Tier 1 Entrepreneur Visa Initial Application - Success!

I just wanted to thank everyone on these boards (particularly the mods) for all the help that's available from here.

As a noob it's particularly scary posting here as you see people being reprimanded all the time but I wanted to share a success story.

I signed up on these boards a few months ago because a friend was wanting some help with a visa application. For some background info, they're from Hong Kong (with moderate English) and I'm from the UK.

I started reading up on the legislation and OMG, what a nightmare! I'm a native English speaker but despite this you can imagine my horror when I tried to work through the dense, dry and often confusing text. However, we persevered through his application and as of today, I can confirm that he was successful.

The journey was often frustrating and complex and I have a great deal of sympathy for everyone trying to get through this process, especially when it's in a foreign language.

This post is mainly to say thanks and to encourage you to work hard at getting through your applications because it's possible (just make sure you get all your points and practice, practice, practice for your interview).

In thanks to the community for all the information I've gathered from here, if anyone has any questions, I'll be happy to answer as best I can (I can't reveal any personal or identifiable information though) and to help in whatever capacity I can.

Congrats..I have applied for initial tier 1 and waiting for about 40 days now. Lucky you, got it Earlier..

Just curious but where are you applying from?

All the best with your application!

HowHardCouldItBe wrote: ↑

Thu Dec 07, 2017 4:18 pm

Just curious but where are you applying from?

All the best with your application!

I applied within UK and it’s been 60 days and still waiting without any response..

Are you able to share some of the questions you were asked?

I have an interview coming up so preparing for that.

Thanks!

Hope you have gone through this topic.
uk-tier-1-entrepreneur-visas/tier-1-ent ... 58620.html

It may includes few questions that are specially for the extension applicants. But if you get prepared for the suitable questions it will surely help. I have recently attended the telephone interview and this is my personal suggestion and it may vary case by case.

The interview questions are already prepared by ECO looking at your application and sub questions are asked respect to your answers. The person who interview is not the same who prepared or to whom your case is assgined. The ECO who is taking interview may be very fresh and they may not know anything about any business as they just check how much you are able to explain/update your business answers to a person who will not have any experience on this.

They will record your answers which may be very difficult for you to change your style of answers for ECO to type easily.Because even though your interview time is may 45 to 60 mins most of the time you simply waiting for them to record(type it).

The interview is mainly to catch you at any point for them to take any decision and apply in their outcome letter. Each one of your word make a difference in thier dcecision making process. For example I used may be few time in the flow but they recorded it as if I am not sure like. If you have any friendly customer you better strict with customer and dont say you have friend/he refered or he will take care it will staright way work as a negative factor in your outcome.

The officer will talk nicely that does not mean she is happy with your asnwers. Because the decision maker is another officer. Basically strict with the correct answer for any questions and if anything is over explained it may not recorded in the same way you explained and may create the issue.

Please dont think I am making you scare of anything but I dont know all these before my interview and talked like a face to face interview. But the way the officer recorded is aganist what I have explained to her. She will record hmm, you know, yes I understand, May be.. I hope, all these. So just answer for her to type/record it easil which will save your time and avoid any confusions.

All the best and please update this thread after your interview

Apart from all these the main questions based on these factors.
1.What will happen to your current position/activity after you come over to UK
2.Why you choose UK not other countries.? If yes explain why you choose decide to move to UK..?
3.How your presence in UK work better for you as well as what British people will benefit from your business..
4.How did you accumulate your initial investment 200k.?
5.who are all your competitors and what edge you have over them..?
6. What is your sales plan to get new customers....??
( don't use common practices as they may say it is vague answers)
7.How do you split for what is your plan for your 200k.??

Sorry it is already become a long post.

All the best and please update this thread after your interview

piercebody wrote: ↑

Wed Apr 11, 2018 3:27 am

Hope you have gone through this topic.
uk-tier-1-entrepreneur-visas/tier-1-ent ... 58620.html

It may includes few questions that are specially for the extension applicants. But if you get prepared for the suitable questions it will surely help. I have recently attended the telephone interview and this is my personal suggestion and it may vary case by case.

The interview questions are already prepared by ECO looking at your application and sub questions are asked respect to your answers. The person who interview is not the same who prepared or to whom your case is assgined. The ECO who is taking interview may be very fresh and they may not know anything about any business as they just check how much you are able to explain/update your business answers to a person who will not have any experience on this.

They will record your answers which may be very difficult for you to change your style of answers for ECO to type easily.Because even though your interview time is may 45 to 60 mins most of the time you simply waiting for them to record(type it).

The interview is mainly to catch you at any point for them to take any decision and apply in their outcome letter. Each one of your word make a difference in thier dcecision making process. For example I used may be few time in the flow but they recorded it as if I am not sure like. If you have any friendly customer you better strict with customer and dont say you have friend/he refered or he will take care it will staright way work as a negative factor in your outcome.

The officer will talk nicely that does not mean she is happy with your asnwers. Because the decision maker is another officer. Basically strict with the correct answer for any questions and if anything is over explained it may not recorded in the same way you explained and may create the issue.

Please dont think I am making you scare of anything but I dont know all these before my interview and talked like a face to face interview. But the way the officer recorded is aganist what I have explained to her. She will record hmm, you know, yes I understand, May be.. I hope, all these. So just answer for her to type/record it easil which will save your time and avoid any confusions.

All the best and please update this thread after your interview

Thank you so much for your help. Appreciate your advice. Surely will update after my interview.

HowHardCouldItBe wrote: ↑

Thu Dec 07, 2017 2:13 pm

I just wanted to thank everyone on these boards (particularly the mods) for all the help that's available from here.

As a noob it's particularly scary posting here as you see people being reprimanded all the time but I wanted to share a success story.

I signed up on these boards a few months ago because a friend was wanting some help with a visa application. For some background info, they're from Hong Kong (with moderate English) and I'm from the UK.

I started reading up on the legislation and OMG, what a nightmare! I'm a native English speaker but despite this you can imagine my horror when I tried to work through the dense, dry and often confusing text. However, we persevered through his application and as of today, I can confirm that he was successful.

The journey was often frustrating and complex and I have a great deal of sympathy for everyone trying to get through this process, especially when it's in a foreign language.

This post is mainly to say thanks and to encourage you to work hard at getting through your applications because it's possible (just make sure you get all your points and practice, practice, practice for your interview).

In thanks to the community for all the information I've gathered from here, if anyone has any questions, I'll be happy to answer as best I can (I can't reveal any personal or identifiable information though) and to help in whatever capacity I can.

Thank you for your encouraging post. Although I've been reading the posts here for months, I've just registered and am trying to start my application (Tier 1 Entrepreneur) soon. I've gone through (painfully) all relevant documents that I find in gov.uk online and most of the posts in this site. So I think I have a good idea of the requirement and process. I have a business idea and plan to write my own business plan. Please do you have any advice for my initial application? Is it really necessary to hire someone professional to write the business plan for me? Thanks in advance.

piercebody wrote: ↑

Wed Apr 11, 2018 3:47 am

Apart from all these the main questions based on these factors.
1.What will happen to your current position/activity after you come over to UK
2.Why you choose UK not other countries.? If yes explain why you choose decide to move to UK..?
3.How your presence in UK work better for you as well as what British people will benefit from your business..
4.How did you accumulate your initial investment 200k.?
5.who are all your competitors and what edge you have over them..?
6. What is your sales plan to get new customers....??
( don't use common practices as they may say it is vague answers)
7.How do you split for what is your plan for your 200k.??

Sorry it is already become a long post.

All the best and please update this thread after your interview

Do you mind if I add these questions to the new post I made with a list of interview questions? They're important questions because they're difficult and require a good understanding of your business.

kenyaken wrote: ↑

Thu Apr 12, 2018 6:02 pm

Thank you for your encouraging post. Although I've been reading the posts here for months, I've just registered and am trying to start my application (Tier 1 Entrepreneur) soon. I've gone through (painfully) all relevant documents that I find in gov.uk online and most of the posts in this site. So I think I have a good idea of the requirement and process. I have a business idea and plan to write my own business plan. Please do you have any advice for my initial application? Is it really necessary to hire someone professional to write the business plan for me? Thanks in advance.

First of all, do you need to hire someone professional to write your business plan? This one is tricky as it depends on how good your English is and also your experience with business plans.

If you're writing yourself, you need to make sure you are able to explain your business idea, how it works, how you'll do marketing, your finances, competitive analysis, etc. There's a lot to be done.

My personal recommendation would be to hire someone to write it but don't get someone expensive. Pay as much as you can afford (I've seen prices from £200 to tens of thousands). In my own experience I've found that £600-£1000 is the sweet spot but before you hand over any money - CONFIRM that they can give you a decent business plan. I've seen business plans that have cost several thousand pounds and they look like they were written by someone in high school.

Once you've got your business plan back, you can then edit it to contain all the info you want because the person who writes the plan will likely miss a WHOLE load of information. This way, the bulk of the work is done and all you need to do is edit (which is a darned sight easier to do than to write the whole thing yourself).

A good alternative is to get a business plan template online and fill that in but it's a lot more work and it depends if your time is worth anything (which as an entrepreneur I suspect it's worth a decent amount).

A business plan should be about quality, not quantity - it's a waste of your time and the ECOs time.

Hope that helps

Why not please add it and share the thread link also here.
Actually Marcnath is a great contributor on this thread ( specially on my case and many more cases also) and he has pointed out getting an endorsement from Department of International Trade ( DIT) will support the initial application as HO will look at all the initial application with a suspicious look of move to the UK.
I am working on this and I will keep you updated about the outcome soon. Thanks

HowHardCouldItBe wrote: ↑

Mon Apr 16, 2018 3:23 pm

piercebody wrote: ↑

Wed Apr 11, 2018 3:47 am

Apart from all these the main questions based on these factors.
1.What will happen to your current position/activity after you come over to UK
2.Why you choose UK not other countries.? If yes explain why you choose decide to move to UK..?
3.How your presence in UK work better for you as well as what British people will benefit from your business..
4.How did you accumulate your initial investment 200k.?
5.who are all your competitors and what edge you have over them..?
6. What is your sales plan to get new customers....??
( don't use common practices as they may say it is vague answers)
7.How do you split for what is your plan for your 200k.??

Sorry it is already become a long post.

All the best and please update this thread after your interview

Do you mind if I add these questions to the new post I made with a list of interview questions? They're important questions because they're difficult and require a good understanding of your business.

piercebody wrote: ↑

Tue Apr 17, 2018 3:51 am

Why not please add it and share the thread link also here.
Actually Marcnath is a great contributor on this thread ( specially on my case and many more cases also) and he has pointed out getting an endorsement from Department of International Trade ( DIT) will support the initial application as HO will look at all the initial application with a suspicious look of move to the UK.
I am working on this and I will keep you updated about the outcome soon. Thanks

Thanks piercebody - I've credited you for the questions too. I always like to credit my sources wherever possible as it's not my own work.

Here's the thread with questions:
uk-tier-1-entrepreneur-visas/tier-1-ent ... 52760.html

I tried to credit the website I got the original questions from because I didn't create them but it's not allowed so before anyone thinks I'm claiming the questions as my own they're not

How do you get an endorsement from the Department of International Trade - do you mean an award? I think getting an award from the DIT might be harder than getting the Tier1 Entrepreneur Visa itself

Are you applying for an award with the DIT?

Thanks for the question list and I hope it will help many people.
I have contacted DIT UK for open and process my business setup and endorsement requirement. They have diverted my case to their local team in my country. My country team gave me an appointment to verify my business and asked me few questions. Actually this team is a part of Government to bring more investors into the UK and help British people to setup their business in outside the UK as well.
My local verification is completed and they have forwarded my case to UK team and I got a Project Manager assigned for my business. This is the current status now and the project manager from UK asked few information ( business plan, financial projections) and I am following up with her.

I hope if they are satisfied they may issue an endorsement letter which can be included with my application. There is a chance that they may help me to file my application and process my company setup. This part still I am not clear and I hope I will know it next week and keep you updated.

The best part I am having all the evidences of our email communications so even the DIT don't provide anything I can attach the reference and communications interview call letter as part my market research.

I am not looking for any capital fund loan /investment request from DIT Team. So I hope the process will not take longer and see what is their final advice for my case. Thanks.

HowHardCouldItBe wrote: ↑

Wed Apr 18, 2018 2:38 pm

piercebody wrote: ↑

Tue Apr 17, 2018 3:51 am

Why not please add it and share the thread link also here.
Actually Marcnath is a great contributor on this thread ( specially on my case and many more cases also) and he has pointed out getting an endorsement from Department of International Trade ( DIT) will support the initial application as HO will look at all the initial application with a suspicious look of move to the UK.
I am working on this and I will keep you updated about the outcome soon. Thanks

Thanks piercebody - I've credited you for the questions too. I always like to credit my sources wherever possible as it's not my own work.

Here's the thread with questions:
uk-tier-1-entrepreneur-visas/tier-1-ent ... 52760.html

I tried to credit the website I got the original questions from because I didn't create them but it's not allowed so before anyone thinks I'm claiming the questions as my own they're not

How do you get an endorsement from the Department of International Trade - do you mean an award? I think getting an award from the DIT might be harder than getting the Tier1 Entrepreneur Visa itself

Are you applying for an award with the DIT?

You're welcome

This sounds like quite an interesting route. I hope you can keep us all updated on how it goes.

piercebody wrote: ↑

Thu Apr 19, 2018 4:50 am

Thanks for the question list and I hope it will help many people.
I have contacted DIT UK for open and process my business setup and endorsement requirement. They have diverted my case to their local team in my country. My country team gave me an appointment to verify my business and asked me few questions. Actually this team is a part of Government to bring more investors into the UK and help British people to setup their business in outside the UK as well.
My local verification is completed and they have forwarded my case to UK team and I got a Project Manager assigned for my business. This is the current status now and the project manager from UK asked few information ( business plan, financial projections) and I am following up with her.

I hope if they are satisfied they may issue an endorsement letter which can be included with my application. There is a chance that they may help me to file my application and process my company setup. This part still I am not clear and I hope I will know it next week and keep you updated.

The best part I am having all the evidences of our email communications so even the DIT don't provide anything I can attach the reference and communications interview call letter as part my market research.

I am not looking for any capital fund loan /investment request from DIT Team. So I hope the process will not take longer and see what is their final advice for my case. Thanks.

piercebody wrote: ↑

Thu Apr 19, 2018 4:50 am

Thanks for the question list and I hope it will help many people.
I have contacted DIT UK for open and process my business setup and endorsement requirement. They have diverted my case to their local team in my country. My country team gave me an appointment to verify my business and asked me few questions. Actually this team is a part of Government to bring more investors into the UK and help British people to setup their business in outside the UK as well.
My local verification is completed and they have forwarded my case to UK team and I got a Project Manager assigned for my business. This is the current status now and the project manager from UK asked few information ( business plan, financial projections) and I am following up with her.

I hope if they are satisfied they may issue an endorsement letter which can be included with my application. There is a chance that they may help me to file my application and process my company setup. This part still I am not clear and I hope I will know it next week and keep you updated.

The best part I am having all the evidences of our email communications so even the DIT don't provide anything I can attach the reference and communications interview call letter as part my market research.

I am not looking for any capital fund loan /investment request from DIT Team. So I hope the process will not take longer and see what is their final advice for my case. Thanks.

Those are the right steps to get the DIT endorsement. Good luck.

marcnath wrote: ↑

Thu Apr 19, 2018 5:36 pm

piercebody wrote: ↑

Thu Apr 19, 2018 4:50 am

Thanks for the question list and I hope it will help many people.
I have contacted DIT UK for open and process my business setup and endorsement requirement. They have diverted my case to their local team in my country. My country team gave me an appointment to verify my business and asked me few questions. Actually this team is a part of Government to bring more investors into the UK and help British people to setup their business in outside the UK as well.
My local verification is completed and they have forwarded my case to UK team and I got a Project Manager assigned for my business. This is the current status now and the project manager from UK asked few information ( business plan, financial projections) and I am following up with her.

I hope if they are satisfied they may issue an endorsement letter which can be included with my application. There is a chance that they may help me to file my application and process my company setup. This part still I am not clear and I hope I will know it next week and keep you updated.

The best part I am having all the evidences of our email communications so even the DIT don't provide anything I can attach the reference and communications interview call letter as part my market research.

I am not looking for any capital fund loan /investment request from DIT Team. So I hope the process will not take longer and see what is their final advice for my case. Thanks.

Those are the right steps to get the DIT endorsement. Good luck.

Today I got a draft from the DIT team and they have asked me to correct/change/add anything on it so that they will send the final version. Can you experts (Specially Mr. Marcnath,HowHardCouldItBe ) please suggest few corrections/additions to keep the supporting/endorsement letter in a best way to make my case stronger.
Please update.. ( I have pasted it here with removing few personal informations.) Thanks.


Supporting Letter


3 May 2018

To Whom It May Concern


Re: XXXXXX XXXXX (Passport No: XXXXXX, Date of Birth: XXXXXX)

I am writing to support Mr XXXXXX in his application for the entrepreneur visa to the UK.

XXXXXX is a director of XXXXXX one of the largest manufacturers of body piercing fashion and silver jewelry in Asia XXXXXX (XXXXXX) is a manufacturer and online retailer and wholesaler of piercing and fashion jewellery. The factory has been operating since 1997 and the website launched in 2001. The company also has a silver jewellery division called XXXXXX (XXXXXX).

Via its online store, XXXXXX sells globally but the UK is where it has seen the most growth. XXXXXX also sells via Amazon and eBay. To fulfill orders from these two platforms it works with a dispatch partner based in XXXXXX in Dorset. (XXXXXX Poole, Dorset, BH16 6FH).

As their UK business grows steadily, Mr XXXXXX is now planning to set up an entity in London to further develop their business and provide quicker, better and more cost-effective services to their customers.

XXXXXX is the official agency for London to promote trade and investment, tourism and higher education, funded by the Mayor of London and our network of commercial partners. We work with colleagues at the Department of International Trade (DIT) to provide necessary support to foreign businesses in order for them to set up the company and grow their business in London and the UK. Through introductions from DIT, we got to know Mr XXXXXX and his business. Our understanding is that he is planning to:

• Initially invest £200K in cash and between £300K to £400K worth of stock movement to the UK
• They plan to employ minimum ten full-time employees in 3 years
• They also plan to expand to various product lines to make the most of their manufacturing source.


Kind regards,



XXXXXX
XXXXXX
XXXXXX
XXXXXX

Looks good. The first line is possibly the only one really relevant.

I got the DIT Letter and planning to submit my application soon. When I fill my application I found a place called as below.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/tdlvg7p9g634h ... 6.png?dl=0

Any idea what is the best to fill here (reason for refusal.)
My application was refused initially under Immigration Rule 245DB (f) (g) .
After I requested Administrative Review they have removed 245DB (f)

So now confused what to fill here correctly.

Opiton1: Immigration Rule 245DB (g)

Option2 : Initial Refusal Immigration Rule 245DB (f) (g)
After Administrative Review Immigration Rule 245DB(g)

Option 3: Evidences to make the business success

Can one your experts please suggest me.

Best Regards,
Matt.

piercebody wrote: ↑

Mon May 28, 2018 8:46 am

I got the DIT Letter and planning to submit my application soon. When I fill my application I found a place called as below.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/tdlvg7p9g634h ... 6.png?dl=0

Any idea what is the best to fill here (reason for refusal.)
My application was refused initially under Immigration Rule 245DB (f) (g) .
After I requested Administrative Review they have removed 245DB (f)

So now confused what to fill here correctly.

Opiton1: Immigration Rule 245DB (g)

Option2 : Initial Refusal Immigration Rule 245DB (f) (g)
After Administrative Review Immigration Rule 245DB(g)

Option 3: Evidences to make the business success

Can one your experts please suggest me.

Best Regards,
Matt.

I would myself just go with 245DB(g). They have the history to check details

Marcnath,
Thanks a lot for your as usual great supports.
Now I am preparing the cover letter which got the usual content summary of my application and refusal remedy action carried over in the couple of months.

Can you please recommend me what is the best approach to keep which content on top in the covering letter.

Option1: Refusal issues fixed summary followed by checklist to get reward for the 95 points.
Option 2: Check list to deserve the 95 points followed by the refusal reason fixes..

Sorry for many questions as the lawyer ask me to decide on my own ( he said both has same effect) so I want to proceed with the way to get the ECO's best impression

Thanks in advance.

piercebody wrote: ↑

Thu Jun 07, 2018 11:00 am

Marcnath,
Thanks a lot for your as usual great supports.
Now I am preparing the cover letter which got the usual content summary of my application and refusal remedy action carried over in the couple of months.

Can you please recommend me what is the best approach to keep which content on top in the covering letter.

Option1: Refusal issues fixed summary followed by checklist to get reward for the 95 points.
Option 2: Check list to deserve the 95 points followed by the refusal reason fixes..

Sorry for many questions as the lawyer ask me to decide on my own ( he said both has same effect) so I want to proceed with the way to get the ECO's best impression

Thanks in advance.

Can you please continue your question in your own topic.

uk-tier-1-entrepreneur-visas/initial-ti ... l#p1613318

@HowHardCouldItBe Thanks for your reply. As I'm proceeding with my application. I come up with a question that I think you'd be able to help.

I'm applying from Hong Kong and it seems impossible for us to get a Certificates of No Criminal Conviction without a letter from the consulate. As I know, your friend was applying from Hong Kong too. If convenient, can you please tell how your friend got his certificate in Hong Kong? Thank you in advance.

kenyaken wrote: ↑

Thu Aug 30, 2018 7:54 am

@HowHardCouldItBe Thanks for your reply. As I'm proceeding with my application. I come up with a question that I think you'd be able to help.

I'm applying from Hong Kong and it seems impossible for us to get a Certificates of No Criminal Conviction without a letter from the consulate. As I know, your friend was applying from Hong Kong too. If convenient, can you please tell how your friend got his certificate in Hong Kong? Thank you in advance.

Just a small note following my last question to tell that my problem above is sorted already.
Thank you anyway.