria to be eligible for sponsorship;
• Compliance with the detailed record-keeping and reporting duties licensed sponsors must fulfil, including by carrying out mock compliance audits;
• Reviewing contracts and handbooks and providing advice to ensure that your policies and procedures are compliant with UKVI requirements;
• Maintaining clients’ sponsor licences as their appointed legal Representative;
• Advising on sponsor licensing implications of corporate restructures;
• Use of UKVI’s Sponsorship Management System (SMS);
• Sponsor licence renewals; and
• Surrendering licenses are no longer required.

Other Visas

Sponsorship under the Skilled Worker and Global Business Mobility routes may not always be available or be the best route for a particular worker.

As such, the business immigration team will examine alternative options to employee sponsorship. We advise businesses and individuals on a wide variety of other visas and immigration applications, including:

• Start-up and Innovator Visas;
• Leave to Enter or Remain on a Family Visas;
• Applications for Indefinite Leave to Remain;
• UK Ancestry Visas;
• Visas for relatives and dependents of Skilled and Senior or Specialist Workers;
• Late applications to the EU Settlement Scheme; and
• Applications for British Citizenship.

Preventing Illegal Working and Right to Work Checks

All employers should prevent illegal working in the UK. It is a criminal offence knowingly to employ someone who does not have the right to work in the UK. Employers may also be liable for a fine of up to £20,000 per individual if they are found to be employing illegal workers and have not conducted a proper right-to-work check.

The business immigration team regularly advises maintaining the “statutory excuse” against employing illegal workers and conducting proper right-to-work checks.

For any further advice or explanations, please don’t hesitate to contact me on my email salman.shaw@lawlanesolicitors.com or call me directly on 02037453217.