If you are planning to launch your start-up in the UK, here’s all you need to know.
What is The Start-Up Visa UK?
The UK supports and invites talented entrepreneurs to come and work in the UK along with encouraging innovative ideas. To ensure that people are coming with innovative ideas in the country and strengthen national growth, the nation provides start-up visas to help individuals with visionary plans to establish their businesses and support the economy.
The UK start-up visa endorsing bodies gauge the potential of your business idea presented and endorse it. For the acceptance of your visa application, you will be required to get an endorsing letter from these bodies. To make this happen, your business idea must be clear, unique and innovative.
The authorised bodies which can provide you with endorsements include:
- An established organisation that has previous records of supporting UK entrepreneurs
- Any higher education institution in the UK
Getting endorsements from the authorised bodies in the UK will help you in getting your visa application accepted with ease.
Eligibility to Apply for Start-Up Visa
The UK Visa and Immigration has put forth some mandatory criteria for the start-up visa application in the country. It is important to meet the below-mentioned eligibility requirements for foreign individuals to grow business in the UK:
- The minimum age limit should be at least 18 years old
- You should meet the required level of English language prerequisite
- You should have a valid endorsement letter from any authorised endorsing body in the UK
- You should have a financial proof for supporting yourself in the UK
To sustain yourself in the country, you are required to have at least £1270 in your bank account for the last 28 consecutive days before the date of your visa application.
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Steps to Apply for the Start-Up Visa
Individuals wishing to start a business in the UK are required to apply online for the start-up visa process. The application form is to be submitted along with all mandatory documents.
Subsequently, you also need to submit your biometrics through authorized visa centres. You can do this in two ways depending on the type of your passport,
- You can either use your UK Immigration ID Check App to scan your documents following signing into your UKVI account
- Or, you can let your fingerprints and photographs physically taken at a valid visa application centre for receiving the biometric residence permit
Make sure that you are applying correctly and following all the requirements mentioned in your application form. The most common mistakes are made in the application form or the documents attached. This can lead to the refusal of your application. Hence, check your application twice before clicking on the submit button.
Supporting Documents Required for Start-Up Visa Application
Here are the documents you will be needing to support your startup visa application. To ensure your safety, make a checklist and note down the documents attached to avoid issues like refusal.
- Your current passport to prove your nationality
- A valid endorsement letter for your business idea received from an established endorsing body of the UK
- The accepted score for the English language examination
- Financial proof or valid bank statements with at least £1270 in savings for the last 28 consecutive days
- A medical result for tuberculosis examination (if applicable)
- Also, you might need a certified translation for your application in case if your documents are not in the English or Welsh language
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What to Do If Your Start-Up Visa Application is Refused?
Undoubtedly you must be having an amazing business idea. However, your startup business visa can be refused or rejected due to many reasons.
- As mentioned before, errors in your application form
- Incorrect information or documents submitted
- Not responding to the follow-up requests made by the UKVI
Any reason out of these or all of these combined can lead to your visa application refusal.
Now, if this happens to you, here’s what you can do.
- You can proceed with an administrative record of your application if you are outside the UK
- Secondly, make sure that you are proceeding with this within28 days of getting your visa refused or rejected
- You can also seek the intervention of judicial authorities and appeal against the immigration decision
- Lastly, you can opt to resubmit your application and begin the entire process again
In addition, you also need to keep some patience. Dealing with visa refusals can be time-consuming and overwhelming at times. Hence, make sure to keep a check on your follow-up process along with legal authorities (if you approached them) to start your application again.
Endorsement Criteria for Start-Up Visa
As we have known yet, getting your business proposal is greatly defined by your endorsement letter. For this, an approved endorsing body should be satisfied that your business idea meets their criteria:
- Innovation: the purpose of a start-up visa is to support and back genuine, an original business plan that meets new or existing market needs or create a competitive advantage
- Viability: You should have or develop the necessary skills, knowledge, and experience along with market awareness to successfully run a business in the UK
- Scalability: Your business plan should have the potential for job creation and growth in the national market
The endorsing body will also need to be satisfied that you will spend most of your working time in the UK to develop business ventures.
List of Approved Start-up Visa Endorsing Bodies
You can find the list of all endorsing bodies of start-up visa applications on the website of The Home Office. The list includes the names of all currently approved start-up visa endorsing bodies as well as links to their website and details of the application process.
What Happens After 2 Years of Start-Up Visa?
You can stay in the UK along with your family members for two years. However, you can not extend your startup visa after this tenure but you can switch to the innovator visa to extend your stay in the UK and develop your business. The innovator visa is valid for three years with options to extend it when it is due to expire.
What You Can and Cannot Do on a Startup Visa?
With a startup visa, you can bring your family members with you. Also, you can switch from a start-up visa to other visa categories. However, you cannot seek or access public funds. Furthermore, you cannot work as a doctor, professional sportsmen and you cannot settle in the UK on your startup visa.
We hope this will help you. Stay tuned with us for more insightful updates, or schedule a call today for personalised assistance.
