Mumbai : One of London’s top immigration experts has developed a new way to gain access to the British SME market and possible citizenship for business owners who do not qualify for regular UK visas. 

Yash Dubal, Director of A Y & J Solicitors is one of the UK’s most experienced work visa specialists. He identified a process that will enable many Indian entrepreneurs and start-ups to expand into the UK. His ‘self-sponsorship’ route applies to those business owners who do not qualify under the current criteria.

Currently businesses wishing to expand into the UK have the main options, the UK Sole Representative visa, the Innovator visa and the Investor visa. However, these have limitations. Majority shareholders are unable to apply for Sole Representative visa, Innovator visa only apply to those with innovative ideas and businesses and Investor visas are only allocated to those with £2m to invest. These limitations preclude a vast number of smaller business owners.

Under Mr Dubal’s process, however, smaller business owners can set up or buy a UK business, register it with the UK Government department that assigns visa sponsorship licences and finally use the licence to allocate themselves a Skilled Worker visa.

Mr Dubal said: “This is a new and innovative idea that no one is talking about but that works well for entrepreneurs that do not qualify under the other rules. It’s a very good option for someone who doesn’t qualify for a Sole Representative visa because they are a majority shareholder, or who hasn’t got £2m to invest.

“As long as you have a genuine intention to open a business in the UK and want to run an active trading company in the UK you can follow this route and get a skilled worker visa to work within that business.”

Businesspeople from Gujarat can open British businesses with very little investment apart from accountancy fees. There is no minimum or maximum investment required under this process.

“After five years you may also qualify for residency and after six for citizenship. You can bring over your spouses and children under 18,” adds Mr Dubal. “This self-sponsorship route is not widely known or practised, and we have been doing this for 13 years and are a specialised multi-award-winning law firm.”

The UK SME sector is an attractive option for expanding Gujarati businesses. At the start of 2020 there were 5.9 million small businesses, up 1.9% on the previous year. They are the lifeblood of the UK economy, accounting for 50 percent of the total revenue generated by UK businesses and 44 percent of the country’s labour force.