As part of the UK Tier 1 Entrepreneur visa route, a prospective entrepreneur could be eligible to apply for a UK Tier 1 Entrepreneur visa by either having £50,000 or £200,000 of investment funds.

However, to be eligible to apply for a UK Tier 1 Entrepreneur visa by having access to the minimum requirement of £50,000 instead of £200,000 of available funds, the investment funds must derive from one of the following three sources:

1. A UK entrepreneurial seed funding competition endorsed by the Department for International Trade (DIT);

2. A UK government department making funds available for the purpose of setting up or expanding a UK business; or

3. A venture capital firm registered with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

Funds from one of these three sources are granted to entrepreneurs whose business ideas have the potential to gain high economic growth in the UK.

Therefore, a prospective Tier 1 entrepreneur can only rely on investment funds of £50,000 as part of his/her entry clearance application if the funds were received from either one of the three sources listed above.

If the prospective entrepreneur is unable to receive funds from one of the three sources listed above, then he/she would need to apply for an Entrepreneur visa by having £200,000 of investments funds.

If you are interested in applying for a UK Tier 1 Entrepreneur visa and require further advice, please feel free to contact us on +44161 826 6922.