The UK Start-up visa is for the high-potential entrepreneurs who have an innovative, viable and scalable business idea which has been approved by an endorsing body. The few available visa options are discussed below to help you to choose the apt option wisely, based on your eligibility and requirements.
1. UK Sole Representative Visa
The Sole Representative of an Overseas Business Visa allows senior employee who has full authority to make decisions on its behalf to set up either a UK branch or wholly owned subsidiary. You can also apply for this visa if you are an employee of an overseas newspaper, news agency or broadcasting organisation posted on a long-term assignment to the UK.
Eligibility
You are eligible to apply for this visa if you are recruited and employed outside the UK by an active and trading business, whose headquarters is outside the UK. To apply for this visa, you should have enough money to support yourself without help from public funds and should meet the English requirement.
Timeframe
The validity of this visa is for 3 years and can be extended for 2 years. You are entitled to apply for the settlement once you have been in the UK for 5 years and you have an ongoing job with the same company.
2. UK Innovator Visa
UK Innovator Visa with be suitable for you, if you are an experienced businessman, who wants to set up and run an innovative, viable potential growth and scalable business in UK which is something that’s different on the market and has been endorsed by endorsing body.
Eligibility
The prime eligibility criteria are that you should be atleast 18 years old and must obtain entry clearance on the Innovator route before arriving to UK with a valid medical certificate. You should be able to prove that you have enough personal savings to support yourself while you’re in UK and that you meet the English language requirements.
Timeframe
The Innovator Visa is initially issued for a period of 3 years. You can apply for the extension by fulfilling necessary criteria for an additional 2 years.
3. UK Startup Visa
The UK Start-up visa is for the high-potential entrepreneurs who have an innovative, viable and scalable business idea which has been approved by an endorsing body. The few available visa options are discussed below to help you to choose the apt option wisely, based on your eligibility and requirements.
Eligibility
You should obtain the endorsement for your business idea which is new, innovative and viable for the potential growth, from the endorsing body that is either a UK higher education institution or a business organisation with a history of supporting UK entrepreneurs. It is vital that your business idea is original which is different from anything else on the market and that you cannot join in a business that is already trading.
Timeframe
You can only live up to a maximum of two years under this visa category and cannot apply to extend this visa any further.
4. Tier 1 – Entrepreneur Visa in UK
If you are a person who wants to come to UK to start a new business or to join and invest funds into an existing business, then, Entrepreneur Visa category will be your best choice.
The major advantage of this visa is that your family members can join you by applying their own visa.
Eligibility
This visa is available for person with high degree of specialization. This visa is available only for citizens outside the European Economic Area (EEA) and Switzerland. Besides these, you must own most of the shares in the company and need to create full-time positions for future employees. It is mandatory for you to have high level knowledge in English language.
Timeframe
The validity of this visa is 3 years. The good thing is that you can apply for extension of this visa. The extension is for 2 years, that is based on few requirements which include that you are working as a director of a business and that you can support yourself.
5. Global Talent Visa
You can apply for Global Talent Visa if you have been endorsed as a leader or potential lea in academia or research / arts and culture / digital technology.
Eligibility
You must have been endorsed as a potential leader with the age above 18 years. You can even apply this visa, if you have won any eligible award.
Timeframe
This visa is valid up to 5 years of time and you can extend it, if essential. The extension can last for 1 to 5 years based on your necessity.
Few other visa options are available, which are not discussed here. But we are sure that we have discussed the most important visa options to enter UK for start-ups. We hope that these information have enlightened you about the important visa options and helped you to narrow down you visa processing path to some extent. Each type of visa has its own specific requirements and timeframe for processing. Before applying for any type of visa, first make sure whether you need visa for your transit, as you don’t need any visa, if you are an Irish citizen. If you have a proved identity and provided the valid documents, it is easy for the visa approval. To complete the process hassle-free and to save time, it is always better to hire an immigration lawyer. With decades of experience and extensive training in all areas of immigration law, they know exactly what it takes for your application to be successful.
