Switching to Tier 1 Entrepreneur visas - multinational company

[st_tdegang]

Hi all,

I have a few questions (mainly around funding) regarding my visa switching situation and I'm hoping to find some answers as well as suggestions here on this forum.

I'm currently on my 2nd year under Tier 1 Graduate Entrepreneur Visa which expires in early 2019. My startup has been making some good progress and our initial target market is London.

Earlier this year we had some unexpected opportunities, through which we have extended our business development to the Netherlands. We have registered a business entity in the Netherlands and are creating a limited company in the UK as well very soon. Most of our business activities (at least for the next 2 years) will take place in the UK rather than the Netherlands.

I hope all the details so far sounds okay - please let me know if anything could potentially be an issue here...

Funding
To date, most of the fundings and money spent in the business we put in the business are from my co-founder (EU citizen). We are now applying for some EU grants and I have a few questions about it below:

1. Are grants eligible to be used to fulfill the funding requirements to apply for Tier 1 Entrepreneur Visa?
2. As there is a big time gap between the date we know we are successful with the grant application and the date we actually receive the funds, Can I used the successful grants results for the visa application or I need to wait until the money is in the bank account?
3. There's a big chance that the grants will have to be transferred to our Dutch business bank account instead of our UK business bank account. Can I somehow demonstrate that the funds are available to our UK business bank account/I can access it freely, for the Tier 1 visa application?


Please let me know if you need more information and many thanks for your advice/help in advance!

All the best

[marcnath]

Earlier this year we had some unexpected opportunities, through which we have extended our business development to the Netherlands. We have registered a business entity in the Netherlands and are creating a limited company in the UK as well very soon. Most of our business activities (at least for the next 2 years) will take place in the UK rather than the Netherlands.

I hope all the details so far sounds okay - please let me know if anything could potentially be an issue here...

No issues on these.

Funding
1. Are grants eligible to be used to fulfill the funding requirements to apply for Tier 1 Entrepreneur Visa?

It is unlikely but depends on how the grant is structured. As the guideline says, the funding can be from from UK Government and meets the condition below:

Money from Seed Funding or UK government
i) A letter confirming the amount of money available to you, or your entrepreneurial team or your business from the seed funding competition or a UK or Devolved Government Department. The letter must be from an authorised official or that organisation or, in the case of a UK or Devolved Government Department, a letter from an authorised official of an intermediary public body providing it confirms that it has been authorised to award funds from that Department for the specific purpose of establishing or expanding UK businesses.

So, depends on whether you can get the letter above.

2. As there is a big time gap between the date we know we are successful with the grant application and the date we actually receive the funds, Can I used the successful grants results for the visa application or I need to wait until the money is in the bank account?

You only need to show access to funds for the application. The actual investment can happen prior to extension.

3. There's a big chance that the grants will have to be transferred to our Dutch business bank account instead of our UK business bank account. Can I somehow demonstrate that the funds are available to our UK business bank account/I can access it freely, for the Tier 1 visa application?

The rules only specify that it should be transferred to the business account of the UK business. So, if the UK business can open a business bank account in the Netherlands, it might work.