Received Visa, No Interview, £200k from Outside UK

[Etrigan]

Just got my visa about 2 weeks after submitting my application, without an interview. Maybe these points will help others:

-Generally, realise that they don't want to give you a visa, so make sure there are no gaps in your application. I studied this forum a lot before applying.

-Submit as many documents as possible, to support everything in your application. Go over and beyond the requirements of the Policy Guidance.

-Tell the truth as much as possible, and be straightforward. My story was a bit complicated, but I explained it clearly and included supporting documents.

My details:

-I am a Nigerian, so I am not from a 'favoured' country. I live in a European country, have lived in the UK for 2 years before, on HSMP visa and did a Masters degree there before leaving.

-Applied from outside the UK, had £209k in my UK current account. The breakdown was £100k from a close friend, £36k from my existing UK company transferred to my account as a Director's loan, my existing UK savings, plus about £50k transferred from my US investment account.

Documents I submitted:
-Transcript from my UK Masters degree
-3rd part notarised attestation letter for the £100k (better safe than sorry, even though I had the money in my account)
-3 months UK bank statements, to show investment funds (£200k) plus Maintenance (£9k)- both were in the same account.
-Business Plan. About 10 pages, wrote it entirely by myself to be genuine, included research numbers and financial forecasts
-Various bank statements to show transfer of the money from my donor, plus transfers from my company's bank account and from my US investment account.
-Companies House documents showing I'm a Director and sole shareholder of a UK company
-Some personal certificates to prove interest in the subject matter of my business plan
-A one-page, well-written cover letter explaining the story of my application (personal bio, history in the UK, motivation to show I'm a genuine entrepreneur) and the source of my £209k in funds, breaking it down line-by-line, and referring to the supporting documents proving the source of the funds.

I know people from outside the UK are processed quicker, and often are not required to do interviews if they have a clean application, so I was lucky. But it helps to have a clean, solid application as above, so they can easily verify, and have no reason tor effuse you.

Hope this helps some of you. Good luck.

[Arifa Riaz]

Congratulations

[Sohail Alvi]

Congrats bro

[nasirkhan]

Congrats on getting your visa.

Would you mind letting us know your educational background and the business you are going to start.

Thanks.

[kayess1984]

Just got my visa about 2 weeks after submitting my application, without an interview. Maybe these points will help others:

Congrats Bro!
Could you please share your business nature and your qualification so that it could help others. Thanks!

[Etrigan]

For those asking the nature of my business, I don't think that is relevant. The important thing is that your business idea is genuine, and you can convince the case officer that it is genuine. One business is not more favorable than another- they are looking for 'genuine entrepreneurs'.

I have a Masters from a UK university, but that only proves English language competency. For my business idea, I submitted a comprehensive business plan that I wrote by myself from scratch- this proves I have a real idea, and have done real research. I also submitted photocopies of qualifications related to the business idea, to prove that this was something I am passionate about and have been interested in for a long time.

If you have no knowledge of, qualifications in, or experience in IT, you can't claim you want to start an IT company. If you have no experience in boxing, you can't claim you want to start a boxing club.

Once again, the most important thing is to have a genuine business idea, submit a genuine business plan, and show how your personal history proves you genuinely intend to pursue this business in the UK. I'm not saying you won't get your visa if you don't do this, but since they are looking to weed out anybody who is not a 'genuine entrepreneur' I guess not doing this will be risk.

[Vishnu]

Congrats Etrigan. I agree with all your comments (except one), and you do sound like a genuine entrepreneur.

The one point that i disagree with you is the third point in your first comment. Tell the truth. period. I am amazed how many members in this forum encourage other to lie to government officials in written/signed applications. I read many post of members saying: Just tell them this... , just tell them that.... etc... while they should advise and encourage everyone to just tell the truth and if saying the truth their application will be refused then so let it be refused.

Congrats again and good luck with your business.

[Etrigan]

Congrats Etrigan. I agree with all your comments (except one), The one point that i disagree with you is the third point in your first comment. Tell the truth. period. .

Thanks but sorry, I don't understand what it is you disagree with. Are you saying I encouraged people not to tell the truth?

[Vishnu]

Thanks but sorry, I don't understand what it is you disagree with. Are you saying I encouraged people not to tell the truth?

No, that is not what i mean.

I disagree with the wording of your comment:

-Tell the truth as much as possible......

and i said that it needed to be the same but without 'as much as possible'. I was referring to other members who i read advising others to lie, regardless if they will call it white lie! And i agreed with the rest of your comments

[kayess1984]

Dear Etrigan,
Nothing is relevant over here, we all are here to share the knowledge and experience. The reason I was asking for the details was to get an idea as the nature of business is very important and a lot depends on the nature of business. For eg. if the nature of business is an IT company, you will get the advantage and you may get your visa in a month or so, no guarantee though but UKBI is supporting IT these days.

[Etrigan]

Dear Etrigan,
Nothing is relevant over here, we all are here to share the knowledge and experience. The reason I was asking for the details was to get an idea as the nature of business is very important and a lot depends on the nature of business. For eg. if the nature of business is an IT company, you will get the advantage and you may get your visa in a month or so, no guarantee though but UKBI is supporting IT these days.

My business has absolutely nothing to do with IT. It is a fitness business. Instead of trying to guess which kind of business UKBI is favouring, why not just focus on developing a genuine business idea? They have said they are looking for genuine entrepreneurs. They have not said they are favouring any type of business. I've given my advice from my perspective. You can take it or leave it- your choice.

[kayess1984]

Nobody is trying to guess anything here, you shared your visa news and we all asked few questions. People are here to share the knowledge, there's no harm in sharing your business ideas. Nobody is asking you to share your documents or your business plans or your research. Asking nature of business isn't any crime, so it's better to reply positively or ignore rather than being rude.

About the UKBA, they have said many things, guess you aren't aware of all they say, they are promoting IT business in the UK and favoring IT entrepreneurs, be polite and reply if you want to share anything or simply ignore. Obviously it's my choice to take any advice or leave it, my advice for you is to be polite and sound like an entrepreneur, anybody can get a visa but entrepreneurship isn't for everybody. Cheers!