Immigration Support During Corporate Restructuring
Sectors:
- Energy Infrastructure Sector
Services Provided:
Background
Our client, a major organisation in the UK energy infrastructure sector, under went a significant corporate restructuring. This included the legal separation of one of its businesses into a newly independent entity. The separation brought with it a number of complex UK immigration law considerations, particularly around sponsor licence compliance and the continued sponsorship of migrant workers.
Our team engaged to advise and support both the original business and the newly separated entity through the immigration aspects of this transformation, ensuring regulatory compliance and continuity for their non-settled sponsored workforce.
Our Role
Our team provided comprehensive immigration law support throughout the separation process.
-
1
Strategic Immigration Advice
Our team advised both entities on their legal duties as sponsors under UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) rules, with a focus on:
- Auditing current sponsor licence activity
- Identifying sponsored workers impacted by the separation
- Ensuring compliance with UKVI’s reporting and structural change requirements
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2
Sponsor Licence Application for the New Entity
To ensure business continuity, our team prepared and submitted a new sponsor licence application on behalf of the newly created organisation. Our support included:
- Gathering and organising the necessary supporting documentation
- Drafting detailed submissions to UKVI to reflect the corporate change
- Ensuring that the new licence matched the operational needs of the business
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3
Reporting and Migrant Sponsorship Transfers
Post-separation, our team managed the immigration reporting and transfer process, including:
- Notifying UKVI of the change in ownership and legal structure on both sponsor licences
- Transferring sponsorship of impacted migrant workers to the new entity
- Maintaining continuity of employment and visa compliance across both organisations
Outcome
Our involvement ensured that the corporate separation was executed without disruption to the sponsor licences or sponsored employees. Key outcomes included:
-
Approval
Successful approval of a new sponsor licence for the separated entity -
Smooth Transfer
Smooth transfer of all relevant sponsored migrants -
Compliance
Full compliance with UKVI requirements during and after the transition -
Time efficient
Our proactive and collaborative approach ensured immigration did not become a barrier to the timely and effective delivery of this large-scale corporate change.
