UK Visa Application for Self Employed

I can’t guess how UK immigration will interpret that situation. I can tell you how the American tax authority, IRS, interprets it.

Is your own company any of the following:

• a sole proprietorship (no formalities, just you taking cash for work)
• an LLC in which you are the only member
• those, and your spouse is the only other member/partner, and you file jointly

All of these are disregarded entities in terms of US tax law. The government basically says “those things are you and there is no financial difference between your proprietorship/SMLLC and you.”

So be specific as to the exact corporate structure of the company, and state directly whether you are the sole owner (or with your spouse), because it matters.

But this only raises more questions.

Certainly the most common fraud in small business (IRS has written whole books on how to split the hairs here), is claiming business expense and the corresponding tax deduction — for activities which are mostly personal in nature like a trip to the UK.

That would raise some questions about tax cheating, not that they care, but if you’ll cheat your own government, you’d cheat Britain or Britons.

Taxes may not work that way in your country, but Britain has the same doctrine of corporate, liability and tax law as America.

Their job is also to refuse people apparently coming to the UK looking for employment or work. They would be concerned that you might use your company to indirectly take employment that your visa does not permit.

You risk being perceived as either a tax cheat or an employment seeker.

What you write seems to indicate that it’s not really your company that’s paying from your proposed trip, but yourself. That you’re paying it with money you raised by owning and running a business is of secondary importance.

Asserting that the company is paying seems to suggest that you’re going to claim it as a business expense. And even though visa officials are not employed by your government, they are civil servants all the same — it will not amuse them if it looks like you’re planning to fund your holiday by committing tax fraud.

Unfortunately, small business owners who commingle their personal economy with business funds often have a hard time documenting their circumstances to the satisfaction of visa officials. It’s going to be risky in the best of cases, but in order to maximize your chance of success you should meticulously document with the best and most official papers you can lay your hand on:

• That you’re actually the sole owner of the company whose accounts you’re showing.
• That you’re personally authorized to draw on those accounts.
• Financial reports showing that the business has a stable pattern of turning profits year for year.
• The source/provenance of funds received by the company (vital).
• Tax documents proving that you’re paying tax on those profits.
• Cash flow, credit arrangements, something to show that the company is sufficiently in the black that it makes sense for you to pull out the cost of a UK holiday and expect the business still to be running when you come back.

Alternatively, give up for now and instead restructure your finances so you use separate bank accounts for personal expenses and business transactions. After a year or so of that, you will be in a better position to document things for visa applications.

I am not a UK entry clearance officer and cannot offer professional advice, nor have I seen the rest of your application. That said, a casual glance at what you’ve written poses significant concerns. Some potential issues I see at first glance:

• “Proprietor” is not a very specific answer for “what is your job?” It is, in fact, downright evasive. You’ve already told the officer you own the business—that’s what self-employed means—, so this is a place to specify what actual job you do. Are you an engineer? An accountant? Do you own a store?
• 1000 GBP is not a lot in comparison to the cost of a trip to the UK. The visa officer is going to be looking for a credible explanation for why you/your company are spending three times your annual salary to come to the UK, and a credible/defensible explanation for that will place you in an awkward position.
• The question asks “why are they helping to pay for your visit?” Your answer doesn’t actually answer that question. How does your trip relate to your business? Is the company paying so you can attend business meetings with potential clients? So you can attend a conference in your industry? They’re expecting to see separate personal and business financials and a clean and stable set of bank statements. If your company is paying for it, then you need an actual reason for that.