Venture Capital Tier 1 Entrepreneur

Hi All,

I have some doubt about the new guidence dated January 2018 on Tier 1 entrepreneur, Can experts please sort it out.

I applied Tier 1 entrepreneur via VC firm. Provided all the document from VC stating that funds are available for the investment.
After getting the visa funds were transferred from the VC along with the confirmation letter.

Now for extension which category relate to me according to Table D attribute of 20 points

Table D: Extension applications points table

1 You have invested, or have caused investment to be made by one or more
third parties, at least £200,000 (or £50,000 if you were awarded points for
£50,000 funding or investment in your last grant of leave) in cash directly into
one or more UK businesses.
You do not need to provide evidence of this investment if you were awarded
points under this table in your last grant of entry clearance or leave to remain
as a Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) migrant.

Investment: specified documents

(g) If you are claiming points for investment of £50,000 from a Venture Capital firm, you must also
provide an original dated letter from the Venture Capital firm on its headed paper, confirming:
(i) your name,
(ii) the date(s) the money was transferred to you or invested in your business, and
(iii) that the Venture Capital firm was registered with the Financial Conduct Authority on the
date(s) in (ii) above.

(h) If you are claiming points for investing £50,000 from a Seed Funding Competition, UK or
Devolved Government Department or Venture Capital firm, and have not been awarded points for
those funds in a previous application, you must also provide the specified evidence in the Table C:
Available Money as evidence of the source of the funds. As the money may have been invested up
to 12 months ago the letters do not need to be dated within the three months immediately before the
date of the application.

Please clarify which clause relates to me. g or h
My opinion is as Home office approved the VC documents and evidence of fund availbilty in initial application.Now I just need a letter from VC when the funds was transferred.
Point g is not looking relevant as Home office already granted the points in initial application.

Please advise, your prompt reply will be highly appreciated.

Thanks

Point (g) is definitely relevant. At your application, you only showed evidence of funds available from the VC. Now you are claiming points for the actual investment.

In my opinion, Point (h) is also applicable to you. However, since it does not have to be dated within three months of the application, you can resubmit the documents you did at application time (if it still meets the requirements). This particular clause has been very subtly but importantly changed in the latest revision - they changed the phrase "....and has not been awarded points in a previous application for having those funds available, he must provide..." to "....and has not been awarded points for those funds in a previous application, they must also provide...". The removal of the word available, shows they now expect (h) even if you have shown the funds to be available at application.

Clearly, HO is concerned about VC funding because some people have been misusing it. That causes problems for all applicants, unfortunately.

The explanatory notes for the recent changes mentions the following:

Applicants relying on investment from a venture capital firm will now be required to also provide a letter from the firm confirming the date(s) the funds were transferred to the applicant or invested in their business and that the firm was registered with the Financial Conduct Authority at the time. This requirement is added to counter ongoing abuse relating to venture capital funding.

Hi marcnath,

Thank you for the reply. I am really impressed with the detailed explanation you provided. Two more questions require your attention.

1) When should the letter be dated for point g from VC. It should be current date or when money
was transferred by VC. Please advise ?

2) When should the documents be dated for point h from VC. These documents will be on a new format consisting of term sheet, repayment plan and annual reporting agreement etc etc. These will explain the terms and conditions on which money was be given by VC.

I think it will make sense if it is dated before the money was transferred by VC. Please advise ?

Thanks

1) The date is not specified, but it is logical it will be any date after the investment is made. If you are getting the document now, it makes sense for it to be the date it is issued.
2) Again, there is no date specified, but the documents are logically those that would have been prepared prior to the investment.

Hi All,

Can anyone guide,

Point 1)
What will be the content of this letter. A letter from an accountant validating the financial condition of the fund. Point v below.

Point 2)

A letter from legal representaive confirming the letters and declaration. point vii. below.

Is it necesarry to reproduce this letter. I already submitted the legal letter with the initial application.
Shall i resubmit it. VC is not giving this letter as this was already submitted in intial application.



As per policy guidence

Money from Venture Capital Funds
ii) A letter from a director, partner or fund manager of the venture capital firm which must contain:
1. confirmation of the amount of money available to your business from the organisation,
2. a statement providing detailed information on the strategy, structure and financial exposure of the fund,
3. a statement detailing the rationale for the investment, providing specific information about the circumstances which lead to the investment decision,
4. a statement confirming that the business/proposed business is a genuine and credible proposition
5. confirmation that the venture capital firm is registered with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and its entry in the register includes a permission to arrange, deal in or manage investments, or to manage alternative investment funds.
iii) A copy of the completed term sheet for the investment, signed by all parties to the transaction, which must include details of the company valuation, company structure, founder and investor rights, funding structure and types of security being taken.
iv) A breakdown of the technical, legal, commercial and financial due diligence conducted by the venture capital firm in support of the investment.
v) A letter from an accountant validating the financial condition of the fund

vii) A letter (or letters) from one or more legal representatives, who are neither you or your third party, which confirms that the letter(s) and declaration(s) from the third party or parties contains the genuine signatures of the required signatories. The letter(s) must clearly show the registration or authority of the legal representatives to practice legally in the country where the third party or the money is.

Thanks

Hi All,

Could you please help to sort the point h.

I already got the letter for point g.

In regards to point h, shall i go to table C or not. I believe that although I didn't invest the money in initial application but i claimed the point for having those money available. so i do not need to provide additional evidences.

Policy Guidence notes,

g) If you are claiming points for investment of £50,000 from a Venture Capital firm, you must also provide an original dated letter from the Venture Capital firm on its headed paper, confirming:
(i) your name,
(ii) the date(s) the money was transferred to you or invested in your business, and
(iii) that the Venture Capital firm was registered with the Financial Conduct Authority on the date(s) in (ii) above.
(h) If you are claiming points for investing £50,000 from a Seed Funding Competition, UK or Devolved Government Department or Venture Capital firm, and have not been awarded points for those funds in a previous application, you must also provide the specified evidence in the Table C: Available Money as evidence of the source of the funds. As the money may have been invested up to 12 months ago the letters do not need to be dated within the three months immediately before the date of the application.

Thanks

Hi Seniors and experts,

Please guide on the below,

Point 1)
What will be the content of this letter. A letter from an accountant validating the financial condition of the fund.

Point 2)

A letter from legal representative confirming the letters and declaration.

Is it necesarry to reproduce this letter. I already submitted the legal letter with the initial application.
Shall i resubmit it. VC is not giving this letter as this was already submitted in intial application.

Thanks