URGENT- Got a CALL- STOPPED at the AIRPORT

URGENT- Got a CALL- STOPPED at the AIRPORT

Few hours ago got a call from a friend of mine saying that she is been stopped on the airport by immigration officer, interviewing her about her business activities (she is on Tier 1 entrepreneur visa - 50 k ). She was travelling back from her home country. She said she is been given a letter by the officer that he is not satisfied that she is running a genuine business . He asked her about turnover of her business and other random stuff about her IT business . She is been asked to wait at the airport till the time they do further checks . It has been more than 7 hours now that she has been waiting for their response every time she ask them about the progress they say we are waiting for checks to come back. Now her phone battery has died so i cannot contact her anymore.

Im doubtful that she will be able to convince the immigration officer as she is not very great in putting her point forward and also she said she is really tired and haven't slept in last 48 hours that doesn't help.

1- Wondering what kind of check they usually will do at airport for people on entrepreneur visas?
2- What can go wrong in this seniors ?
3- Can she be sent to detention centre or back to her home country if immigration officer is not satisfied ?


Regards

S

1) See other posts from concerned members.
Search forum.

2) If entrepreneur cannot speak for herself and represent herself as the figurehead of her business then that is a concern.

There is a proof of English requirement for such visaholders for a reason.

Is this person actually actively running a genuine going concern?

3) Yes.
Yes.

A visa is not a cast iron guarantee of permission to enter.

noajthan wrote:1) See other posts from concerned members.
Search forum.

2) If entrepreneur cannot speak for herself and represent herself as the figurehead of her business then that is a concern.

There is a proof of English requirement for such visaholders for a reason.

Is this person actually actively running a genuine going concern?

3) Yes.
Yes.

A visa is not a cast iron guarantee of permission to enter.

Thanks for quick response. Yes she is actively working full time in her business with 3 employees.

Trying to search the same scenarios on this forums couldn't find any similar case . Wondering if you have any link you can forward.

shanky wrote:URGENT- Got a CALL- STOPPED at the AIRPORT

Few hours ago got a call from a friend of mine saying that she is been stopped on the airport by immigration officer, interviewing her about her business activities (she is on Tier 1 entrepreneur visa - 50 k ). She was travelling back from her home country. She said she is been given a letter by the officer that he is not satisfied that she is running a genuine business . He asked her about turnover of her business and other random stuff about her IT business . She is been asked to wait at the airport till the time they do further checks . It has been more than 7 hours now that she has been waiting for their response every time she ask them about the progress they say we are waiting for checks to come back. Now her phone battery has died so i cannot contact her anymore.

Im doubtful that she will be able to convince the immigration officer as she is not very great in putting her point forward and also she said she is really tired and haven't slept in last 48 hours that doesn't help.

1- Wondering what kind of check they usually will do at airport for people on entrepreneur visas?
2- What can go wrong in this seniors ?
3- Can she be sent to detention centre or back to her home country if immigration officer is not satisfied ?


Regards

S

Which airport is this ?

Wow, things really have changed since I first got on this visa. Back then someone at immigration stopped me to say 'so what kind of interpreter are you?' No joke -- he clearly didn't even know what an entrepreneur visa was...

It is sad how unwelcoming the UK has become.

shanky wrote:Thanks for quick response. Yes she is actively working full time in her business with 3 employees.

Trying to search the same scenarios on this forums couldn't find any similar case . Wondering if you have any link you can forward.

See http://www.immigrationboards.com/uk-tie ... 26-20.html

niomi wrote:Wow, things really have changed since I first got on this visa. Back then someone at immigration stopped me to say 'so what kind of interpreter are you?' No joke -- he clearly didn't even know what an entrepreneur visa was...

It is sad how unwelcoming the UK has become.

Border guards are within their rights to guard the border.
IOs are within their rights to question immigrants.
ECOs are within their rights to entry clearance.

She should have prepared well before her departure. It all depends on immigration officer. Sometimes they don't even bother to ask a single question.
Too many frequent visits also a red flag.
Turnover is stupid question and never heard someone had been asked this question.
Normally they ask about clients, payments, office and 50k.
Please update shanky.

Which Airport is it?
I have travelled several times and never been asked any questions. I live in Birmingham, so use Birmingham Airport.
If she is genuinely in business, you need not to worry, if the EC officer comes with negative report, she should ask them, check again. Remember she is genuinely in business and she should not be afraid of anything.

9elizabeth wrote:Which Airport is it?
I have travelled several times and never been asked any questions. I live in Birmingham, so use Birmingham Airport.
If she is genuinely in business, you need not to worry, if the EC officer comes with negative report, she should ask them, check again. Remember she is genuinely in business and she should not be afraid of anything.

Its not likely to be a random stop unless a training exercise. People may come up on the radar and are then questioned.

Hello Shanky,
Do you have any updates on the case. Is she out from the Airport now or still being questioned?

ust a quick update for you guys . So my friend was granted access and they have returned her passport and visa after detaining her for more the 10 hours on the Heathrow airport .

The funny thing she says is the length they went to ask all sort of ridiculous questions just to find out if she is genuine or not.

She says interviewer went really in details about the business operations, the business finances, employees, and thr roles, overall day to day business activities, HMRC tax payments , annual returns and investment in business. He asked for names and contact details of all the past & present customers and details about her accountants too.

The thing I found weird was she was been ask if she is single or in relationship and he wanted to know all the details and visa status about her boyfriend. Her boyfriend is on Tier 1 Entrepreneur visa but running a different business and they both don't share 50k investment. So the interviewer asked her if her boyfriend business is taking services from her business or otherway round and does both the business support each other financially in some ways and she said yes that only her company provides IT services to her boyfriend business and she charges for that services.

When she raised the objection about questions about her personal life, she was been told that she can make it as hard as she wants by not answering the questions, he said as an immigration officer he has the right to know the relevant information about her to decide if she is genuine or not. I don't know if they even have right to ask for someone about details about personal relationship status ? Then she was even asked about her sister who she shares the house with about all her contact details, visa status and company her sister works for. He even ask her amount of rent she pays for the house she lives in and average weekly groceries cost and then he says numbers don't add up if she is paying salary to 3 full-time employees , office rent other expenses like insurance etc .So she ended up explaining all her personal and business expenses, income and taxes she is paying.

After she was given her passport and visa back she asked if thr is some problem with her immigration history or any red flags she was been told that thr is no issues with her immigration history nor any red flags or something it was just a random check which they regularly do to find out if people are genuinely running thr business or not.

What do you guys think will they contact her customers or her boyfriend asking for more details or details about thr businesses ?

Hope this helps

Hi Shanky,

Can I ask what was her previous visa? PSW or Graduate Entrepreneur?

Thank you so much.

Detaining someone with a valid residence permit on arrival happens when there is a serious suspicion that such individual is doing something against the rules. Sometimes not being able to answer questions clearly and having bad English/communication skills will not help either (The English language requirement for Tier 1E visa is not that high to be honest ) Also if she has been away for a long time or travels regularly outside the UK, the officers might think that she is not doing any work here in the UK.
They also not gonna tell you if there is a red flag on their systems.

I will not be much worried as thousands of Tier 1E visa holders travel in and out of the UK without any issues whatsoever and these scenarios are quite rare.

They have no right to ask her question about another individuals business, when she is not a partner of that business.

That is an outrageous abuse of power.

They are simply boyfriend and girlfriend.

How is she expected to know about the running of his business.

She was right to stand her ground in that respect.

Obie wrote:They have no right to ask her question about another individuals business, when she is not a partner of that business.

That is an outrageous abuse of power.

They are simply boyfriend and girlfriend.

How is she expected to know about the running of his business.

She was right to stand her ground in that respect.

...very outrageous abuse of power, especially when she raised the objection about questions about her personal life and was been told that she can make it as hard as she wants by not answering the questions. So unfair.