HN Explorer

Ask HN: Has anyone successfully moved to the UK on a Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) visa?

24 points by jlangenauer ↗ HN
It strikes me, looking at the requirements for this visa, that it would be almost impossible to get.

So has anyone actually done it? If so, what was your story?

12 comments

[ 3.2 ms ] story [ 38.1 ms ] thread
revorad
Which bit of the requirements do you think is impossible?
iamwithnail
That's what I was going to ask. VC funding is absolutely not unusual, and there are dozens of seed firms and grants available.
jlangenauer
The seed funding part, as most of the incubators on the list do funding at levels below £50k.
GFischer
I didn't know about it.

It does seem like the investment requirements might be a bit tough (50.000 pounds, disposable), but at least they allow them to be applied to the entire team.

I think the "impossible" part is:

"You can apply if your investment funds come from one or more of the following:

a venture capital firm registered with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)

a UK entrepreneurial seed funding competition endorsed by UKTI

a UK government department making funds available for the purpose of setting up or expanding a UK business"

rikacomet
you might wanna rephrase the 'impossible' to 'difficult'.
throwaway_xl5
I don't believe that is meant exclusively: You can get your funds from other sources, but funds originating in the UK are valid as well. There is no requirement that this be inward investment.
new299
If you don't have a job in the UK you need 60K GBP in cash to get a spouse VISA. So that requirement is in line with current Immigration policy. My guess is as another commenter points out, those are just some possible sources and as long as you have the cash you fulfill the requirements (I'd be interested in hearing otherwise though).
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nkoren
Yes, I've just done it. I was already based in the UK, on a Tier 2 (sponsored) visa, but was wanting to turn my side project into a full-time job, which meant switching to Tier 1. The £50k threshold isn't available for people switching from Tier 2, so I had to raise £200k for my startup. Having done that (with 3 days to spare before my old visa expired!), I then submitted for the Tier 1 (Entrepreneur), and received it about 2 months later.
druml
Many thanks for sharing your experience. May I ask if you register your company while you were still on Tier 2? Was there any legal restriction about that?
DrJokepu
There is no such restriction in place. Your company will need to have a UK address as registered address. Anyone can be a company director as long as they're over 16, not disqualified from being a company director and not undischarged bankrupts.
blowski
Contact @techhub on Twitter - I think there are quite a few people there who got visas, and some startups who arranged them as well.