From 1 September 2015, individuals who want to apply for a Tier 1 Entrepreneur or Tier 1 Investor visa will have to provide an overseas criminal record certificate for any country they have resided in continuously for 12 months or more. The announcement of the new immigration rule was made by the UK Home Office back in April 2015 but they only published the updated guidance for both Tier 1 Entrepreneur and Tier 1 Investor visa routes recently.
Immigration Requirement to Prevent Foreign Criminals into UK
The aim of the new immigration requirement is to prevent foreign criminals coming to the UK and is being applied to applicants of the Tier 1 visa route and their adult dependants. There is no doubt that if there is a difference in crime rate in the UK or the statistics of visa applications being obtained changes the new requirement will be implemented in other UK visa routes.
If you are applying for a Tier 1 Entrepreneur or Tier 1 Investor visa on 1 September 2015 or after this date you must provide the following specified documents with your UK visa application:
- The original certificate, for each country (excluding the UK) where you have resided continuously for 12 months or more in the last 10 years, since aged 18 years old, issued by the overseas authority, and
- If the original is not in English, then you must provide a translated copy of certificate. Furthermore, the translation requirements must also be in line with the Home Office’s guidelines.
UK Government Commissions MAC to Review Tier 1 Entrepreneur Visa Route
The above mentioned new immigration requirement is not the only change that the Tier 1 visa route is seeing. Back in March 2015 the UK Government commissioned the Migration Advisory Committee (the MAC) to review the Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) visa category. The commission to the MAC asks that the Committee considers the following questions with regards to whether the current visa route significantly benefits the UK economically:
- Whether the initial eligibility criterion of access to funds (currently £200,000 or £50,000) is a sufficient determinant of entrepreneurial ability and whether other criteria, for example, assessment of previous entrepreneurial activity and/or testing the purpose of the investment, should be applied;
- When checking the initial eligibility of the applicant; whether an assessment of their previous entrepreneurial activity and/or testing the purpose of the investment, should be applied;
- Whether the existing eligibility and extension criteria are appropriate with entrepreneurial and early stage business life-cycles; and
- Whether the entrepreneur visa route utilises international best practice.
The MAC are required to report to the UK Government by the end of September 2015. The MAC is gathering views and evidence from multiple sources including financial institutions, legal representatives, consultancy firms, academics, representatives of other Governments and, in particular, entrepreneurs both in the UK and those looking to come here.
Successful Tier 1 Visa Applications
Our team of experienced and professionally qualified solicitors and barristers will be able to guide you through the process of making a Tier 1 application step by step and limit the possibility of failure by complying with the strict letter of the law.
We also undertake a great deal of appeal work before the Immigration and Asylum Tribunal and have a successful track record of successful results for our clients. We have the experience and the knowledge required to take your case forward successfully. If you have had a entrepreneur visa refused, contact us to discuss your case so that we can provide you with a case assessment.