Switching from Tier 2 ICT dependent to Tier 1 Entrepreneur

[Dhillon5886]

Hi, i am currently in UK on Tier 2 ICT Long Term visa but getting an offer from another company within UK. What i understand is that my current visa does not allow me to switch employers without a cooling off period of 12 months and to be eligible, i need to leave UK. So to continue to work in UK with another employer, i want to explore to apply entrepreneur Visa for my wife by investing 200K GBP who is currently with me in UK on Tier 2 ICT long term dependent visa. I have basically 3 questions -

1.) Is it possible to use this route wherein i can be her dependent and continue to work with any employer in UK legally ?
2.) Assuming the answer to first question is yes, is their any guidelines available on how this 200K GBP investment needs to utilised in terms of opening new business, can she buy a residential property with this money, keep it in fix deposit, any lock in period before this money can be moved out of UK if at all needed,etc. Basically all compliance rules which she need to follow to continue in this category along side maintaining liquidity of this investment.
3.) Does this Tier 1 Entrepreneur visa leads to Infinite Leave to Remain (ILR) for the main applicant as well as dependents? if yes, what are the chances to secure an ILR and visa extension after expiry of initial 3 years term of Tier 1 visa ?

Thnx in advance for the guidance.

[attahaas]

Dhillon,

Firstly, you should go through the UK Gov website Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) visa and the T1E policy guidance. You will find answers to most of your questions there.

You/your wife can switch to this visa from Tier 2. I hope your wife's education background/work experience is good enough to improve her chances of getting this visa. Since you would be applying within the UK, it would definitely suggest UKBA that you are trying to stay in the country by hook or crook (legally of course) more than you are interested in improving the economy as an Entrepreneur. Having said that, there is no actual requirement for the applicant to have any relevant experience, BUT, it all depends on how convincing your case is from ALL ANGLES!

Coming to your questions, the answers are below:

1. Yes, you can be a T1E dependent and work legally in the UK for any employer.
2. READ THE GUIDANCE in the link above. You will know how to invest and how not to. For starters, the answer is YES & NO. You can invest in property for only that part which will be exclusively used for YOUR business only, and it is assessed by the authorities concerned. Your business can't be real estate dealing or property development or property management. The entire 200K MUST be invested in a business within 3 years and you must create at least 2 full-time jobs for a minimum of 12 months within the first 3 years. The main applicant can join an existing business too as a director and invest 200K there, but still has to result in 2 NEW full-time jobs there.
3. Yes, the T1E visa leads to ILR after 5 years, for the entire dependent family of the main applicant.

[Dhillon5886]

Thnx attahaas for the advice and it was very useful. Wanted to check another option as well:

As i am currently on Tier 2 ICT long term staff visa starting April 2014 and I am aware of one year cooling off rule but wanted to check the possibility of switching employers if:

1. Is their an exception to this cooling off rule for e.g if the proposed salary offered by new employer is GBP 154K/annum or higher ?
2. If answer to first question is yes, the proposed salary has to be a fix GBP 154K/annum or the variable pay also get accounted for this sealing ? For e.g GBP 100K fix and GBP 54K/annum as a Variable pay ?
3. considering answer to 1st question is yes, will switch from ICT to ICT is allowed or Tier 2 ICT to Tier 2 General is also possible ?

thnx in advance for the advice.

[Bsindhu]

Hello ,
I am on dependent t2 ict migrant visa . Came into the country on September 15 2013 . Will have visa validity till October 2018 I would like to switch to t1 entrepreneur by investing 200 k in a restaurant business sometime in 2016 .
My questions are the following .
1. Is it possible ?
2. Do I need to go to the country of origin ? Or can I switch in uk ?
3. If can switch from uk will my my previous time be counted towards ilr ?
As in time spent from September 2013 to the time the switch happens ?
Thank you in advance for the help.