Hi,
I have been following this thread for quite a long time before I made my application for my tier 1 (entrepreneur) visa. I used to be on a tier 2 (general) visa before my contract expired and my employer decided not to renew my contract thus finishing my tier 2 visa effectively from the date of termination of my contract (60 days)
I had applied for my visa and have received my visa today successfully by the grace of almighty god.
Here is the timeline of my visa applicatiom
Application sent by post 30th June
Acknowledgment and biometric received by 7th July
Biometrics enrolled by 8th July
Application received by 16th July.
It had taken less than 3 weeks from the time I have submitted my application. One of the few things that I had learnt while making this application is that your case needs to be as straight forward as possible. Do not give an opportunity for the case worker to dwell into assumptions. Keep it simple and clear. Be thorough in your research and decide what business or service you wouyld like to provide.
here is a list of documents that I had provided
1. application form
2. 3rd party funds letter declaration
3. Legal advisor letter confirming 3rd part funds
4. Bank statement showing funds of £200,000
5. Bank letter from the branch manager stating that the funds are available for my venture, that they are finanically regulated by the state and that they are disposable in the UK
6. Degree and transcripts
7. Bank statement covering maintenance funds ( always have more than what the minimum level is)
8. CV
9. Contract letter of a prospective client and their correspondence
10. advertisements ( yell, free ads, friday ad, gumtree, linked in, facebook page)
11. company website screenshots
12. Marketing material such as contact cards, brochures, letter head
13. professional indemnity insurance
14. companies house registered letter
15. certificate of incorporation
16. current appointments report
17. passport and previous resident card
18. Business plan and market research
19. accountants letter confirming services of company registration
20. 2 passport sized photographs
Try to make your application as simple and clear as possible, if possible use plastic pockets to differentiate your documents and label them with post it notes, send a returned recorded delivery (paid both ways next day delivery). this way it is easier to track your return post.
Be confident and double check what you apply, most of the documents provided have not been stated as compulsory when applying for this visa but its better to be clear and concise as possible.
Hopefully this post would help all the budding entrepreneurs out there. I wish you all the best of luck
