UK Innovator Visa and Accounting Services for Therapy Clinic in the UK

I love my job. I enjoy helping people, especially the vulnerable. So when I saw a chance to open an autism clinic in the UK, I grabbed the opportunity with both hands. But I knew I needed to do things right: choose and apply for a visa. I was advised to get in touch with Imperial & Legal. The rest is history.

Grayson, 46 years old

An autism expert from Canada

Clients’ names and photos have been changed

A Canadian national got in touch with Imperial & Legal. He specialises in treating autistic children and runs a few autism clinics in Canada.  

Grayson met many UK colleagues during various professional conferences and learnt from them that his methods generated a lot of interest in Europe. He decided to set up several child autism clinics in the UK.

The last thing he wanted was a visa refusal, so he got in touch with professional immigration advisors to get assistance with obtaining a UK visa.

Our Client

Grayson is a 46-year-old from Canada. He specialises in ABA therapy, effective treatment for people with special needs including autistic children. This universal therapy applies to anyone. It helps deal with various behaviour disorders from excessive aggression to sleep disorders.

Grayson is planning to open several behaviour and language therapy clinics in the UK to apply his methods to treat children, provide consultations to their parents, as well as provide training for ABA therapists.

The Challenge

To draft a business plan and apply for endorsement from an approved body.

The Solution

A UK Innovator visa was the best solution for Grayson. On this visa, you can develop and promote your innovative business idea in nearly every industry and get tax exemptions if you create jobs for the locals. If something prevents your business from generating the required profit, you can set up another one when your visa is extended.

To be eligible for a UK Innovator visa, an applicant must get their business idea endorsed by an approved business accelerator or educational institution. These bodies decide whether the business idea can contribute to the development of the UK economy and whether it is viable and innovative. Finally, they vouch for the business before the government confirming that it meets the criteria.

A UK Innovator visa application process includes three main steps: drafting a business plan that meets all the criteria, submitting it to an approved body to get an endorsement letter, and applying for a UK visa.

Imperial & Legal’s immigration advisors helped Grayson do a feasibility study of his business model, which included a detailed specification of what area a clinic would occupy, what equipment was needed and how many jobs the clinic would create for the locals.

The Canadian entrepreneur’s business idea meets all three criteria for a UK Innovator visa: innovativeness, viability, and scalability. In other words: 

• It is innovative and there is nothing like it in the market. 
• The business is going to grow in terms of turnover and jobs.
• The entrepreneur has the necessary knowledge and skills to further expand the business.

Imperial & Legal’s immigration advisors explained to the client that as soon as he was granted a UK Innovator visa, he would be supposed to stay in touch with the endorsing body and facilitate regular inspections carried out six months, a year and two years after by appointed personnel.

While drafting a business plan, Grayson was informed that he would need to obtain a special licence to provide the majority of his healthcare services after he obtained a UK Innovator visa. We prepared a full set of documents to apply for this visa once the endorsement letter was received.

It takes Grayson less than three months to obtain a UK Innovator visa

The Conclusion

The thorough business plan included all the steps of establishing a child autism clinic, as well as details of the employment process. Thanks to the high level of detail, an endorsement letter was granted in no time at all. Then we applied to the Home Office and Grayson obtained his UK Innovator visa. Now he can set up his clinic in the UK. 

Grayson needed accounting support to run the business and he asked if we could help. Imperial & Legal’s advisors offered to help with the following:

• Exhaustive advice on how to start a business in the UK and pay corporation tax.
• Preparing financial accounts and tax returns for the business.
• Providing accounting support.
• Calculating payroll and preparing monthly reports.
• Registering a company for VAT and preparing quarterly returns.
• Conducting an audit, if needed.

That sounded great to Grayson and so we signed an agreement with his clinic to provide comprehensive accounting support.

Our specialists found an office space for the clinic and an accommodation for Grayson. We also signed an agreement to provide full support to any foreign employee who would work in the clinic.

Grayson was truly grateful to Imperial & Legal’s immigration advisors for the job they had done. He said he would be happy to recommend us to anyone.