Visa Support

Moving to the UK

Being an immigrant in the UK necessitates adhering to a lengthy checklist of regulations and documents that must be completed before arrival to the country.

When a non-resident individual in the UK, limited company owner, start-up, family-owned business, landlord, or contractor decides to move to the UK for personal reasons or to start a business with offshore trading purposes, it is critical to know immigration requirements and the type of visa to choose and apply for. Lanop visa support has made it easy, just give us a call and we will file your documents with the appropriate authorities and advise you on all relevant protocols.

UK Skilled Worker and Entrepreneur Visa

Many business owners and individuals need a skilled accountant, apart from an immigration consultant, for investment or personal financing and need chartered accountants to smartly apply for visa types like.

Affordable Cost

Quality of Work

Entrepreneur Visa

The Entrepreneur visa category (Tier 1) is for foreign national businesspeople who want to come to the UK to start a new business or join and invest funds into an existing business. Under the Entrepreneur category, the Entrepreneur visa applicant’s immediate family members can join them in the UK. This includes the main applicant’s partner and children under the age of 18. Note that one of the benefits of this category is that the applicant’s children will be eligible to take part in the UK’s education system.

UK Work Visa

A Skilled Worker visa allows you to come to or stay in the UK to do an eligible job with an approved employer. This visa has replaced the Tier 2 (General) work visa. Some health workers and their families will get their visas extended for free because of the coronavirus (COVID-19). If you or your family are from the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, or Liechtenstein or If you or your family member started living in the UK by 31^st December 2020, you may be able to apply to the free EU Settlement Scheme. Irish citizens do not need to apply for a visa or to the EU Settlement Scheme.

Eligibility Criteria

To qualify for a Skilled Worker visa, you must:

work for a UK employer that has been approved by the Home Office.
have a ‘certificate of sponsorship’ from your employer with information about the role you’ve been offered in the UK.
do a job that’s on the list of eligible occupations.
be paid a minimum salary – how much depends on the type of work you do.
The specific eligibility depends on the type of your job.
You must have a confirmed job offer before you can apply for your visa.
your knowledge of English should be sufficient when you apply

What you Can and Cannot do on a Skilled Worker’s Visa

To qualify for a Skilled Worker visa, you must:

Work in an eligible job.
Study.
Bring your partner and children with you as ‘dependants’ if they’re eligible.
Take on additional work in certain circumstances.
Do voluntary work.
Travel abroad and return to the UK.
Apply to settle permanently in the UK (also known as ‘indefinite leave to remain’) if you’ve lived in the UK for 5 years and meet other eligibility requirements.

On the other hand, you cannot:

Apply for most benefits (public funds), or the State Pension.
Change jobs or employer unless you apply to update your visa.

What type of work can Entrepreneur visa holder undertake?

Entrepreneur visa holders cannot seek or undertake paid employment in the UK other than working for the business or businesses that they have either established, joined, or taken over.

How to qualify for an entrepreneur visa?

To qualify for an entrepreneur-visa the applicant needs to be over 16 years of age and must score at least 95 points based on the following criteria:

Sufficient funds available to them for investment (75 points)

English language ability (10 points)

Ability to satisfy the UK maintenance requirements (10 points)

To satisfy funds requirement the applicant must have access to either:

At least £200,000, with all funds available as disposable and held in a regulated financial institution
At least £50,000 available from one of the following sources:

1 or more registered venture capital firms regulated by the Financial Services authority; or
1 or more UK entrepreneurial seed funding competitions listed as endorsed on the UK Trade and Investment website
1 or more UK government departments, which have made the funds available for the specific purpose of establishing or expanding a UK business.

How long is an entrepreneur visa valid for?

Entrepreneur visas are granted for a period of three years and four months. This can be extended for an extra two years provided specific requirements are met. See the section below about Entrepreneur visa extensions for more information.

Entrepreneur visa extensions

Entrepreneur visas can be extended for two more years if the following conditions are met:

The visa holder has invested £200,000 in the company
The company has been registered within 6 months of the date the visa holder was granted permission to stay in the UK under the Entrepreneur category
The visa holder has created at least two full-time positions for settled workers. For a new business this means that an aggregate of two positions, full time or equivalent, must have been created with each lasting for at least one year. If the entrepreneur visa holder has taken control of an established UK business, their investment and presence in the company must have created two positions like those outlined above.

Entrepreneur visas and settlement in the UK

Entrepreneur visas offer a pathway to settlement in the UK. This is also known as Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR). To qualify for ILR, the Entrepreneur visa holder must:

Have lawfully resided in the UK on this visa for 5 years
Be able to show sufficient knowledge of the English language and life in the UK
Note that the visa holder cannot have more than 180 days of absence from the UK in each of these 5 years.

Alternatively, entrepreneur visa holders can achieve ILR status after 3 years if they meet the following criteria:

They have invested £200,000 in the company
The company was registered within 6 months of the date they were granted permission to stay in the UK under the entrepreneur category

They have created at least 10 full-time positions for settled workers, or established a new business with a turnover of at least £5m during the 3-year period

Switching into the Entrepreneur visa category

Foreign nationals can apply to switch into the Entrepreneur visa category if they are already in the UK under one of the following visa categories and can meet the Entrepreneur visa eligibility requirements:

Tier 1 (General)

Tier 1 (Investor)

Tier 1 (Graduate entrepreneur)

Businessperson

Innovator

Highly Skilled Migrant Programme

Work permit holder

Self-employed lawyer

Writer, composer, or artist

Investor

International Graduate Scheme

Fresh Talent: Working in Scotland Scheme

Tier 2 Prospective entrepreneur

A visitor who has been carrying out permitted activities as a prospective entrepreneur

Visa Support Services in the UK

Our highly qualified chartered accountants are not only experts in numbers and financial management, but they also have a thorough understanding of UK immigration policies, allowing them to work with your immigration advisor to complete the necessary paperwork and comply with immigration authorities for a smooth visa application submission.

Lanop: Relocating Clients All Over the World

Lanop Accountants eliminates the need to search for an all-encompassing accountancy firm. Our corporate headquarters in Putney, London provide practical and efficient solutions to all your accounting needs.

Our skilled tax and finance professionals work diligently to make your life simpler by reducing financial stress and making business models more lucrative and efficient in accordance with up-to-date regulations.