Prospective Ent to Tier 1 Ent (200K route)

[swarang]

Hi,

Apologies, if this post is under a wrong heading, please feel free to move it under the right one.

Suggestions please..

I am originally from India (now a British National).
My father (Indian National, lives in India) has invested £75K (Oct 2017) in a business I run (started Sep 2017, brand new and not bought from previous owner). He is also planning to invest another £150K in another business I plan to start in a few months. The current business is a franchise restaurant and we currently have three full time and four part time staff. My father is thinking of applying for a prospective ent. visa and come into the country, then switch to T1 Ent (£200K route). I have requested my accountant to add my father as a director to my business and we can produce bank statements as investment proof.

My queries -
1. Would it be possible to apply for Standard Visitor (Prospective Ent.) quoting the already invested £75K and plans to invest £125K in the next few months, meaning would he still need letter of support from VC / seed funding competetions? (there is a clause on supporting guidance doc.saying - Failure to provide these documents will prevent subsequent switching into Tier 1 (Entrepreneur)).
2. While applying for ent. visa, would the companies house reg. cert., HMRC docs., shareholder cert and a/c letter be sufficient or should there be any other doc. as proof (apart from mandatory docs.)?
3. If he gets through ent. visa, we'd be able to start the next business by Apr / May 2018 and provide valid, legal proofs of £200K investment for switching to T1 ent., along with mandatory criminal rec. cert., HMRC PAYE related docs. etc., do you forsee any issue here while switching from standard visitor to T1 Ent.?

[marcnath]

Why wouldn't he apply for Tier 1 E directly ?

[Saeedjansaeed]

75 K you invested is what you were expected to invest while your visa was granted, though it might well be your father's money who might acted as third party, (depending how you showed investment money initialliy).
i might be wrong and can be corrected by seniors, if your father is intending to invest 150k more, why not add 50k more, make a business plan including your existing one and get Ent visa straightaway, rather than switching from here which is possible or not another question.
hope this helps

[marcnath]

75 K you invested is what you were expected to invest while your visa was granted, though it might well be your father's money who might acted as third party, (depending how you showed investment money initialliy).
i might be wrong and can be corrected by seniors, if your father is intending to invest 150k more, why not add 50k more, make a business plan including your existing one and get Ent visa straightaway, rather than switching from here which is possible or not another question.
hope this helps

OP has stated he is a British National now, so the 75K (invested just a few months back) would not have anything to do with his visa

[swarang]

Only because we would need him here soon to take care of the business as I am pregnant and funds will not be in his account until April 2018 (from disposing his properties in India). We thought him coming here meanwhile on Standard Visitor visa would make things easier for us and we can switch to T1 from here.

[marcnath]

Only because we would need him here soon to take care of the business as I am pregnant and funds will not be in his account until April 2018 (from disposing his properties in India). We thought him coming here meanwhile on Standard Visitor visa would make things easier for us and we can switch to T1 from here.

OK. But unfortunately that is not allowed under the Standard Visa (even as a prospective entrepreneur)

The visitor can take part in meetings and discussions to obtain funding for their business. Once funding is secured they must apply for a Tier 1 Entrepreneur visa before they undertake any work as an entrepreneur.

Activities related to "taking care of the business" would be a violation of the conditions of the visa.

Anyway, you would need to show that there is some progress or interest from VCs etc before the visa would be granted.

By the way, there is no Prospective Entrepreneur visa. Only a standard visa where the prospective entrepreneur activities are permitted.

[swarang]

Thanks, Marcnath. I understand that there is no Prospective Entrepreneur visa, only a standard visa where the prospective entrepreneur activities are permitted.

Let's say he is not going to take care of the business, he is going to come in only for meetings and discussions. 1. Can he still come in as a Standard Visitor having already invested £75K and planning to invest £125K on his own with probably a bit of extra funding from one of the high street retail banks to set up the next business?
2. Ref. to £200k in the first point above, should he still need support from VC / seed funding?
3. Does the HO say anywhere that someone should not invest before applying for standard visitor visa / coming into the country as a visitor?

[marcnath]

Thanks, Marcnath. I understand that there is no Prospective Entrepreneur visa, only a standard visa where the prospective entrepreneur activities are permitted.

Let's say he is not going to take care of the business, he is going to come in only for meetings and discussions. 1. Can he still come in as a Standard Visitor having already invested £75K and planning to invest £125K on his own with probably a bit of extra funding from one of the high street retail banks to set up the next business?
2. Ref. to £200k in the first point above, should he still need support from VC / seed funding?
3. Does the HO say anywhere that someone should not invest before applying for standard visitor visa / coming into the country as a visitor?

1. The meetings and discussions are expected to be limited to OBTAINING FUNDING from the three specific sources listed in the immigration rules. Not any meetings and discussions. Not sure how HO will be able to determine that, but if for example, meetings and discussions with suppliers or clients turn up, then he runs the risk of being in violation.
2. Interestingly, the immigration rules do not specify VC/Seed funding as a requirement to switch from standard visa. On paper, he can use all 100K of personal funding for the T1E application. That reinforces my view that they are likely to be very strict about the standard visa for prospective entrepreneur purposes.
3. No, it does not. But his 75K investment will likely to be something that will add additional scrutiny to the standard visa application. Is his name currently in there as a shareholder ?

[swarang]

Thank you. Not yet.

Thanks, Marcnath. I understand that there is no Prospective Entrepreneur visa, only a standard visa where the prospective entrepreneur activities are permitted.

Let's say he is not going to take care of the business, he is going to come in only for meetings and discussions. 1. Can he still come in as a Standard Visitor having already invested £75K and planning to invest £125K on his own with probably a bit of extra funding from one of the high street retail banks to set up the next business?
2. Ref. to £200k in the first point above, should he still need support from VC / seed funding?
3. Does the HO say anywhere that someone should not invest before applying for standard visitor visa / coming into the country as a visitor?

1. The meetings and discussions are expected to be limited to OBTAINING FUNDING from the three specific sources listed in the immigration rules. Not any meetings and discussions. Not sure how HO will be able to determine that, but if for example, meetings and discussions with suppliers or clients turn up, then he runs the risk of being in violation.
2. Interestingly, the immigration rules do not specify VC/Seed funding as a requirement to switch from standard visa. On paper, he can use all 100K of personal funding for the T1E application. That reinforces my view that they are likely to be very strict about the standard visa for prospective entrepreneur purposes.
3. No, it does not. But his 75K investment will likely to be something that will add additional scrutiny to the standard visa application. Is his name currently in there as a shareholder ?