PSW - setting up a company in UK and managing it from overseas

Hi everyone,

I have seen some really helpful threads on this forum and thought to start this thread as someone else could also be in a similar situation as I do. ANY HELP WOULD BE HIGHLY APPRECIATED!!

I am finishing my PhD later in July, while my Tier-4 visa expires at the end of August. PSW is the obvious route to follow. However, due to complex family circumstances, (after getting PSW) I might have to move to the US on a settlement visa as my spouse and children are US citizens. After PhD, (once I received PSW) I also want to open a company in the UK. I have the following queries related to the same topic;

1) Can I run a company (as a director) in the UK while living overseas - US in this case?
2) How my move to the US would affect my status in the UK?
3) How long I am permitted to remain outside the UK on PSW without affecting the yearly stay requirement to qualify for ILR later? I have already lived in the UK for 6 years on a student visa so I don't want this duration to be wasted if I could manage to stay 4 more years in the UK - given that 10 years UK stay policy on any visa type still holds.
4) What would be the best-case scenario under these circumstances?

Many thanks for your help!
A

hastalavista2021 wrote: ↑

Mon Jun 07, 2021 1:05 pm

1) Can I run a company (as a director) in the UK while living overseas - US in this case?

That depends on the conditions of your permission in the other country, not on your UK permission.

hastalavista2021 wrote: ↑

Mon Jun 07, 2021 1:05 pm

2) How my move to the US would affect my status in the UK?

It depends. Appendix Graduate has not come into force yet, so there is no caseworker guidance about it including when permission could be cancelled, nor any update to Part 9 of the immigration rules on whether permission could be cancelled under paragraph 9.23.1:

9.23.1. A person’s entry clearance or permission may be cancelled if they cease to meet the requirements of the rules under which the entry clearance or permission was granted.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/immigration ... or-refusal

Appendix Graduate includes the requirement:

This route is for a Student in the UK who wants to work, or look for work, following the successful completion of an eligible course of study at UK bachelor’s degree-level or above.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... march-2021

If you were to spend minimal time in the UK, you could be seen as not meeting that and liable for cancellation.

Either way, it seems likely that the Home Office will do something to make it difficult or even impossible for someone to do what you are proposing: accruing permission towards long residence by living in the UK as a Graduate for the minimum possible amount of time. I suppose it is reasonable for them to do that.

hastalavista2021 wrote: ↑

Mon Jun 07, 2021 1:05 pm

3) How long I am permitted to remain outside the UK on PSW without affecting the yearly stay requirement to qualify for ILR later?

This blog explains the rules about that and discusses them:
https://www.freemovement.org.uk/what-ar ... residence/