The deadline to submit a Tier 1 Investor visa extension was April 2023. To discuss your UK immigration and settlement options, contact our specialists.
Tier 1 Investor Visa Extensions Closed
The Tier 1 Investor visa is closed to new applications.
Applications for Tier 1 Investor visa extensions closed on 5th April 2023.
Existing Tier 1 Investor visa holders had until 5th April 2025 to apply for UK settlement under this route.
Tier 1 Investor Visa Extension Historic Information
This information pre-dates the closure of the Tier 1 Investor route for new, extension and ILR applications.
You may become eligible to apply to settle permanently in the UK after two years if you invest £10 million, after three years if you invest £5 million, or after five years if you invest £2 million. Any dependent family members that you bring with you must wait five years before they are eligible for settlement.
If you invest the minimum of £2 million you will be able to settle after 5 years, in line with most other UK immigration categories. However, there are quicker ways to settlement under the Tier 1 Investor visa.
If you invest £5 million, you will be eligible for settlement after 3 years in the UK.
If you invest £10 million you can apply to settle after 2 years.
No other UK visa category offers this level of fast-tracked settlement.
In addition to your investment portfolio and evidence of the balance of funds, you will be required to submit the following original documents:
- Completed and signed Tier 1 (Investor) application form
- Documents supporting your investment activity
- Original valid passport and any expired passports in your possessionOriginal valid Biometric Residence Permit
- Two new passport photographs
Applying for a Tier 1 Investor Visa Extension
This information pre-dates the closure of the Tier 1 Investor route for new, extension and ILR applications.
The application process for extending your Tier 1 Investor visa is complex and in many ways more demanding than the original visa application. Criteria are strict, and the requirements on you to provide full and accurate supporting documentation relating to your UK investment activity during your period of leave are stringent.
The demands can be exacerbated if, as a result of poor advice as part of your initial Tier 1 Investor Visa application, your supporting documentation has not been kept up to date.
Failure to present a comprehensive and complete application can lead to delays in a decision or even refusal.
There is also the possibility that you may be invited to interview by the Home Office, to discuss in detail your application and your investment activity to date.
If you have applied for and been granted a Tier 1 investor visa prior to the 29th March 2019, the previous rules will continue to apply in respect of visa extensions until 5th April 2023. Settlement applications can be made until 5th April 2025.
If your visa was granted prior to 6th November 2014, when the original £1 million threshold applied, the key dates to note are 6th April 2020 for extensions and 6th April 2022 for settlement. Applications made after these dates will be subject to the new rules.
Extension applications submitted abroad are granted for 2 years, to align with extensions made within the UK. You are required to meet eligibility criteria and to submit a formal application to extend your Tier 1 investor visa.
Am I eligible to apply for a Tier 1 Investor Visa Extension?
This information pre-dates the closure of the Tier 1 Investor route for new, extension and ILR applications.
There are restrictions on the type of investment the Home Office will consider as part of the qualifying sum of £1 million. For example, funds must not be held in offshore custody. Also, the minimum investment must not be invested in companies mainly engaged in property investment, property management or property development. The funds must also not be invested by using deposits with a bank, building society or other enterprise whose normal course of business includes the acceptance of deposits.
We can advise on the full extent of the acceptable investment criteria.
To qualify for an extension, you will need to demonstrate that you had invested the funds within 3 months (13 weeks) of your initial grant of leave as a Tier 1 (Investor) and ensured that the total investment is maintained at or above £1 million.
You will be required to show that the minimum investment was maintained at that level throughout the period of your permission to stay (from the date that your investments were made).
The balance of funds is any further money necessary to bring the total funds invested by the applicant up to £1 million. If your investments total £1 million, no balance of funds is necessary. If the investments amount to between £750,000 and £1 million, you must provide evidence of the balance of the funds. You must have maintained a balance of up to £250,000, depending on how much is required to bring your total investment in the United Kingdom up to £1 million. In these circumstances, you must provide supporting documentation. We can advise on the type of investments that qualify and can be taken into account for the balance of funds.
What are the Tier 1 Entrepreneur Visa Extension requirements?
This information pre-dates the closure of the Tier 1 Investor route for new, extension and ILR applications.
To qualify for further leave to remain as a Tier 1 entrepreneur, there are various entrepreneur visa extension requirements that must be met. First and foremost, you must satisfy what’s known as the “genuine entrepreneur test”.
Under this test, you must meet the following criteria, namely:
- You have established, taken over or become a director of one or more genuine businesses in the UK, and have genuinely operated that business
- You have genuinely invested the necessary funds into one or more genuine businesses in the UK
- You intend to continue operating one or more businesses in the UK, and
- You do not intend to take employment other than working for the business or businesses that you have established, joined or taken over
In addition to satisfying the genuine entrepreneur test, you must also score 75 points under the Home Office extension applications points table based on investment, registration and job creation.
Investment
To score the necessary 20 points under this sub-heading, you must have invested, or have caused to be invested by one or more third parties, at least £200,000 in cash directly into one or more UK businesses.
This will be reduced to £50,000 if you were awarded points for this lower sum under your last grant of leave.
Registration
To score the necessary 20 points under this second sub-heading, you must have registered with HM Revenue & Customs as self-employed or, alternatively, registered with Companies House as a director of a UK company or member of a UK partnership, typically within six months from the date you were given permission to stay in the UK under a Tier 1 (entrepreneur) visa.
For an additional and mandatory 15 points, you must also prove that you have been self-employed, or working as a director of a business or member of a UK partnership, within the three months before the date of application.
Job creation
To score the remaining 20 points, you must have established a new business that has created the equivalent of at least two new full time jobs for settled workers.
Alternatively, you can score these points if you have joined or taken over an existing business and your services or investment have resulted in a net increase in the employment provided by the business for settled workers by creating the equivalent of at least two new full time jobs.
In either case, these jobs must have existed for at least a period of twelve months during your most recent grant of leave or, where that leave was granted less than twelve months ago, for at least the twelve months immediately before the date of the current application.
How long does a decision take?
This information pre-dates the closure of the Tier 1 Investor route for new, extension and ILR applications.
You can expect a decision to be made on your application within 8 weeks, or on the same day if you use the Super Premium Service.
In some circumstances, you may be contacted if your application will take longer because you need to attend an interview, or due to issues with your supporting documents or your personal circumstances (for example if you have a criminal conviction).
Can my dependants apply at the same time?
This information pre-dates the closure of the Tier 1 Investor route for new, extension and ILR applications.
Yes, any dependants who are on your current visa should be included in your extension application. This also includes children who have turned 18 during your stay.
What supporting documentation will be needed?
This information pre-dates the closure of the Tier 1 Investor route for new, extension and ILR applications.
The documentation you must provide includes evidence of the balance of funds and a portfolio of your investments, certified as correct by a UK regulated financial institution. The portfolio must meet stringent criteria to be eligible for submission.
In addition to your investment portfolio and evidence of the balance of funds, you will be required to submit the following original documents:
- Completed and signed Tier 1 (Investor) application form
- Documents supporting your investment activity
- Original valid passport and any expired passports in your possession
- Original valid Biometric Residence Permit
- Two new passport photographs
Need assistance?
As a team of immigration lawyers and former Home Office employees, we have an established reputation for effective and efficient management and processing of UK visa extensions and applications, as well as advising on options for UK settlement. Contact us for advice.
Author
Founder and Managing Director Anne Morris is a fully qualified solicitor and trusted adviser to large corporates through to SMEs, providing strategic immigration and global mobility advice to support employers with UK operations to meet their workforce needs through corporate immigration.
She is recognised by Legal 500 and Chambers as a legal expert and delivers Board-level advice on business migration and compliance risk management as well as overseeing the firm’s development of new client propositions and delivery of cost and time efficient processing of applications.
Anne is an active public speaker, immigration commentator, and immigration policy contributor and regularly hosts training sessions for employers and HR professionals.
