The sole representative route allows a senior employee of an overseas company to come to the UK to establish and then run a UK branch office or wholly owned subsidiary. The application must be submitted before the company has a trading presence in the UK. If successful, applicants are granted three years' leave and they may then be able to extend their leave for a further two years. After five years in the UK under this route applicants may be able to apply for indefinite leave to remain (also known as settlement).  

Recent changes

The Home Office recently introduced additional requirements for settlement which it's important sole representatives are aware of. These apply both to new applicants and retrospectively to those already in the UK as sole representatives. 

In addition to the earlier requirements, sole representatives must now also show that, throughout the five-year period before the date on which they apply for settlement:

• The overseas business which they represent has been active and trading and its headquarters and principal place of business has remained outside the UK;
• They have been employed and have been working full time for the overseas business or for that business’s UK branch or subsidiary;
• They have not undertaken work for any other business or engaged in business of their own;
• They have not had a majority stake in, or otherwise owned or controlled a majority of the overseas business they represent, including by way of a shareholding, partnership agreement, sole proprietorship or any other arrangement;
• They have established and then supervised the registered a branch or wholly owned subsidiary of the overseas business in the UK; and
•  The UK branch or subsidiary was actively trading in the same type of business as the overseas business.

Additionally, sole representatives will need to show that they are still required by their employer to continue in the role and they must provide the following:

• Evidence of their salary paid in the 12 months immediately before the date of application and details of their remuneration package;
• A letter from their employer stating that the employer still requires the representative to work for them in the UK in the same role, and that the representative will be required for the foreseeable future;
• Evidence of business that has been generated, mainly with firms in the UK, on behalf of their employer since the representative’s last grant of leave, in the form of accounts, copies of invoices or letters from businesses with whom the representative has done business, including the value of transactions; 
• Either a copy of the share register or a letter from the overseas business’s accountant confirming that the UK business is wholly owned by the overseas business; and
• A letter from their employer which confirms that the sole representative has supervised the UK branch or subsidiary since the last grant of permission.

In addition, the usual requirements relating to residency, English language and passing the Life in the UK test continue to apply.  

These changes mean that sole representatives and their employers will need to take care to ensure that all of the above requirements are met throughout the five year period, or the application for settlement will almost certainly be refused.