Putting aside the pre-requisites of English competency and other Home Office check boxes, in our experience, the most common route through the Tier 1 Entrepreneur visa path is where the immigrant investor has access to £200,000 in investment funds. However, there are other routes to obtain the same visa and effective result with only having access to £50,000 in investment funds.
1) You can apply if the investment funds come from one, or more of the following:
- a UK entrepreneurial seed funding competition endorsed by the Department for International Trade (DIT);
- a UK government department making funds available for the purpose of setting up or expanding a UK business;
- a venture capital firm registered with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
2) You can also apply if you’ve already invested £50,000 in a UK business.
3) You can apply if you have a Tier 1 (Graduate Entrepreneur) visa and want to change (switch) your visa.
4) You may be able to apply if you’re already in the UK and you’re a Tier 4 (Student) visa holder.
Our friends at Richmond Chambers, explore some of the alternative routes outlined above in much more detail in their recently published article by Zoe Bantleman which we highly recommend taking a look at.
