Minor changes to the UK Tier 1 Entrepreneur Category
November 11, 2016
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Last week, the Home Office released legislative updates to the UK’s immigration policy. While the bulk of the updates focus on other categories, there are a few minor technical updates to the Tier 1 Entrepreneur category that may be of interest to HNWIs looking to apply.
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Applicants supplying third party evidence do not need to provide additional bank statements to cover a 90-day period
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Applicants who are qualified accountants cannot sign off their own accounts or funding evidence
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A letter of support from an official of the fund is required to confirm funding from an endorsed Seed Funding Competition
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The official listing of the company must come from Companies House
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Clarification of the rules on job creation and evidence as it relates to Pay As You Earn (PAYE) reporting to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC)
These minor changes are in-line with a trend that we have seen over the past 18 months, to tighten and clarify the rules around the Tier 1 Investor and Entrepreneur category in the UK. Defying the fear that the Brexit vote may make the UK a less attractive destination, applicant numbers are steady and a trend for more naturalization requests can be discerned.
What further steps will the government take to ensure the UK remains an attractive option for investors and entrepreneurs?
A glimpse of the strategy could be discerned when Theresa May announced this morning on a state visit to India that her office is planning a "’bespoke’ fast-track visa service for high net-worth Indians and their families and promised quicker border checks for all business travellers from India to Britain." We will be providing further updates on changes to the Tier 1 Investor and Entrepreneur Category as well as all other interesting developments for HNWI on this blog.
