Standard Visitor Visa for a UK Limited Company Director

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To enter the UK as a visitor, you must meet the requirements of Immigration Rules Appendix V, including:

V 4.2. The applicant must satisfy the decision maker that they are a genuine visitor, which means the applicant:

(a) will leave the UK at the end of their visit; and

(b) will not live in the UK for extended periods through frequent or successive visits, or make the UK their main home; and

(c) is genuinely seeking entry or stay for a purpose that is permitted under the visitor route as set out in Appendix Visitor: Permitted Activities and at V 13.3; and

(d) will not undertake any of the prohibited activities set out in V 4.4. to V 4.6;

V 4.4. The applicant must not intend to:

(a) work in the UK, which includes:

(i) taking employment in the UK; and

(ii) doing work for an organisation or business in the UK;

V 4.6. The visitor must not receive payment from a UK source for any activities undertaken in the UK, except for the following:

(a) reasonable expenses to cover the cost of their travel and subsistence, including fees for directors attending board-level meetings;

Being an overseas director of a UK company doesn’t inherently make you ineligible to apply for a Standard visitor visa - you can ‘work’ providing the ‘work’ is allowed under ‘Permitted Activities’ and you don’t receive payment for it. It might however make it harder to get approval. For instance:

  • can you demonstrate ties to your home country that are stronger than the ‘pull’ of running a UK-based company? That might be difficult if your UK company is your only/main source of income

  • will you be paid by the UK company during your visit, other than expenses associated with the trip?

  • can you show that your work activities during your visit will be limited to those permitted under AppV?

Source: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/immigration-rules/immigration-rules-appendix-v-visitor

Your situation isn’t 100% straightforward, if I were you I would consider getting advice from an Immigration adviser before applying https://www.gov.uk/find-an-immigration-adviser/what-advisers-can-do

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