Tier 1 (Entrepreneur Programme)
If you are an entrepreneur, an investor or someone with an exceptional talent and want to come to the UK, you may be granted a visa under the Tier 1 categories.
There are a number of sub-categories depending on your particular circumstances:
Tier 1 Entrepreneurs
If you are looking to start a business in the UK, it is important to seek appropriate legal advice to understand the options to you, to ensure your case is effectively represented to the Home Office and to avoid any delays and refusals.
A Tier 1 Entrepreneur visa category will allow you to set up or take over the running of one business or more. You can work for your own business as a self-employed individual, provided the work meets the criteria for being self-employed. You can also bring family members and dependants with you.
If you are a non-European businessperson and wish to invest and run your own business by setting up, taking over or becoming a part-owner of a business in the UK, you can apply for a Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) visa. The required investment is £50,000 to £200,000. You must score 95 points by demonstrating that you have access to the £200,000 disposable income having at least £50,000 held in a regulate financial institution, that you can speak English at a standard level and that you have sufficient funds to support yourself and your depandants and that you will be actively involved in the running of the business.
Tier 1 Exceptional Talent
The Tier 1 (Exceptional Talent) Visa allows you to live and work in the UK if you have an exceptional talent in the arts or sciences. In order to qualify, you must score 75 points under the Tier 1 points-based system. You will score those points if you gain the endorsement of a ‘Designated Competent Body’ which will need to certify either that you are internationally recognised as a world leader in your field in science, humanities, engineering, medicine, digital technology or arts or that you are someone with the potential to be so. There are only four Designated Competent Bodies. You do not need a job offer or a sponsor and are free to seek employment anywhere in the UK but it is extremely difficult to qualify for a visa in this category because there is a cap of 1, 000 Tier 1 Exceptional Talent visas only that can be issued per year.
Tier 1 Graduate Entrepreneur
If you have just graduated or are about to graduate and have been officially endorsed by the UKTI or an UK university as having a genuine and credible business idea or possessing world class entrepreneurial skills, you can apply for Tier 1 Graduate Entrepreneur visa. In order to qualify you must score at least 95 points and the earliest you can apply is 3 months before you travel.
Tier 1 Dependants
If you are granted leave in the UK under Tier 1, you will be able to bring your dependants (spouse, civil partners, unmarried and same-sex partners and children under the age of 18), if you can show that you can support them during their stay.
Tier 1 Investors
If you have at least £,000,000 of disposable income or £2,000,000 or more in personal assets and a loan of £2,000,000 to be invested in the UK you can apply for an investor’s visa. You will need to score 75 points but you will be exempt from the English language requirement and the requirement to provide proof of the ability to support themselves and any dependants.