Switching from Tier 2 General to Tier 1 Entrepreneur

[petrusgh]

Hi All,

I am in a situation where the company I work for is being sold. I would like to move into a friends business by investing and getting things up and running. Below this is a post I found and I wanted to find out if I would be eligible to swithch from Tier 2 General to Tier I Entrepreneur based on the information below?

I have £50k+ but not £200k and have been working and in business in the UK since April 2011(initially Tier 2 ICT established staff, and from April 2014 as Tier 2 general) , from is stated in another post I would assume I should be able to qualify? I also have a friend with a fairly new business that needs capital to grow and would like for me to join, should this help? It is in software sales and web development.

Your help and advise is greatly appreciated.

Tx

Pete




attahaas wrote:
Jonser,

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.

From what you said in the above post, assuming you have been in the UK for more than 12 months, yes you need only 945 for maintenance, if not you need 3310. Also, the 50K route after 11 July 2014 is only for those who can get the funding from an FCA registered VC or Gov Seed funding competition or Gov Funding Dept. If you want to use your own money you should have been engaged in business prior to 11 July, which I don't assume you did.

In your case I believe you can only apply for the 200K route. If pooling 200K is not possible for you alone, then you can find a team member who can share half of the funds, cutting your financial burden by half.

If you put your heart into it, you may have enough time to apply for the T1E visa (6 weeks + 28 days grace period).

[attahaas]

Pete,

You should go through the guidance thoroughly. Engaged in business means doing your own established business either as a director in a limited company or on self employed basis. From what you said above I assume you have been only an employee. In this case you don't qualify for 50K route. You should look at the 200K route.

Yes, you can join an existing business as a director and invest your money in it. But first you need to figure out about the funds. You are a new member here so you can't send or receive PM, if you need more info let me know your email ID here.

You can switch from Tier 2 General to the Entrepreneur visa if you meet the eligibility requirement. Check more here: https://www.gov.uk/tier-1-entrepreneur/ ... -this-visa

[petrusgh]

Hi Attahaas,

I am a director of the company for a couple of years however I am a minority shareholder, ie. less than 10%. I have gone through the link and it is still a bit unclear regarding Tier 2 General. Does the £50k have to be via a VC or as I am a director can I now invest my own money? Is there a specific section you have found this info in? Can I invest the money in another business or only the one I am currently. Director in?



Thanks

Pete