The government’s recent announcement that it plans to introduce a UK Start Up Visa is welcome news in light of the difficulties that currently exist in trying to get an Entrepreneur Visa.

Currently, there are a several routes through the government’s Tier 1 Entrepreneur Visa, which is open to non-EEA nationals who wish to invest in one or more businesses in the UK. These include graduate entrepreneurs, a two-person entrepreneurial team or a single entrepreneur who has £200,000 in cash to invest in the UK. However, the strict criteria imposed by the Home Office, particularly through its “genuine entrepreneur test” and source of funding means that it is statistically difficult to obtain, with an estimated 50% of applicants being refused.

When assessing entrepreneur applications, Home Office caseworkers must, among other eligibility criteria, scrutinise the viability of each applicant’s business plan. This route can be fraught with challenges, such as the requirement to have many supporting documents as well as an elaborate and convincing business plan. There is also the x factor of convincing the Home Office that a revolutionary idea, never tried or tested before, can indeed succeed. 

Additionally, Home Office caseworkers do not necessarily have sufficient appreciation of the multi industries, and when interviewing applicants rely too strictly on the script. Moreover, where there is a language barrier and an interpreter has been employed, fundamental issues can get lost in translation resulting in misunderstood facts, which can lead to procedural unfairness.