How to Renew an Entrepreneur Visa – Points Based System
This page explains the requirements for an extension of leave to remain under the entrepreneur category (Tier 1 Entrepreneur) of the points-based system to work in business in the United Kingdom. Applicants must score the required number of points to qualify for an extension of their leave to remain as an Entrepreneur. If you want to apply for the first time for entry clearance to the UK as an Entrepreneur, please see out article on new applications.
How Points Are Awarded
Points are awarded for the following categories, which are known as attributes:
- invested £200,000 in to a United Kingdom business; and
- registered for business within three months; and
- engaged in business activity; and
- created new employment
Applicants need a total of 75 points to be able to apply.
The points available are:
| Attributes | Points available |
|---|---|
| You have invested, or had invested on your behalf, not less than £200,000 in cash directly into one or more businesses in the United Kingdom. | 20 |
You have:
If your previous entry clearance, leave to enter or leave to remain was granted under the Tier 1 Entrepreneur category, this condition must have been met within three months of:
|
20 |
| You are engaged in business activity at the time of your application for leave to remain. | 15 |
You have:
If your previous entry clearance, leave to enter or leave to remain was granted under the Tier 1 Entrepreneur category, the jobs must have existed for at least 12 months of the period for which the entry clearance or leave was granted. |
20 |
Invested £200,000 into a United Kingdom business
You will score 20 points if you have invested, or had invested on your behalf not less than £200,000 in cash directly into one or more business or businesses in the United Kingdom. You must show that the full amount of £200,000 in cash has already been invested in business in the United Kingdom.
You may have moved on to other activities and no longer be involved in the business or businesses in which you initially invested, but you must still send this evidence.
The money should not:
- include the value of any residential accommodation or property development, or property management; or
- be in the form of a director’s loan, unless it is unsecured and is subordinated in favour of the third-party creditors.
If you have bought property which includes residential accommodation for yourself and your family, the value of this part of the property will not be counted towards the money. The value of this part of the property should be deducted from the amount of the business money. You must send an estimate of the value of your living accommodation if it is part of the premises also used for the business, from a surveyor who is a member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.
Registered for business within three months
You score 20 points if you show that you have:
- registered with HM Revenue & Customs as self-employed; or
- registered a new company in which you are a director; or
- registered as a director of an existing company.
If your previous permission to stay was granted under the Tier 1 Entrepreneur category, you must have registered within three months of your ‘entrepreneur start date’. This date is:
- your date of entry to the United Kingdom (if you were granted entry clearance as a Tier 1 Entrepreneur and there is evidence to establish your date of entry to the United Kingdom); or
- the date when you were granted entry clearance as a Tier 1 Entrepreneur (if there is no evidence to establish your date of entry to the United Kingdom); or
- the date when you were granted leave to remain as a Tier 1 Entrepreneur (in any other case).
If your previous permission to stay was granted under one of the former Business Person or Innovator categories, you will not need to show that you registered as self-employed or as a director within three months. Instead, we will award you 20 points if you can show that:
- you are registered at the time when you apply to extend your permission to stay; and
- you are involved in business activity
Engaged in business activity
You will score 15 points if you are engaged in business activity at the time of your application for an extension of permission to stay.
Although you do not need to be engaged in the business in which you were originally working when you first entered the entrepreneur category, you must still be engaged in business when making your application for an extension.
You may change from being self-employed to being a director, or from director to self-employed, as long as you are engaging in business in the United Kingdom as one or the other.
You must send evidence that you are either a self-employed business person, or a director of a company, at the time you make the application to extend your permission to stay as an entrepreneur.
You can choose which supporting evidence to send if you have acted in both capacities, but we will only award points for one registration
Created New Employment
You will score 20 points if:
- you have established a new business or businesses, that have created the equivalent of two new full-time paid jobs for at least two people who are settled in the United Kingdom and those jobs have existed for at least 12 months each; or
- you have taken over or joined an existing businesses, and your services and money have resulted a net increase in the employment provided by the businesses of two extra full-time jobs to people who are settled in the United Kingdom and those jobs have existed for at least 12 months each.
The creation of employment for settled workers shows your contribution to the United Kingdom economy.
If you are self-employed, you must employ the worker directly. If you are a director of a business, you must show that your business has created two new posts.
A 30-hour working week is full-time. Part-time work can form part of the total number of hours of employment created.
The employment created:
- does not need to be in a single period. It can be made up of shorter periods;
- does not need to be for any particular number of workers. A single person may be employed for this time, or several people; and.
- must comply with the United Kingdom regulations, including the working time directive. You can find more information on the working time directive on the Business link website, which you can find on the right of this page.
Only employees of your business will qualify. You cannot use self-employed contractors who are working for your business to claim points.
If you have previous permission to stay in the United Kingdom given under one of the former business person or innovator categories, you only need to show that you have created two full-time jobs. You do not need to show that the employment you have created has been for 30 hours a week or for a continuous 12-month period.
For example, the following are acceptable employment created as a result of your entrepreneurial activities:
- The working hours of two part-time workers can be combined to add up to 30 hours a week or more and form the equivalent of one full-time post.
- A worker who is employed for part of a year and then leaves the job can be replaced by another worker so that the employment as a whole adds up to 12 months. However, if there is a gap between one worker leaving a post and another worker starting employment, the period when the post is not filled will not be counted in the 12 month period. You can only claim points for periods which a worker is employed in a post.
- If a single worker is employed for 24 months, you can claim points for this employment. The employment can also be made up of a six-month period for one worker and an 18-month period for another.
- If four workers are employed for 26 weeks (six months) each their hours of employment may be added together to claim points.
Free Initial Advice
For a free 30 minute telephone consultation to assess your eligibility for this or any other ategory of immigration in the United Kingdom call us on 020 8401 7352 or complete our online contact application
