Swift, straightforward and specialised UK immigration law advice

The client previously relied on seasonal workers from Europe to help with their harvest, but following Brexit needed support with sponsoring a senior wine consultant on a more permanent basis.

We assisted our client with an application for further leave to remain as a Tier 1 (Investor) where she had only invested £1 million, as opposed to the £2 million needed. She had been ill advised by her family accountant that £1 million was all that was needed. We advised her to top-up before the application was submitted and requested her application be approved despite the requisite funds not being invested within the required time frame or for the prescribed period.

We supported the client with an application to enter the UK under the Global Talent route by assisting with preparing the letters of recommendation and support that were needed to ensure an endorsement.

Our client’s convictions from earlier in his life meant he was subject to an automatic ban and could not travel to the UK. He needed to come to the UK to provide legal assistance, including attending conferences with counsel and assisting with court hearings. We made a successful application for him to enter the UK.

Our client had applied for a Tier 1 Entrepreneur visa extension, but was refused, in spite of having invested the funds and generated in excess of 25 jobs. Since she had no representation, she repeatedly sent the wrong or missing information and her application was eventually refused.

She had also tried (after the deadline) to challenge the decision but was unsuccessful. We successfully submitted an out-of-time application for indefinite leave to remain, approximately 2 months after the original decision was made whilst she was in the country unlawfully.

Our client and her British-national husband have assets under management in excess of £50m and live in Malaysia. Their British children are all studying in the UK, and due to difficulties travelling back and forth during the pandemic, our client decided to move to the UK on a more permanent basis. She could not apply as the spouse of a British national as he was not joining her in the UK , so we applied for an Investor Visa.

We assisted with the account opening process in the UK as well as drafting letters of support from her bank in Switzerland. We successfully made a discretionary application for her from within the UK due to travel restrictions in place at the time.

We assisted the client in making an indefinite leave to remain application. Complicating factors included providing evidence as to the source of the wealth. Applicants are required to show that the funds were held in the three-month period prior to the funds being invested. Our client had sold a number of his investments and moved funds around from various sources to raise the £10m, and there was some reluctance to provide the necessary documentation.

Our client and his team were provided with a comprehensive breakdown of the rules including advice on the interpretation and spirit of the rules, to clarify and justify the reasons for requesting the documents needed to make the application.

During a visit to the UK to drop her child off to boarding school, an outbreak of Covid-19 made the client nervous about travelling back to China and she resolved to make an application for an Investor Visa and sought our assistance in making an in-country application. Whilst it is not normally possible to switch in country under the Immigration Rules, we requested that discretion be exercised, and the application was allowed within a week.

Additional complicating factors included the fact that she had not held the required funds in cash for a two-year period and had received it as part of a sale of some land. This involved drafting the necessary letters from lawyers in China, as well as providing evidence of the money trail. We also introduced the client to a bank in the UK who assisted with the account opening process within days.

Following a compliance visit, doubts were raised about the role being carried out by a sponsored worker. Following interviews with the worker and the sponsor, it was alleged that the worker was not carrying out the duties listed on the Certificate of Sponsorship, and that there were discrepancies in the responses to the interview.

The licence was suspended with a view to being revoked and we were able to successfully reinstate following detailed representations.

Assisted the client with an HR audit to ensure their ongoing compliance with their sponsor duties both as a Skilled Worker and Student Sponsor.