The Tier 1 Entrepreneur Visa category allows non-EEA nationals with funds between £50,000 and £200,000 for investment to enter the UK in order to establish or take over an existing UK business either exclusively or as a partner.
You can apply for settlement also known as Indefinite Leave to Remain or ILR under Tier 1 Entrepreneur once you have reached five years continuous leave in the United Kingdom under the route.
However, if you meet additional criteria (explained below), you may be eligible to apply for accelerated ILR after a continuous period of 3 years.
You cannot combine Tier 1 Entrepreneur leave with leave in any other category to meet the continuous leave requirement.
You can apply for settlement up to 28 days before you will reach the end of the qualifying period. If you apply earlier than that, your application may be refused. Your qualifying period will be the 3 or 5 years immediately before the date you apply for settlement or the 3 or 5 years immediately before the date your settlement application is decided, depending on which is most beneficial for you. If you have spent more than the required time in the United Kingdom, Home Office will only consider the most recent 3 or 5 years as applicable.
Tier 1 Entrepreneur Accelerated Settlement
You may be eligible to apply for accelerated settlement as a Tier 1 Entrepreneur after 3 years if:
- You have established a new UK business or businesses that has or have created the equivalent of 10 new full-time jobs for persons settled in the UK; or
- You have taken over or invested in an existing UK business or businesses and your services or investment have resulted in a net increase in the employment provided by the business or businesses for persons settled in the UK by creating the equivalent of 10 new full-time jobs; or
- You have established a new UK business that has had an income from business activity of at least £5 million during a 3-year period in which you had leave as a Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) migrant; or
- You have taken over or invested in an existing UK business and your services or investment have resulted in a net increase in income from business activity to that business of £5 million during a 3-year period in which you had leave as a Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) Migrant when compared to the immediately preceding 3-year period.
The transitional arrangements for Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) migrants who successfully applied to enter the route before 6 April 2014 do not apply to accelerated settlement applications. Therefore, if you are applying for accelerated settlement on the basis of creating 10 jobs, you may not combine the time periods together from different part-time jobs, which have existed for less than 12 months, to make the equivalent of a 12-month job. In order to qualify for accelerate settlement on the basis of job creation, the jobs must have existed for at least 12 months during your last grant of leave.
To meet the requirement for accelerated settlement on the basis of business income, if the business is a new business then the business must have had a gross income (turnover) of £5 million as a result of business activity during your initial 3 years of Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) leave. You can qualify either if your income reaches £5 million in a single year in that 3-year period, or by adding income per year together to form £5million. If you invested into an existing business, the business must have had an increase in gross income (turnover) of £5 million as a result of its business activity when compared to the 3 periods immediately before you became involved with the business as a Tier 1 (Entrepreneur). For example, if the income was £4 million in the previous 3 years, it would need to be £9 million when you apply for accelerated settlement.
Absence for settlement
You cannot have had more than 180 days’ absence from the United Kingdom during any consecutive 12 months of the qualifying period.
You will need to list details of your absences from the United Kingdom, including the reasons for those absences, on the form but you will not need to provide any specified evidence to support this.
Whatever the reason for absences from the United Kingdom, they will still be counted towards the maximum 180 days (but see delayed entry to the UK below). This includes any absences for work reasons, or serious and compelling reasons. The only exception is where you have been absent from the United Kingdom assisting with a national or international humanitarian or environmental crisis overseas, such as the Ebola crisis which began in West Africa in 2014 and you can provide evidence that this was the purpose of the absence.
You can include the time between your entry clearance being granted and you entering the United Kingdom as part of your continuous period. Absences between the date entry clearance being granted you entering the United Kingdom are treated as an absence from the United Kingdom and will form part of the 180 days allowed within a continuous 12-month period.
For example, if you entered the United Kingdom 100 days after you obtained entry clearance and have a further 81 days absence during the remainder of the continuous 12-month period, you will have exceeded the number of absences permitted from the United Kingdom. You would therefore not qualify for settlement 5 years or 3 years (as appropriate) after the date you obtained entry clearance. You would need to wait until a date where none of the qualifying periods included absences of more than 180 days in any consecutive 12-month period before you could qualify.
If you have been outside of the United Kingdom for more than 180 days in a consecutive 12-month period, this will break the continuous period and you will need to start the qualifying period for settlement again. If this happens you may need to obtain a further grant of limited leave to remain to reach your continuous period in the United Kingdom.
For settlement applications made from 11 January 2018, Home Office consider absences from the UK on a rolling basis, rather than in separate consecutive 12-month periods. If your qualifying period includes time before this date and you believe that this change would cause you exceptionally harsh consequences, you must set out the reasons in a letter.
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