How do I show that the company I own will pay UK trip expenses?

There are two of us who are partners in our own company. I plan to go to UK for business trip and our company will cover the expenses. On the UK visa application, after selecting self employed and including the company name, it asks whether someone is paying for the trip. What should I put, since it will be the company?

visas uk applications business-travel

Best Answer

The form has three screens of interest here.

The first is where you enter that you are self-employed...

The second is where you estimate the cost of your visit...

And the third is where you disclose that your company is financing the visit...

These screens are all relentlessly straight-forward and can be answered with full transparency. As long as the information sync's up, they will not refuse solely because your company is financing a UK visit. On the other hand... If they do not understand why you can't pay for the trip yourself and seek reimbursement from your company, or if the whole arrangement raises similar questions that don't make sense, they will refuse on that basis. Using a company that you own to pay for a visit will not elevate the credibility of your application.

All other things being equal, the form is compellingly simple to answer the questions using the natural meaning of the words. They stopped asking 'trick questions' over a decade ago.

Be sure to include your company's formation documents and recent tax returns.