Entrepreneurs
The entrepreneur category is for those investing in the United Kingdom by setting up or taking over, and being actively involved in the running of, one or more businesses in the United Kingdom.
How are points calculated?
Points are awarded for what are called "Attributes", for which you need to score 75 points. These are awarded as follows:
• You have access to not less than £200,000 [25 points available];
• The money is held in one or more regulated financial institutions [25 points available];
• The money is disposable in the United Kingdom [25 points available].
Separate points are given for English language ability (10 points) and the availability of funds for maintenance (10 points) which are both mandatory.
Claiming Points
Attributes
Access to not less than £200,000 [25 points available]
If you have not less than £200,000 of your own money available to make a fresh investment into business in the United Kingdom you need to supply documentary evidence as specified below. You may include funds made available by one or more other people (known as a third party or parties). In these circumstances you must also provide a declaration from every contributor that the funds are available to you, together with confirmation from a legal representative that the declaration document is valid. If you are relying on money held by a husband, wife or partner that person will be regarded as a third party.
Funds held in one or more regulated financial institutions [25 points available]
The financial institution or institutions that provide confirmation of the funds available to you must be regulated by the home regulator. The home regulator is an official financial regulatory body in the country where the financial institution operates and the transaction was made. This body must be appropriate to the type of financial transaction.
Funds disposable in the United Kingdom [25 points available]
Funds held in the United Kingdom must be held in an institution that is regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA). If the funds are not held in the United Kingdom, all of the £200,000 must be freely transferable to the United Kingdom and convertible into pounds sterling. If the funds are held overseas but in an institution that has a presence in the United Kingdom and is regulated by the FSA, then the institution already does business in the United Kingdom and no further evidence is needed of the availability of the funds for transfer to the United Kingdom.
If you rely on funds that are held in an overseas institution that is not regulated by the FSA you must provide confirmation that the funds can be transferred into the United Kingdom. Do this by supplying a document from your bank or financial institution confirming the amount of funds.
Controls
English language ability [10 points available]
The ability to meet the required English standard is a mandatory requirement. If you cannot meet this level, your application will be refused regardless of any points you may have scored in the Attributes section. 10 points are awarded in this section if you meet the required standard and 0 if you do not.
There are three ways in which you can meet this requirement. You can:
- be a national of a majority English speaking country or
- hold an English language qualification equivalent to the Council of Europe's Common European Framework for Language Learning level C1 (approximately IELTS level 6.5, GCSE Grade C) or
- hold a degree that was taught in English as confirmed by the UK NARIC database as equivalent to a UK Bachelors degree.
Maintenance (Funds) [10 points available]
Even if you have attained the pass mark of 75 in the Attributes section and have the required standard of English, your application will be refused if you do not pass the Maintenance (Funds) requirement.
You must be able to support yourself for the entire duration of your stay in the UK without needing any help from public funds. In order to qualify under Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) you must be able to demonstrate that you have £2,800 for yourself and (where applicable) £1,600 for each dependant accompanying you and that you have held these amounts for a minimum period of 3 months immediately preceding and dated no more than 1 month prior to the date you submit your application. The balance should not fall below the required minimum at any time during the 3 month period.
Investors
The investor category is designed to allow high net worth individuals make a substantial financial investment in the United Kingdom.
How are points calculated?
Points are awarded for what are called "Attributes", for which you need to score a minimum of 75 points. In order to be awarded these you must have either:
- Money of your own held in a regulated financial institution which is disposable in the United Kingdom amounting to no less than £1 million; or
- Personal assets, taking into account any liabilities, which have a value exceeding £2 million. Assets held by your husband, wife, civil partner, unmarried or same sex partner either jointly or in your partner’s own name can be taken into account when assessing your net worth; and
- Money under your control held in a regulated financial institution which is disposable in the United Kingdom amounting to no less than £1 million which has been loaned to you by a financial institution regulated by the UK Financial Services Authority (FSA). You may not mix personal funds and borrowed funds in order to meet the total £1 million investment.
The money may be held overseas at the time of application or it may already be in the United Kingdom. If the money is not held in pounds sterling you must convert its value into pounds sterling on the application form.
You may rely on money you own jointly with your husband, wife, civil partner, unmarried or same sex partner. You may also rely on money owned solely by your husband, wife, civil partner, unmarried or same sex partner. If the funds are held jointly you must have unrestricted right to transfer and dispose of the funds and have permission from your husband, wife, civil partner or unmarried or same sex partner to have control of these funds in the United Kingdom.
There is no requirement to demonstrate English language ability or to provide separate funds for personal maintenance.
You can use the UKBA's online points calculator to find out how many points you score and whether or meet the minimum points requirement.
(Source: UKBA)
