Tier 1 Entrepreneur Extension - Investment by Share Capital

[theprices]

Hi all, hope someone might be able to help...

My husband is due to extend his tier 1 entrepreneur visa this year. The company (a ltd. company) is now established with 2+ employees etc. My Q is in regards to the 200k investment - "When applying to extend their leave, applicants earn points for having invested £200,000, or £50,000, respectively, in cash directly into one or more businesses in the UK".

In our case, money has been invested by way of share capital with most of this being by 3rd party investors buying shares in the company, (we still own approx 65% of total shares) as well as investment by (unsecured) directors loans from 2 other directors (who are UK citizens who have also invested as above).. ie not all of the investment has been personally by my husband.

So, Does the investment need to be invested personally by the applicant? Or does it not matter who puts in the money as long as it's there, or do we need to gather paperwork to show that the investments made have been done so on his behalf..? (which would then I imagine open a whole new set of questions and panic!!)

Thanks in advance, fingers crossed for the easy answer..

[ishfaqsangra]

I think Money should be invested by him(if single applicant) By others on his behalf I do not think so.It clearly says that money invested by you.so if yu have 65% share so that out of total investment 65% should be equal to £200,000
That's what I think.

[samaygrg]

Hi
I believe that it doesn't matter how much share who owns, but your husband's share portion amount must be equivalent to 50K or 200K [whichever goes fit with you]. And also regarding 2 employees, if you must show that your investment created extra 2 jobs for the economy.
Bottomline: its possible but you need to make your paperwork and justification accordingly. If company's total investment (yours and others) created total 2 jobs and has got total 50 or 200K, then, things can be a cause of refusal.

I am not an expert, so please consult with your accountant, solicitor and wait for other colleagues viewpoints.

[theprices]

Thanks both for your advice not really the answer I was after tho.. sounds like we have some work to do! We will have a meeting with an immigration lawyer I think, not cheap are they, but think we need their help after all!

[attahaas]

This is my humble opinion.

It doesn't really matter how much share you hold in the company, what matters is if you invested the 200K. It could give you 65% or 6.5% share.

I certainly believe the money should come from the original applicant or if it is coming from someone else, you should have proper documentation to show such money has been earmarked to be invest in the company on the main applicant's behalf. You know more like a "Third party declaration" for entry, but you need to find something similar for extension.

I have another scenario for you to think about, could be very similar to your husband's case. If an Ent visa migrant joined an existing company and invested only 100K, or even better just 10K for some share (again the % doesn't matter at all), and later the existing or new directors bring in more money, then the Ent can't claim points for extension for the money he/she hasn't invested just because the total investment went over 200K AFTER he/she joined. Unless of course, he can provide specific documentation that the extra money has been invested on his behalf, which sounds quite dicey!

Either way, it's quite a concern to panic if you haven't invested the full 200K and want to produce documentation that someone else invested on your behalf. Assuming you do, then you should have more share % equivalent to entire 200K not just the 65% (I am sure the other directors wouldn't agree to this). Because it's invested on your behalf, you should get the shares too.

I would sincerely suggest you to invest the rest of the money yourself to meet 200K and save yourself tons of headache, tension and many a sleepless night! And probably save a lot of money in solicitor's fee too.

If you find something different, please update here.

[theprices]

Thanks all for your advice, to sum up I spoke with an immigration lawyer who advised that yes you are all correct, funds do need to be invested by us or expressly on our behalf. So back to the accountants office for us!! Will let you know in a few months how it all gets on!!!

[ds007]

It doesnt matter who owns what share ....why would any third party invest without getting shares?

what required is a total of 200k invested in the company (whoever owns the shares) that the applicant is a director in and access to that money

[Entreprenure 10 jobs]

Theprices,

I have been thru ext. If possible look at table 5 in the immigration rules... says applicant must invsst 200k in cash towards share purchase. You could have only 1 share. Plus due to your investment your hhsband must be director of the company registered with the company house.
Etc etc. Hope helped

[ds007]

please see below HO guidance for caseworkers .....


You may ask the applicant to demonstrate that the funds they have used to apply under this
category are still available to them beyond the date of their application. The funds must
continue to be available to them until they are spent for the purposes of their business or
businesses.
‘Available’ means that the funds must be in one of the following:
 the applicant’s own possession
 the financial accounts of a UK incorporated business of which the applicant is the
director, or
 available from the third party or parties named in their application (if applicable).