will I qualify?

Hello everyone,

I need help with guidance and advice with my situation, every bit of it will be dearly appreciated.

I'm an Iranian national, currently living in Iran.

I'm running my own Fund Management Business all by myself and I'm practically self-employed.

I'm a Foreign Exchange trader and I have crowd-funded my own business starting capital from the small following I had on social media and at the moment I have about $60K of funding which I'm managing for my clients.
but the thing is that due to the nature of my business and the fact that I'm an Iranian and there are some tough economic sanctions against my country, I'm having a really hard time expanding my business and attract more clients, so I'm thinking about registering a company in UK and use it as an opportunity to both leave my home country and work and expand my business in the UK.

At the moment because of the limitations I'm facing (having very limited options in terms of brokers I can work with, being from a sanctioned nation) I haven't really been able to work on expanding my business the way I want to, which is hopefully getting the required licenses for staring a Investment Fund myself so I can both be in more control, and have the option of insuring the funds and create a safer environment to attract major investors. I constantly get contacted by bigger investors (investing $50K or more) but once they realize I'm working with an off-shore broker they get cold feet. I think I will be able to expand my business exponentially if I can enter the UK financial hub.


Now what I want to know is that is it possible for me to use innovator/start-up visa routes and open a business in UK and use my client's funds as initial investments in my business? or that wouldn't fly with the way rules are set up and the investment must be made directly from my own pocket?

if you can think of any other way I can solve this problem, I would be eternally grateful if you share it with me.

Any response would be dearly appreciated
Thank you for you time

You cannot use client funds to start your business.

You also need endorsement for either of these visas.

CR001 wrote: ↑

Mon Aug 05, 2019 6:45 am

You cannot use client funds to start your business.

You also need endorsement for either of these visas.

Thank you for your help.

I wasn't saying I want to use my client's money as investment money without them knowing, I meant will I be able to use my clients as investors in my business? (I mean, can I have investors who aren't myself, or am I the only person allowed to invest in the business?)

is it not allowed to have investors for a business? that seems rather odd.

Have you read the two guidance notes and requirements for these two visas??

start-up-and-innovator-visas/innovator- ... 78156.html

start-up-and-innovator-visas/start-up-v ... 78157.html

CR001 wrote: ↑

Mon Aug 05, 2019 7:08 am

Have you read the two guidance notes and requirements for these two visas??

I have read the information which was on the .gov website, but couldn't figure out if the investment has to be made personally by the applicant or other people could invest and become investors of the business..

but now thanks to the pdf file you linked, I know that "an applicant must also provide an endorsement letter and if applicable demonstrate that they have either invested or have available to invest £50,000 in their business."

so it should be my money and not anyone else's money. understood.

thank you again for the help. I appreciate it.


just one final question...
is it a viable option for me to register an LLC in UK and manage my business through that LLC remotely (meaning staying where I am right now, and just paying taxes to UK from the money I make in from my business) and work on growing my business and apply for a visa later?
like is there a visa option where I can use the existing business as grounds for requesting residency or naturalization?

just one final question...
is it a viable option for me to register an LLC in UK and manage my business through that LLC remotely (meaning staying where I am right now, and just paying taxes to UK from the money I make in from my business) and work on growing my business and apply for a visa later?
like is there a visa option where I can use the existing business as grounds for requesting residency or naturalization?

The UK does not have a 'golden ticket' scheme for naturalisation or residency like some other countries. Owning a business or property in the UK doesn't give anyone any residency or citizenship rights.

The Innovator and Start Up visas, for business, is the only option you have since the Tier 1 Entrepreneur visa route was closed for new applicants in April this year (this would have been the best visa had you looked into it earlier). The Start Up visa does not lead to settlement (indefinite leave to remain).

For an innovator visa, you would likely have a difficult time getting endorsement as your business is not a new idea and you would be trying to enter a very saturated, competitive and long standing market.