Business Visa
Tier 1 - Entrepreneur UK Business Visa
The Tier 1 Entrepreneur visa is a UK business visa for foreign nationals who want
to come to the UK with a large investment and start their own UK business or assume
control of a UK business without requiring a sponsor. However, just as with the
tier 1 general visa, the individual must reach a specified points limit for this
UK business visa. The individual must know English and the language requirement
fulfils 10 points of the PBS (Points Based System).
It is essential that the UK business visa applicant who is immigrating to the UK
can financially support him/herself and also support any dependents who may accompany
them.
Similar to the English language requirement, this particular criterion has a pass
mark of 10 which goes towards qualification on the PBS. The amount of maintenance
funds required for the main candidate is £2800. For their dependents, it is 2/3
of this sum.
Tier 1 - Investor UK Business Visa
The investor UK business visa is made for individuals who plan to make an investment
in the UK. Although this is similar to the entrepreneur category, the amount expected
for investment is more substantial and there are no requirements in what type of
business activities the applicant may engage in. For UK business visa, English language
proficiency is not deemed necessary as it is a mandatory requirement, although the
UK business visa applicant MUST be able to financially support themselves and any
dependents. Applicants investing sufficient funds in a business do not need to meet
the requirement of a maintenance test.
Tier 2 - Work Permit UK Business Visa
A work permit is a UK business visa that is specifically designed for medium to
highly skilled workers coming to the UK and requires the candidate to already have
an offer of employment from a UK company. When applying for the tier 2 visa, the
process is handled by the sponsoring company that must apply on behalf of the individual
they are interested in employing. However, similar to all tiers of the new points
based system, applicants must meet the relevant points requirement. In the case
of the tier 2 visa, this would be a 50 point minimum pass mark.
Tier 2 work permits lead to long term UK residency. Although it is not a permanent
UK residency visa, candidates who serve 5 years in the UK can apply for Indefinite
Leave to remain. After 5 years, the applicant can also apply for naturalization.
Tier 2 - Intra Company Transfers UK Business Visa
This visa category will allow non UK citizens to work. Visa Applicants must be employed
by the overseas office of the company they are coming to work for in the UK, for
at least 6 months beforehand, and they must be able to show that they have full
knowledge and can do the job they are here for.