The number of visas granted to overseas businesses looking to open a branch in the UK has dropped from 140 to 125, that is 11% drop, said Collyer Bristow, the leading law firm. This means that Brexit could potentially affect the desirability of UK as a business destination. Collier Bristow says many of the businesses looking up to open a UK branch are in fast-growth sectors such as digital technology. Their research pointed that the countries from which the most individuals were granted overseas business visas were the US and Australia, with 20 visas each granted in the last year. The remaining top 3 were China, India, and Japan, with respectively 15,15 and 10 visas.

Why less visas were granted to overseas businesses?

Collier Bristow says that the drop might be due to Home Office becoming stricter when reviewing applications after Brexit vote as well as Theresa May reiterating about the net migration target. Moreover, the Government has often done little to actively promote the overseas business visa category. As a result, awareness of its existence across the world is not as high as it potentially could be, ultimately impacting overall applicant numbers and successful application submissions.”

Effects: UK might lose out on large amounts of investment and tax revenues

James Badcock, Partner at Collyer Bristow says,“The drop in overseas business visas granted could mean the UK misses out on large amounts of investment and tax revenue. More visas have been applied for year on year, but far fewer have been granted since the Brexit vote. Overseas business visas can serve a valuable function in attracting high-profit businesses from other countries to the UK and can help to encourage trade, investment, innovation, and competition. However, the Government seems to be reluctant to promote the use of overseas business visas.”

“Additionally, for the Entrepreneur visa for example, the Home Office makes a subjective decision as to whether the applicant is a genuine entrepreneur. However, an overseas business visa has no subjective element, so take-up and success should, in theory, be greater. We recently successfully re-applied for a client whose application had been rejected incorrectly.”