The UK remains one of the best destinations for Indian entrepreneurs seeking to invest or start-up businesses in foreign countries. Thanks to the India-UK bilateral relationship and ongoing UK-India Free Trade Agreement negotiations. The Free Trade Agreement is expected to double bilateral trade by the 2030s.
For Indian entrepreneurs, there’s no better time to apply for UK visas than now. There are different UK business visas, and which to apply for will depend on your circumstance. The following are some of the best UK visas for Indian entrepreneurs in 2022:
- Start-Up Visa
As an Indian Entrepreneur, the UK start-up visa is for you if you want to establish an innovative business in the UK. Innovative here implies that there must not be any similar already-existing business. Also, you cannot join an already trading business, and your business idea must have growth potential.
Applying for the UK Start-up visa requires endorsement from a UK higher education institution or business renowned for supporting UK entrepreneurs. With this visa, you can stay in the UK for up to 2 years. If you’re already in the UK on a different visa, you can as well easily switch to a Start-up visa.
The UK Start-up visa for entrepreneurs costs £363 (around ₹37,000) if you’re applying from India and takes around three weeks to process. As a beneficiary, you’re not limited to only your business; you can also work in a different job. In addition, you can bring your dependents to the UK.
- Innovator Visa
The UK Innovator Visa is similar to the Start-up Visa in the sense that they both require an innovative business idea. However, the Innovator Visa requires that you be endorsed by an approved endorsing body. You can find a list of approved endorsing organizations on the UK Government website: Endorsing bodies: innovator visa.
If you opt for the UK innovator visa, you’ll have to prove your knowledge of English. Hence, you should be able to speak, read, write, and understand English properly. There are many benefits of the Innovator Visa as an Indian Entrepreneur.
The visa lets you stay in the UK for up to 3 years. Upon expiration, you can extend your stay for another three years continuously. It is, therefore, one of the immigration pathways that can easily lead to permanent residency, as you may be able to apply for settlement after three years.
This visa costs £1,021 (around ₹103,000) and takes around three weeks to process. The paperwork and documents may be toilsome, so it is important to work with UK immigration lawyers, who can help you prepare and process the visa.
- Representative of an Overseas Business Visa
This is one of the most common UK business visas. You can apply for this visa as an Indian entrepreneur looking to set up a company branch or subsidiary in the UK. Mainly, the visa requires that you have enough funds to sponsor your stay without needing public funds.
Furthermore, you must demonstrate proficiency in the English language, and as a representative of a business, you must hold a senior position within the business. If you’re the owner of the business, then you’re already in a senior position.
The Representative of an Overseas Business Visa costs £610 (around ₹62,500); in addition, you must pay the UK healthcare surcharge. You can get your visa within three weeks of applying if you meet all requirements, and you can stay in the UK for up to 3 years.
You can extend your visa for two more years, making a total of five years. With five years of residency in the UK, you can apply for settlement.
- Global Business Mobility Visa
The Global Business Mobility visa is a new UK business visa route set to launch in Spring 2022. This visa route will benefit Indian entrepreneurs with already existing businesses in the UK. It allows such businesses to send an individual worker, or small team of workers, to the UK to handle a specific corporate purpose.
If you’re looking to establish a UK presence, the new route also allows sending an expansion worker, similar to the Representative of an Overseas Business visa. In fact, the visa is expected to be a reform of the Representative of an Overseas Business visa, Intra-Company Transfer, and the Intra-Company Graduate Trainee visas.
