The representative of an overseas business visa wasn’t mentioned once in the government’s blueprint for a new immigration system, but that doesn’t mean it’s going anywhere. Or at least we hope not; as Joanna Hunt tells me in this podcast, stranger things have happened in immigration law.

We mostly proceed on the assumption this route has life in it yet and that, as an immigration lawyer, you need to know about it. Jo explains what the representative of an overseas business visa is, why it’s sometimes called the “sole rep” route, what the requirements are and why it’s often trickier than other work-based routes. We also touch on recent changes to the route in May 2020, which saw the Home Office give itself more powers to refuse this kind of visa application for fear that independent businesspeople are trying to use it instead of the bungled Innovator route.

The discussion is partly based on Jo’s recent article on the subject, What is a representative of an overseas business visa and why are people talking about it?.