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Tier 1 Visa

Tier 1 Visa

There are several types of Tier 1 Visa UK applicants can choose from – including General, Graduate Entrepreneur, Entrepreneur and Investor.

Tier 1 (General)

This category no longer allows applicants to make applications to from outside the UK or switching from within the UK. This category will only allow applicants to extend there stay whom have already been granted Tier 1 General.

 If your application is successful you will be given an additional 2 years, you may then be eligible for indefinite leave to remain after a continues 5 years lawful residences. This can comprise of leave in many of the highly skilled and skilled work categories. 

Eligibility: 

In order to obtain leave to remain as a Tier 1 General migrant you will need to meet the relative points requirement from the 6 sections. The total points required will depend on when you were last granted leave in the category, if issued before 19th July 2010 you will be required to obtain a total of 95 points, if issued after then you will need to obtain a total of 100 points.  Points are awarded as follows:

Education:

PhD – 50 points, Masters degree – 35 points, bachelors – 30 points.

The qualification must meet or exceed the recognised standard of these qualifications in the UK. The National Recognition Information Centre for the United Kingdom (UK NARIC) or the appropriate UK professional body compare qualifications to ensure they are equivalent.

Previous Earnings:

Up to 80 points can be awarded for previous earnings over any 12 months in the last 15 months.

Age:

If you are under 32 years of age on the date of your application you can claim points as follows:

  • Under 28 – 20 points
  • 28 or 29 – 10 points
  • 30 or 31 – 5 points

Previous UK Experience:

If points were awarded under previous earnings and the earnings were made in the UK, 5 extra points are awarded.

Maintenance:

Applicants must have sufficient funds to maintain and accommodate themselves without recourse to public funds. For applications outside the UK the main applicant will need to show funds of £2,800.00, which have been continually held over a 3 month period. The balance may not have fallen below this level at any time during the 3 month period. A further £1,600.00 must have been held over the same period for each dependant. The funds must be in the form of a cash balance.

Applicants in the UK need to show funds of £800.00 over the 3 month period and a further £533.00 for each dependant.

The maintenance requirements will increase as of the 14th of June 2012 from £800 to £900. 

English Language:

You can score points for English Language in one of the following 3 ways:

  1. If you are a national of a majority English speaking country OR
  2. If you pass an approved English Language test OR
  3. If you have proof of holding a degree taught in English, equivalent to a UK bachelor’s degree or above.

Dependants:

Applications for dependants for entry clearance, extensions and ILR are usually applied for at the same time as the main applicant.

Tier 1 (Graduate Entrepreneur)

This is a route that has been introduced by the UKBA for graduates who have been identified by the UK Higher Education Institutions as individuals with world class innovative ideas and/or entrepreneurial skills. You may extend your stay under this category once you have graduated and are going to establish one or more businesses in the UK.

You will be granted leave for an initial one year period which can then be extend for a further 1 year (2 years maximum leave). 

You can switch only from the following categories:

  1. Tier 4 student
  2. student
  3. student nurse
  4. student resitting examination
  5. student writing a thesis
  6. postgradauate doctor or dentist
  7. Tier 1 Graduate Entrepreneur

You must meet 75 points from the attributes section and 10 each for English language and maintenance.

ATTRIBUTES

You have been endorsed by a UK Higher Education Institution for the purpose of this application who are recognised by the UKBA 25 points 

You have been issued with a Bachelor’s or Postgraduate degree by the UK Higher Education Institution within 12 months of making this application 25 points

Your UK Higher Education Institution has assessed you as being genuine, credible and have innovative business ideas and you will spend the majority of your time developing the business and ventures 25 points 

ENGLISH LANGUAGE 10 points

MAINTENANCE 10 points

Currently set as £800 for a consecutive 90 day period no longer than 28 days before the applcaition is submitted, as of 14/06/2012 this will increase to £900. 

Tier 1 (Entrepreneur)

You can apply to switch or extend you stay as a Tier 1 Entrepreneur if you are under a certain PBS category in the UK.

You will be given 3 years as an initial grant of leave and 2 years extension.

You will need to meet the points requirements which have been broken down into 3 categories, attributes, English language and maintenance:

ATTRIBUTES 75 points

You have access to £200,000 which is held in a regulated financial authority in the UK  

Or abroad OR £50,000 from

  1. i)one or more venture capital firm regulated by the FSA
  2. ii)one or more UK Entrepreneurial seed funding competitions which is listed

as endorsed on the UK Trade & Investment website

iii) one or more UK Government Departments, and made available by the Department(s) for the specific purpose of establishing or expanding a UK Business

Or are applying for leave to remain, were last granted leave as a Tier 1 Graduate Entrepreneur, have access to at least £50,000

Or are applying for leave to remain, your current leave is a Tier 1 Post Study Work, no earlier then 3 months before the application is made are registered self employed with the HMRC, a director of a new business, a director of a existing business, are engaged in business activity other then the runnings of the business which is under the NQF level 4 or above and have access to at least £50,000

Money is held in one or more regulated financial institution 25 points 

Money is disposable in the UK 25 points

ENGLISH LANGUAGE 10 points 

MAINTENANCE 10 points 

Tier 1 (Investor)

This visa is specifically for high-net-worth individuals who want to make a great financial investment in the UK.

You will need a job offer as well as £1,000,000 to invest in the UK.

If successful you will be granted 3 year initial leave which can be extended for a further 2 years (provided you meet the requirements for an extension), this will lead up to settlement after 5 years lawful residence.

You can switch from the following categories if you are in the UK:

  • a highly skilled migrant;
  • a Tier 1 (General) migrant;
  • a Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) migrant;
  • a Tier 1 (Post-Study Work) migrant;
  • a business person;
  • an innovator;
  • a student;
  • a student nurse;
  • a student re-sitting an examination;
  • a student writing up a thesis;
  • a work permit holder;
  • a writer, composer or artist;
  • an investor;
  • a Tier 2 Migrant; or
  • a Tier 4 Migrant

You will need to obtain 75 points in total from attributes as you will be excempt from the English language and maintenance requirement.

ATTRIBUTES 75 points

You must show you are able to invest the £1 million in the UK, this can be held in the UK or abroad during the time of the application, if this money is not in the UK you must show its pound sterling equivalence. You can rely on money that is owned solely by their husband, wife, civil partner or unmarried or same-sex partner. The applicant must have unrestricted right to transfer and dispose of the money held jointly and solely by their civil partner, unmarried or same-sex partner, and the applicant must have permission from his/her husband, wife, civil partner, or unmarried or same-sex partner to have control of this money in the United Kingdom.