The Skilled Worker route enables UK employers, with an appropriate sponsor licence, to recruit or continue to employ skilled non-British or Irish nationals. It is the most popular route of entry and stay for work purposes. The Practice Note: Sponsoring a Skilled Worker looks at eligibility aspects which relate to the issue of a Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) by the sponsor (including skill level and salary). Once issued a CoS, assuming they are otherwise eligible, the applicant can then apply for entry clearance or permission to stay. This Practice Note examines the following aspects of the application which relate to the applicant: • English-language, financial, and criminal record requirements • suitability requirements • validity requirements • period and conditions of permission • dependants, and • applications for settlement after five years Key resources at a glance Resource type Links Immigration Rules Immigration Rules, Appendix Skilled Worker Immigration Rules, Appendix English Language Immigration Rules, Appendix Finance Immigration Rules, Appendix Continuous Residence Immigration Rules, Appendix KOL UK Home Office guidance Workers and Temporary

NOTE: The Start-up route closed to all new applications on 13 April 2023 (except where they are supported by endorsements issued before this date). As such, individuals applying under this route must have a valid Home Office endorsement issued on or before 12 April 2023. Any application under the route must be made within three months from the date of endorsement. As such, the last date that an application under the route can be made is 12 July 2023. The Innovator Founder route is now the main route for individuals who wish to set up a business in the UK. For further information, see Practice Note: Applying under the Innovator Founder route. Background The Start-up route was introduced into the Immigration Rules (the Rules) on 29 March 2019. Together with the Innovator route, it replaced the Tier 1 (Graduate Entrepreneur) and Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) categories. Tier 1 (Graduate Entrepreneur) applications were still accepted until 6 July 2019, so there was a brief period of overlap between the Tier 1 (Graduate Entrepreneur)

UK Ancestry provides a route of entry and stay in the UK for Commonwealth citizens with a UK-born grandparent who intend to work in the UK. The route is often considered attractive as: • it does not require sponsorship by a UK-based employer, which can be a costly and burdensome process • there is no English-language requirement for entry to the UK • it allows the main applicant to bring their dependent partner and children to the UK, and • it ultimately leads to settlement in the UK after five years Although the Immigration Rules for the route were simplified from 1 December 2020 for the post-Brexit immigration system via Statement of Changes in Immigration Rules HC 813, few substantive policy changes were made. The route, which previously sat in Part 5 of the Rules, still has no points allocations and is therefore not a ‘points-based’ route. This Practice Note looks at the following: • eligibility requirements • validity requirements • financial requirements • suitability requirements • period and conditions of permission • dependants, and

This Practice Note focuses on the Ukraine Permission Extension Scheme but also includes background information about Ukrainians applying to enter or living with a visa in the UK and wider concerns they may have, eg about available routes to settlement. It also includes background information about the Ukraine Scheme visa routes in general. For information on entering the UK under the Ukraine Scheme see: Applying under the Homes for Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme. One key issue for advisers working with people with permission under the Ukraine Scheme is the ongoing lack of certainty about what the future will hold. The government continues to state that there will be no route to settlement for Ukrainians, but many people will have integrated into the UK with strong private lives after years of living here legally. At the same time, it is unclear how long the Homes for Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme and Ukraine Permission Extension Scheme will remain open. If there is perceived to be a durable change in the country situation in Ukraine, then the legal situation

The Youth Mobility Scheme is a short-term route that enables non-British or Irish citizens under the age of 31 from certain specified countries or territories, or who hold certain types of British nationality, to live and work in the UK for two years. From 29 June 2023, the maximum age limit was raised to 35 or under for New Zealand citizens, further to the UK-New Zealand trade agreement. From the same date, New Zealand citizens have been able to extend their stay in the UK for an additional year. From 31 January 2024, the 35 upper age limit was extended to nationals of Australia, Canada and the Republic of Korea (South Korea), and the possibility to extend for a year to Australians and Canadians. The UK has reciprocal arrangements with the participating countries, which are being added to regularly. From 1 January 2022, the route was expanded to include nationals or passport holders of Iceland and India. The first ballot for Indian nationals was delayed for one year (it was held between 28 February 2023

A phrase of potentially wide application but most commonly used to indicate the day on which an appropriate Secretary of State makes a commencement order bringing one or more statutory provisions into effect.

This is a type of exempt person under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, s 39.

This Practice Note discusses the main Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) provisions applying to appointed representatives (ARs) that carry out regulated activities on behalf of authorised persons. Provided the conditions of the AR regime are complied with, ARs are exempt from the need to obtain an authorisation. For guidance on the contract requirements for ARs see SUP 15 and Practice Note: Contract requirements for appointed representatives. For further guidance on multiple principals, see Practice Note: Multiple principals and appointed representatives, and for additional information on a principal’s responsibility for its ARs, see Practice Note: A principal's responsibility for its appointed representatives. The FCA Handbook gives guidance on contacting the FCA’s Supervision Hub with appointed representatives enquiries. New regime for appointed representatives Alongside a call for evidence on the AR regime by HM Treasury, in December 2021 the FCA set out in consultation paper CP21/34 its proposals for improving its AR regime. These proposals included gathering additional information on ARs and Introducer Appointed Representatives (IARs) and heightening reporting requirements for principals, as well as clarifying and bolstering the responsibilities

Appointees are persons or entities selected under a power of appointment or similar authority to perform a role, receive a benefit, or exercise rights on behalf of another. In legal practice across England and Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Ireland, the term is descriptive rather than uniformly defined, and its precise meaning depends on the instrument (for example, a will, trust deed, power of attorney, court order, corporate constitution or statute).In private client and trusts work, appointees are often those chosen by a donee of a power of appointment to receive trust property or occupy a fiduciary office. In social security and mental capacity contexts (for example, under UK social security regulations), “appointee” is used in legislation for a person authorised to manage state benefits for someone lacking capacity.In corporate and commercial documents, appointees may include directors, nominees, or representatives designated by a shareholder, creditor or contracting party under contractual appointment rights.Across the UK and Ireland, usage is broadly consistent: the key legal features are that the appointee derives authority from an underlying power, must comply with any formalities and limitations attaching to that power, and may owe fiduciary or other duties depending on the context.

This Practice Note is intended for commercial organisations in the UK. It sets out the obligation to appoint a European representative under the EU GDPR. This obligation applies to most UK organisations that: • do not have any EEA offices, branches or other establishments, and • offer goods or services to, or monitor the behaviour of individuals in the EEA This Practice Note reflects requirements of the EU GDPR, ICO Guidance on European representatives and EDPB Guidelines on territorial Scope of the GDPR. It also briefly touches on the parallel obligation under the UK GDPR for EU organisations that do business in the UK to appoint a representative in the UK. When are you required to appoint a representative? You must appoint a European representative if you: • are based in the UK • have no offices, branches or other establishments in the EEA, and • offer goods or services to, or monitor the behaviour of, individuals in the EEA This is a general rule and there are certain exceptions—more details are

THIS PRACTICE NOTE APPLIES IN RELATION TO OCCUPATIONAL PENSION SCHEMES The only pension scheme trustees currently required to appoint a chair are trustees of ‘relevant schemes’ (effectively defined contribution (DC) occupational pension schemes). This requirement was introduced on 6 April 2015 through the Occupational Pension Schemes (Charges and Governance) Regulations 2015, SI 2015/879 (the Charge and Governance Regulations 2015), which inserted this requirement in the Occupational Pension Schemes (Scheme Administration) Regulations 1996, SI 1996/1715, reg 22. This Practice Note focuses on this requirement. In addition, since 6 April 2024, trustees of defined benefit (DB) occupational pension schemes are required to appoint a chair and for that chair to report on the scheme’s funding and investment strategy to the Pensions Regulator (TPR). This requirement was introduced by the Pension Schemes Act 2021 (PSA 2021) and underlying regulations. For further information, see: Trustee chair requirement for DB schemes, below. PSA 2021 also extends the notification requirements applicable in relation to trustee chairs. For further information, see: Notification requirement, below. What is a relevant scheme? As noted

This Checklist sets out the main issues for a manufacturer or wholesaler to consider when appointing a distributor overseas. This Checklist considers preliminary and legal issues to be considered before appointing a distributor outside of the UK and commercial terms that manufacturers or wholesalers may wish to address when drafting and negotiating a distribution agreement. Preliminary Issue Consideration Is distribution the right channel to market? Consider the options:• agent • direct sales • distributor Agency:• principal has contractual relationship, and closer business contact with customer • principal can take advantage of the agent’s expertise and contacts in the territory • may give rise to a taxable presence for the principal in the overseas territory • local laws may be pro-agency, making termination of an agent difficult/expensive Direct sales:• same advantages as agency, plus the manufacturer has an employment relationship with locally employed sales force • same disadvantages as agency, and may be more expensive (costs of employment, particularly in countries where employers' contributions are high) • subject to local employment laws for any sales force • exit