If you are not a UK resident and are working in the UK, you will have a Visa that will need to be renewed periodically. The UK Border Agency (UKBA) have specific requirements that you will need to fulfil in order to be issued with a Visa.
One requirement to be granted a Visa or indefinite leave to remain is, if you are the owner of a business you will probably need a letter from your accountant. Depending on your personal requirements we have two different letters that we can provide to you. You can find out more about Visas and immigration on the UK Government website.
Basic reference letter
A Basic reference letter confirms that we are your accountant and provides a few details about you and your company, for example names, dates etc. This letter doesn’t contain any financial information about you or your business and we can provide this to you free of charge within 5 working days. If you require a Basic reference letter, please let your account manager know.
Financial reference letter
A Financial reference letter will include details of your income and is normally required to support tier 1 Visa’s or applications for indefinite leave to remain. Due to the importance of this letter, the UKBA require that it is completed and signed by a member of a recognised professional body, specifically the ICAEW or the ACCA. In other words one of our qualified accountants will need to do this for you.
This letter will normally detail your personal income, typically your salary and dividends from your limited company. You may however have been asked for other information about your company finances that we will also assist you with. The content of a letter that demonstrates income has become increasingly more varied and complex over the years and it requires a significant amount of work to ensure we are satisfied the information we are presenting is accurate before we can sign it for you. We must also work with you to understand your requirements and check that your records that we will use are accurate and up to date.
As this letter requires financial information which takes time to validate, we must schedule the work within our team. We will supply this letter to you within 5 working days of receipt of everything we need from you and our fee for this letter is £147+VAT. To request a Financial reference letter and to ensure we can start this for you, please ensure your records in our software are up to date then contact your account manager.
Express service
If you need a Financial reference letter urgently, we have an express service where we prioritise your letter. Subject to availability, we can provide you with a letter within 2 working days of receipt of all the information we need from you. The fee for our express service is £247+VAT. Simply ensure your records are up to date in our software and contact your account manager as soon as possible.