Read more about our business immigration service

We cover all aspects of business immigration in this section. Select a card below to read more about that topic.

The UK's points-based immigration system

The Tier 2 (General) category was replaced by the Skilled Worker route. Employees must obtain a total of 70 points to be eligible for a Skilled Worker visa. Requirements include, but are not limited to:

  • Meeting the minimum skills threshold
  • Meeting the minimum salary level of £38,700 or the going rate for the job (as per the applicable Standard Occupational Classification), whichever is higher
  • Passing the English language requirement

Read more more about points-based immigration.

Apply for a sponsor licence

To employ a worker from outside of the UK, you must first obtain a sponsor licence. This includes workers from the EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland who arrived in the UK after 31 December 2020.

You won’t need a licence to employ workers from Ireland and those with indefinite leave to remain, settled status or pre-settled status.

The licence you will need to apply for will depend on whether you are hiring temporary or long-term employees. A Worker licence is for long-term or permanent job offers and a Temporary licence is for temporary job offers. You can apply for a licence that covers either or both of these tiers.

How to register as a licenced UK visa sponsor

You must apply online, submit all the necessary documents and pay a fee. There are various requirements set by UK Visas and Immigration that must be met in order to gain your sponsor license– we can help ensure that your business satisfies all the criteria.

Read more about UK sponsor licences.

Talk to the UK visa and immigration experts. Keep up to date with the latest Business Immigration news by subscribing to our newsletter.

Employ workers on short-term work visas

We can assist and advise on the process of hiring short-term international employees for all your seasonal job roles or temporary contracts. The process is much the same as hiring a long-term employee.

Read more about hiring temporary foreign workers.

The Global Business Mobility route

The Global Mobility route is a collection of visas designed for businesses wishing to establish a presence in the UK, or transfer employees from an overseas branch for specific purposes.

You can employ experienced workers or graduate trainees.

Read more about the Global Business Mobility route.

Talk to the UK visa and immigration experts.

Immigration skills charge

You need to pay an additional fee for each non-UK employee you hire. This is called the immigration skills charge, which was introduced in 2016.

You must pay the immigration skills charge if you have workers who are applying from:

  • Overseas, to work in the UK for six months or more
  • Inside the UK for any length of time

How much it costs

The fee depends on:

  • The size of your organisation
  • How long the worker will be employed by you

Read more about the immigration skills charge.

Immigration compliance audits

The Home Office can, at any point, conduct an inspection of your company to make sure you are complying with your immigration duties. This inspection will ensure that the information you provided as part of your sponsor licence application is accurate and that you are able and continue to comply with the duties and responsibilities of a licensed sponsor. You may also receive a visit before a decision on your sponsor licence is made. These visits can be announced or unplanned, so it’s important to always be prepared.

Our knowledge and understanding of the Home Office’s auditing procedures and standards will ensure your company remains compliant. We’ll conduct all the necessary checks and offer advice on where improvements can be made. The Home Office also make a commitment to visit each licenced sponsor at least once during the life cycle of the licence, which is normally four years

Read more about immigration audits.

Meet your business immigration team

Talk to our experienced consultants, IAA-registered advisers to see how we can help with your business immigration needs.

  • Darren Faife - Director of Work permits
    Darren Faife
    Managing Director: Business immigration
  • Julian Dearson
    Head of Immigration Compliance
  • Nicola Digby
    Nicola Digby
    Senior Consultant
  • Maxine Furlong
    Maxine Furlong
    Business Immigration Consultant
  • Sophie Brummer
    Operations Assistant
  • Andrea Jurams
    Junior UK Consultant Support
  • Megan Maggott
    Junior UK Consultant Support
  • Dana Prodehl
    Admin Assistant
  • Tobias Strom
    Tobias Strom
    Business Immigration Consultant
  • Saskia Johnston
    Service Delivery Director
  • Darren Faife
    Managing Director: Business immigration

    Darren has over 30 years’ experience heading award-winning organisations as well as providing immigration and compliance services to large-scale, multinational businesses.

    Having run his own successful immigration practice for over 20 years, Darren possesses a strong commercial mindset and provides an efficient delivery of strategic solutions, while consistently driving value contributing to core business objectives.

    Darren joined Sable International in 2020 to bring his wealth of expertise to our business immigration services. He is registered with the IAA at level 2 in UK Immigration.

    Outside of work, Darren is a “car man”, who makes his annual trip to Le Mans every year.

  • Julian Dearson
    Head of Immigration Compliance

    Julian joined the Home Office, Immigration Department in 1983 where he processed and managed multiple immigration and nationality applications. In 1991 he established Dearson Winyard, a company that went on to be one of the largest and most successful independent immigration advisory firms in the UK. After 26 years of success, the company was sold and Julian has spent the last five years pursuing his own personal ambitions.

    Julian is responsible for establishing and managing an immigration compliance offering for business immigration clients. This includes undertaking compliance audits to evaluate our clients' compliance with the UKVI sponsor licence requirements. Julian has a broad and varied immigration experience, covering both corporate and private client work, including sponsor licence applications.

    Outside of work, Julian spends much of his free time either dog walking or away in his RV with his family.

  • Nicola Digby
    Senior Consultant

    Nicola has over 14 years of immigration experience in private and corporate immigration, with a focus on large-scale, multinational business immigration. She graduated from the University of Wolverhampton with a Bachelor of Law and has worked in the immigration sector since this time. 

    She joined Sable International as a Senior Consultant and is registered with the OSIC as a level 2 UK immigration adviser.

    Outside of work, she enjoys seeing as much of the world as possible, spending time with friends, family and her two cats. She also plays netball for her local club.

  • Maxine Furlong
    Business Immigration Consultant

    Maxine grew up in Cape Town, South Africa and has completed her BComm degree.

    She joined our Immigration team in our Cape Town office where she gained valuable experience in UK immigration and citizenship casework.

    Maxine has since moved to our London office and has completed her IAA level 1 exam; and continues to broaden her knowledge and experience in UK immigration.

    In her spare time Maxine will take any opportunity to travel, explore new cities and cultures.

  • Sophie Brummer
    Operations Assistant

    Sophie was born and raised in Cape Town. She has a great love for the Mother City, but would love to travel more.

    She matriculated from Cravenby Secondary School in 2016 and completed her diploma in Criminal Justice through Lyceum College.

    Her first job was at Ster-Kinekor as a multi skilled employee. She was then employed at WNS Global as a customer service agent. She then moved to CT International Financiers as a Collections Specialist, and was given the opportunity to broaden her knowledge and skills into various administrative roles before starting employment at Sable International.

    She is an administrative assistant at Sable International where she works with our Business Immigration and UK Education Corporate Services teams.

    Outside of work she enjoys hanging out with friend and family, exploring new places and loves watching series and movies.

  • Andrea Jurams
    Junior UK Consultant Support

    Andrea was born and raised in Cape Town and began her career in customer service shortly after matriculating in 2017. She joined TLScontact in 2018, where she developed a strong passion for the field and built a solid foundation in client care. Her skills were further refined at VFS Global, where she continued to grow professionally and deliver service at a high standard.

    Joining Sable International had been a long-standing goal for Adrea since 2019. After persistently applying for various roles, she proudly joined the team in 2025 as a Junior UK Consultant Support. She is enthusiastic about contributing to the team and supporting clients on their immigration journeys.

    Outside of work, Andrea enjoys spending time outdoors, hiking, cooking, and baking. A true family person, she loves making the most of her weekends with her loved ones.

  • Megan Maggott
    Junior UK Consultant Support

    Born and raised in Cape Town, Megan began her degree in 2019 with a passion for helping people and a desire to gain broad, practical knowledge that could be applied in the corporate world. She completed her studies through the University of South Africa.

    Before joining Sable International, Megan gained valuable experience working at Siyatec Executors, Anuva Investments, and Kaylin Petersen Photography. In her current role, she handles a variety of administrative tasks, including application management, document preparation, invoicing and billing.

    Megan enjoys meeting new people, has a keen eye for detail and thrives in structured, process-driven environments. A true coffee enthusiast, she also enjoys walks or hikes, discovering new restaurants, and spending quality time with family and friends.

  • Dana Prodehl
    Admin Assistant

    During 2021 - 2024 I studied at The University of The Western Cape while working part-time as a retail assistant, salon front desk admin and lastly a waitress. When I finished my studies, I worked full time looking for a more permanent role. I came across Sable International in February 2025. I have since been an admin assistant to the lovely Sable Education team. Outside of work I enjoy running and e-cycling and spending as much time with family.

  • Tobias Strom
    Business Immigration Consultant

    Tobias was born and raised in London to American and German parents. After completing his law degree from Nottingham Trent University he has worked across both the UK and USA before finding his passion in immigration. 

    He joined Sable as a registered adviser with the IAA at level 1 and has extensive knowledge in both immigration and nationality, assisting private and corporate clients with their UK immigration matters.  

    He loves playing football amongst other sports and is an avid Tottenham Hotspurs fan. 

  • Saskia Johnston
    Service Delivery Director

    Saskia has over 10 years of experience within the Sable International Team. Saskia graduated from the University of Cape Town with a B. Sc. (Masters) in finance and a sub-major in economics. She has a keen interest in financial services and immigration which made her the perfect candidate to help drive our Business Immigration team forward. Saskia has a passion for exceptional customer service and is now responsible for the Business Immigration team’s service delivery.

    A confident, enthusiastic individual with a great attitude and a keen motivation to learn. Saskia has spent the last decade growing a very strong and powerful professional business development network in London. Her growth and strategic approach to relationship-led new business has produced some fantastic results and she has enjoyed implementing these successful sales strategies with her team in London. She has extensive experience in all aspects of foreign exchange and business immigration and can apply her high-level, target-driven sales and account management approach to the success of her role.

    Outside of work, Saskia loves experiencing new cultures and travel is at the top of her “spare time” list.”









UK immigration law experts

  • Accredited consultants
    Registered with IAA in the UK (Number: F2001-00004).
  • Successful results
    Confirmed as the largest-by-volume UK immigration consultant in the world.
  • Long established
    Advising on UK immigration for over 25 years.