On 18 August 2011 the UK Border Agency approved Scott’s application to remain in the UK under the Highly Skilled Migrant Program.
That makes it sound like he filled out a form, submitted it, and some minor official said “Sure…what the heck…welcom to the UK.” But that isn’t at all how it works.It took years for Scott to satisfy the requirements.
One of the requirements was that he could be out of the UK for only a short period of time each year. But he also had to go to sea regularly as part of being Mr. Info Express.
Another requirement was that he had to produce financial records showing his income and tax payments. This was a bit tricky as Scott (according to a statement he made to the accounting firm) hadn’t paid income taxes anywhere since he was 18 years old. As I recall it cost him over £20k to rectify that little oversight.