Do I need to exchange USD to GBP for Tier 1 visa?

[zelena17]

Hi,

I plan to apply for the Tier 1 - Entrepreneur visa with 200K investment of my own money. Currently my money is in an US bank wind in USD. Do I need to transfer the money to a UK bank and translate it to GBP before I apply?

Please let me know.

Thanks!

[zimba]

No, you do not need to transfer the money to the UK to apply but your money must be held in a financial institution and recognised by the rules as acceptable (see link to Appendix P below)

This is what the rules generally say regrading the funds:

43. A regulated financial institution is one, which is regulated by the appropriate regulatory body for the country in which the financial institution operates.

44. Money is disposable in the UK if all of the money is held in a UK based financial institution or if the money is freely transferable to the UK and convertible to sterling. Funds in a foreign currency will be converted to pounds sterling (£) using the spot exchange rate which appeared on http://www.oanda.com on the date on which the application was made.

45. No points will be awarded where the specified documents show that the funds are held in a financial institution listed in Appendix P as being an institution with which the Home Office is unable to make satisfactory verification checks.

Check Appendix P to see if your US bank is in the list as acceptable: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/immigration ... stitutions

[hamalt66]

Hi,

I plan to apply for the Tier 1 - Entrepreneur visa with 200K investment of my own money. Currently my money is in an US bank wind in USD. Do I need to transfer the money to a UK bank and translate it to GBP before I apply?

Please let me know.

Thanks!

I think you can also open a bank account in USD here in the UK. I wouldn't exchange the whole lot now as the pound value is unstable after Brexit (going down slowly). Perhaps, exchange only the needed funds for expenses while setting up ur business.