Prospective Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) Visitor Visa

The following information is given in order to provide you with a generalised overview of the criteria required for the prospective tier 1 (entrepreneur) visa. However if you which for us to assess whether you qualify for the prospective tier 1 (entrepreneur) visa, or you wish to engage our services and/or require further information regarding this particular application, please complete the ‘Contact Box’ on this page to enable a member of our team to contact you and advise you further.

An individual who wishes to enter the UK as a prospective entrepreneur must be entering the UK to secure funding so that he/she can join, set up or take over, and be actively involved in the running of a business in the UK.

An individual who wishes to apply under this category must be 18 years of age or above and intend to leave the UK at the end of their visit (unless by that time the individual) has successfully applied to switch into the tier 1 (entrepreneur) category. The individual must also be able to show that he/she has enough money to support and accommodate themselves without recourse to public funds.

If an individual wishes to enter the UK under this category he/she must be also be able to illustrate that one of the following organisations are contemplating funding at least £50,000 in the individuals proposed business. The organisations that are accepted to provide this funding are:

• 1 or more registered venture capitalist firms regulated by the Financial Services Authority;
• 1 or more UK entrepreneurial seed funding competitions which is listed as 'endorsed' on the UK Trade & Investment website; or
• 1 or more UK government departments.

If an individual enters the UK under the tier 1 (entrepreneur) visitor visa they must also intend to carry out 1 of the following activities during their visit:

• Attending meetings or conferences which may have been arranged before the individual has entered the UK;
• Attending trade fairs – however this is limited to promotional work and must not involve selling direct to members of the public;
• Arranging deals, negotiating or signing trade agreements, contracts;
• Undertaking fact-finding missions;
• Conducting site visits;
• Purchasing, checking details or examining goods;
• Speaking at a 'one-off' conference which is not run as a commercial concern; or
• Recruiting staff in relation to your proposed business activity.