The jewellery shop is a family business between my wife and me. She creates designs for jewellery, and I sell the finished pieces. In our home country it was easy for us, but in the UK there are many nuances to take into account when registering your business. In order not to make any mistakes and to do everything correctly, we turned to the specialists at Imperial&Legal for help and received legal support.
Devika and Anil came to the UK from India. Devika went to the Royal College of Art and studied design there. They lived in London on a student visa. The girl was the principal applicant and her husband was a dependent.
Anil earned money and fed his family while Devika studied. He had his own shop selling jewellery from India. Back home, they had craftsmen who made the pieces according to designs drawn by Devika. So you could say it was a family business.
In fact, that’s when we met this couple. Before opening the shop, they asked us for help.
Our lawyers helped them to register an LTD — a limited liability company. Anil himself was the sole shareholder and director. Thankfully, the law allows foreigners to act in this capacity without requiring UK citizens to be on the management board.
In addition to registering the company, we also provided him with secretarial services and a registration address. The thing is that when you start a business, you have to submit a real physical address in the UK to the Registration Chamber, where letters from the state authorities will be sent.
Of course, Anil and Devika had accommodation in London, and they could put it in as such an address. But they were going to change their flat. It was not very convenient for them to receive mail at their home address, so they entrusted it to us. And they were quite satisfied with our services.
We were very pleased when they came back to us a year later with new challenges. And we were happy for them because in that time their business had grown from a small shop where Anil himself was trading to a confident enterprise. Now they needed legal help to officially expand and take their work to the next level.
Devika is 26 years old, an Indian national and a UK student visa holder.
Anil — 28, Indian national, dependent on his wife’s visa, owner of a small business registered in England.
Legal support in liaising with state structures.
Over the course of a year, Anil managed not only to expand the clientele of his shop, but also to find wholesale customers who were going to buy jewellery in large batches. Devika, thanks to her sociable nature, was able to pre-arrange with photo agencies to rent jewellery for shoots, shows and events.
But to realise all this, we had to expand and hire employees. We took over registration in the VAT system for VAT payers, as well as in the PAYE system in order to deduct social payments for employees (Payroll). Now we could safely recruit staff and start working with new partners.
In addition, we asked the couple about their financial statements. After all, a year had already passed, and they had to submit declarations to the tax authorities. They were also happy to put the communication with the fiscal authorities on our shoulders, as they were afraid of making mistakes in important documents and getting fined.
They also shared their concerns about whether they will be able to stay in England. Devika’s student visa would expire after a year. We suggested that they switch to a work visa, as they were planning to work in their own shop. It would also help them to get a permanent residence permit, as a work visa, unlike a student visa, is an immigration visa and allows them to do so.
The only point that was required for this was to obtain a sponsorship licence to hire foreign employees. Even though they were going to work in their own firm, they were still foreigners and had to comply with non-resident regulations. In addition, Anil was also planning to move his brother and his family to Britain to help run the company. And without a sponsorship licence, this would not be possible.
We helped make it happen. And we agreed that we would meet in a year’s time, when the student visa expires. In addition, it will be time for new accounts and our accountants will help us prepare the next tax return.
As for the relatives who were to be invited to England, it was decided that they would first come on a tourist visa to have a look around, familiarise themselves with the business, assess whether they could live away from home and see if they liked London.
We warned that on a tourist visa one should never work, and that no one should even think of standing behind the counter or doing anything else that could be considered illegal. But Anil and Devika assured that it would be a study tour only and no one was going to burden the relatives with work.
The UK favours immigrants who are well educated and have useful skills, which means they can benefit both society and the economy of the country. That is why you should not be afraid that someone will create obstacles when moving to the UK. However, obtaining a visa and, subsequently, permanent residence and citizenship, is still a complicated legal procedure, so it is advisable to consult specialists in order not to be rejected because of an unfortunate mistake made due to ignorance.
Devika and Anil are ideal candidates for immigration. They have already lived in the country for some time and are well integrated into it. Anil has already managed to start his own business and apart from the taxes he will bring to the British treasury, the man will provide new jobs for the locals, as he will certainly need more employees over time as the business steadily expands.
But even if you don’t have the same achievements as this couple, and you doubt whether you will be considered a suitable candidate for immigration to the UK, then contact us. We can help you get into this country and settle in.
We will work with you to find a customised solution for your immigration, second citizenship, business, tax and other needs.
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