Applied for ILR Route: SET(O) Tier 1 Entrepreneur Accelerated Main Applicant + 2 x PBS Tier 1 General Dependants - Fulfilled both minimum £5 million turnover (£15 million+) and 10 full time jobs requirement
Date application sent: 23/11/2017
Document received by HO: 24/11/2017
Payment Debited: 27/11/2017
Ack letter received (if applicable): 30/11/2017 (via email)
Biometric Letter received: 01/12/2017
Biometric Letter print date: 29/11/2017
Date Biometrics Enrolled: 02/12/2017
Approval/Refusal Received: Waiting (Docs not received yet)
BRP Card Received: 07/12/2017 (Printed on 06/12/2017)
Introduction
I am the founder and CEO of a SaaS platform and moved my business over from India to UK in 2014 (after April 2016) via Tier 1 Accelerated route. Since the last three years, I have been focused on expanding our team and growing the business from the new UK HQ.
I had already created a local entity before I personally decided to move to UK. The original intention was to use UK as an entry point for the European market but then eventually decided to move the entire business here as it was becoming difficult to scale from India.
In effect I created employment for 25+ people if you include contractors and migrant workers (from Canada & US) - unfortunately that couldn't be counted in entirety - so I applied under the Tier 1 Entrepreneur Accelerated route with the net employment of 12~ jobs, with each settled worker exceeding 12 months and a net increase in turnover of £15 million+.
Even though I well exceeded most of the requirements, I invested via director loan which was repaid in around two years. Although, that is within the norms but I saw cases where HO didn't like the fact that had happened and was concerned if that would affect my application.
I engaged a solicitor to manage my application as I didn't trust that I would be able to pull it off on my own.
Some insider knowledge for you folks, what you have heard about Super Premium service being silently available for Tier 1 Entrepreneur cases is TRUE. Solicitors have a contact with HO and they can request for prior approval even though the guidelines say that is not possible. I tried hard to get an approval because of a genuine business urgency but was denied.
Key Learnings
Some of this might already be known but I thought it might be helpful to everyone else. I collated this from reading these forums, looking up government notifications, solicitor knowledge etc.
- Use Adobe Acrobat, PDF Expert or similar utility to fill in the form using a computer vs manually writing in contents
- Organize your paperwork well and make life easier for the case worker. Place flags, use page dividers, provide a document summary letter with pointers to page dividers and flags, use sticky markers on say bank statements to attract attention to key transactions
- When you send your application to Durham the payment is processed by Atos or Siemens who have been outsourced with preliminary work. In case of payment failure, the application still proceeds to Sheffield but with notice being issued
- Sheffield: Enters application in database. Usual time is one week. During summer can take upto 2 months - likely because of holidays
- You are then issued an acknowledgement email. The biometric letter is issued a day before on the day of the acknowledgement email.
- Now, the case is triaged and if some anomalies are found out a complex letter is issued usually within 2-3 weeks
- If no complex letter received then usually the case is handled immediately and a decision issued. If complex letter is issued, expect a wait time of 4months-1 year depending on complexity
The following was sent as part of the cover letter and easily marked pages to allow the case worker to lookup documents without any digging.
SET (O) Application – Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) – Accelerated Route (3 Years)
1. Immigration Application, Identity Documents and Passport photos
a. 1 x Signed SET (O) Form including payment card details;
b. 1 X Schedule of Absences attached to the above SET (O) form;
c. 1 x Original Current passport for Main Applicant;
d. 2 x Original Expired passports for Main Applicant;
e. 1 x UK visas as Tier 1 entrepreneur endorsed in the current passport
f. 2 x Passport sized photos
2. Knowledge of Life In The UK and English Language
a. Original Life in the UK test certificate for the main applicant;
b. Original English language test report – CEFR level B1;
3. Other Personal Documents: director’s salaries and home ownership
a. Original Tenancy Agreements as evidence of the ownership of the family’s current home in the UK;
b. 6 x monthly payslips from May – October 2017 inclusive from Main Applicant;
c. Personal bank statements from YYY Bank confirming the receipt of above salaries. A cover letter from YYY Bank as confirmation that the enclosed bank statements are originally provided by the bank.
4. Investment of Personal Funds
a. Copy of Personal Bank statements and Solicitor’s letter used as proof of your investment funds for the initial application;
b. Original/Certified Personal Bank statements and the relevant Corporate Bank Statements showing the above money were transferred as investment to the business including:
b1 – YYY bank statements and XXX bank statements for the month of MM YYYY showing transaction of £200K from India to UK personal account on X.
b2- YYY statements and statements from ZZZ Bank, COMPANY Limited, A/C: 11111 showing the transaction of DD/MM/YY £200,000 from MAIN APPLICANT to the business.
c. Signed Director’s Loan Agreement (an unsecured loan and is subordinated in favour of the third-party)
d. Unaudited accounts made up to DD MMMM YYYY confirming the receipt of the above director’s loan – see point 7. Business Turnover
5. Registration with Companies House as Director of a UK business
a. Print-out of AP01 Form
b. Print-out of Companies House Current Appointment Report
c. Print-out of Filling History from Companies House website
6. Invested in a UK Business - COMPANY Limited
a. Copy of Certificate of incorporate and its article of association attached to the accountant letter accompanied by a Certificate of Incorporation on Change of Name
b. 3 x Sets of certified Corporate Bank Statements from 2014 to October 2017;
c. Certified Confirmation of registration for Corporation Tax with HMRC – GT41G;
d. Certified Corporation Tax: Acknowledgement of a company tax return, its registration and
CT600 for the past three years (note: as per your current guidance 04/2018 page 48, there is no requirement for the printout of the online submitted CT600 to be signed by the applicant.)
e. Certified Lease agreement for the business premises.
f. Certified copy of VAT registration certificate.
7. Business turn over
a. Original Account letter confirming net increase in business turnover dated on DD MM YYYY
b. Certified financial statements accompanied by an accounts compilation report for the following periods:
COMPANY FY YEARS WITH SUMMARY
8. Job creations
a. Original Accountant’s letter dated on DD MM YYYY confirming the following:
- the hourly rate for each settled worker used to claim points, including any changes in the hourly rate and the dates of the changes; and
- the net increase in job creations during the 3 year qualifying period;
b. Real Time – Full Payment Submissions Annual Reports from MMM YYYY to MMM YYYY signed and dated by the applicant;
c. P 11 sheets from MMM YYYY to MMM YYYY signed and dated by the applicant;
Following documents for each of settled worker used for claiming points:
d. Copies of Duplicate payslips or wage slips for each settled worker used to claim points;
e. Copy of a biodata page from the settled workers’ passports;
f. 10 x copies of contract of employment for settled workers
9. Selection of Media Coverage for MAIN APPLICANT and COMPANY Ltd.
PBS Dependant Application – Dependants Of A Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) Migrant
1. Immigration Application, Identity Documents and Passport photos
a. 2 x Signed PBS Dependant Forms including payment card details;
b. 2 x Original Current passports for all applicants;
c. 2 x Original Expired passports for all applicants;
d. 2 x UK visas as PBS dependants of Tier 1 entrepreneur endorsed in the current passports;
e. 4 x Passport sized photos – 2 for each applicant;
f. 2 x Printouts of email confirmation for IHS payments
2. Proof of relationship to the main applicant
a. 1 x Original Marriage Certificate;
b. 1 x Original Birth Certificate for the dependant child accompanied by a certified English translation;
3. Maintenance evidence
a. Personal bank statements from XXXX Bank and YYYY Bank from MAIN APPLICANT (Tier 1 Entrepreneur) covering the period from MMM 2017 to YYYY 2017 confirming maintenance funds of not less than £1890 in the 90 days leading to the application.
4. 1 x School letter from XXXX Nursery School confirming attendance of CHILD DEPENDENT
5. Other Personal Documents: proof of the couple’s cohabitation
a. A selection of council tax and utility bills from MAIN APPLICANT and DEPENDENT WIFE;
b. A selection of ZZZ bank statements from DEPENDENT WIFE.
