This is points based application and requires you to obtain 90 points from 3 separate areas. In order to obtain the visa you will be required to show that you have 75 points for the main business activities and available funds, 10 points for your knowledge of English, and a final 10 points for proving you have the sufficient funds to support or maintain yourself and any dependents in addition to the 200K business funds.

If you can prove you have at least £200,000 available for your business investment and comply with a number of rules then you can obtain 25 points for those funds. Please note that you should provide a bank statement showing the funds that are being made available to you. Any bank holding the funds must be approved (by the appropriate regulatory body for the country in which they operate.) This effectively means you should use a recognised bank perhaps one with a branch in the UK. If you can show this then you could obtain 25 points.

When obtaining evidence from a financial institution to show the funds are available you must provide evidence that the funds have also been held for at least 3 months and that you have made the bank aware of your intentions. This evidence must come from an official and be on official stationary paper. Your bank account number must be included in the evidence along with the date. Please ensure that all important documents are originals.

You must also ensure that the money is disposable in the UK. This means it isn’t tied up in other investments and can be accessed quickly via the UK bank. Effectively you need to have cash funds available. If so then you could obtain a further 25 points.

You should also note that you do not need to invest all the funds at the same time; so long as they are there from the beginning.

For example you might wish to invest in buildings and equipment first and then employ the staff soon after the buildings are available.

You need to provide a detailed business plan, Cash Flow Forecast and balance sheet.

You must be a director or partner in any such business and register as such at Companies House within 6 months . If any other person will also be a director they must not be applying for a Tier 1 visa unless they are your partner in this application (usually your spouse). The registered office must be located in the UK, have a UK bank account and be registered for UK taxes.

Passport requirements. If you and your spouse will be partners in the venture you will also need your spouse’s passport and a document proving the funds will be supplied jointly. This could be a Bank statement with joint names. Your marriage certificate will provide proof of the durability of your relationship. If a business partner is applying at the same time who is not a relative you will still need both passports and a similar Bank statement and proof from Company’s House of your business partnership.

You can invest in any business in which you are employing, or will shortly employ at least two people who are already settled in the UK. You can employ additional staff who may not be settled, but they do not count towards the requirements for employing 2 settled workers. You can also use part-time staff to make up the numbers of settled workers provided they have been working for at least 12 months.

You will be required to pass an English test unless you have a degree taught in English or you are from a majority English speaking country. Your knowledge of English will get you a further 10 points.

You must prove you also have enough money to support yourself and any dependents you want to bring with you in addition to the funds you have available for the business. You can provide a bank Statement and/or proof of employment income converted to £ sterling will cover this and you will then obtain 10 points for maintenance.

We hope the above explains some of the things you will need to do to obtain this visa. Please feel free to email or ring us to discuss further.