An application for Tier 1 Entrepreneur Extension can be overwhelming due to its complexity. We are here to help.

For your application to be successful, you must score a total of 95 points and meet all the other requirements of the Immigration Rules.

You must score:

75 points for your attributes which are different depending on whether you make an initial or extension application; and

10 points for English language; and

10 points for available maintenance (funds)

Attributes (75 points)

You have invested, or had invested on your behalf, not less than £200,000 (or £50,000 if, in your last grant of leave, you were awarded points for funds of £50,000) directly into one or more businesses in the UK.

You have registered with HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) as self-employed or registered with Companies House as a director of a new or an existing company or member of a new or an existing limited liability partnership.

On a date no earlier than 3 months prior to the date of application, you were registered with HMRC as self-employed, or registered with Companies House as a director of a new or an existing company, or member of a new or an existing limited liability partnership.

You have created at least 2 new full-time jobs for persons settled in the UK of your established business or the business you joined. The jobs must have existed for at least 12 months during the period for which the most recent leave was granted.

English Languages (10 points)

There are 3 ways in which you can show you meet the English language requirement. These include:

being a national of a majority English speaking country; or

passing an English language test level B1 of the Common European Framework of Reference required; or

holding a degree that was taught in English and is equivalent to a UK bachelors degree or above.

Maintenance (10 Points)

In order to qualify for entry clearance under Tier 1, you must show that you have enough money to support yourself (and any dependants). The maintenance requirement is detailed below:

you must have at least £945 of personal savings which must have held for 90 consecutive days prior to the date of your application;

£630 for each dependant if the applicant and the family members are residing in the UK and the main applicant has been in the UK for more than 12 months

Common Problems

At Sincere Immigration, we have dealt with numerous successful applications for Tier 1 Entrepreneur extension. Having said that, we do encounter common mistakes that applicants do that can result in a refusal if it’s not detected early.

We have listed down some common issues we have encountered in the past:

1. The applicant submitting wrong RTI format for payroll – This by far has been the most common issue we have encounter because the Applicant or the accountant, doesn’t realise that UKVI requires a specific RTI format to be included with the
2. Failure to note that when an Applicant joins an existing company set up, the company’s existing employee doesn’t count towards the employment creation It is the responsibility of the Applicant to ensure that the company must create two new employment positions.
3. We have also seen a common situation where the Applicant do not realise that their accountant is not qualified to sign their accounts
4. The company didn’t maintain at least two positions after the extension
5. Applicants who falls under the new rules, we often encounter a situation where a company created two part-time positions but they exist at a different This is a huge NO as you can’t combine the two part-time creation.
6. Similarly, we have also encountered applications where the Applicant hired too many part-time employees with variable hours per While this may make some business sense, this does not, however, solve the employment creation as you will risk losing precious hours due to the variable hours.
7. More importantly, Applicants also do not realise that part-time positions doing different jobs cannot be combined to make one full-time position! This is the most common mistake and unfortunately will cause an immediate refusal!
8. On a different note, another common mistake done in an extension application is a failure to include the most recent current appointment This is unfortunate as it will be an immediate refusal
9. We have also seen a situation where the applicant takes remuneration and salary from the company, it leads towards a reduction of the funds being invested into the company – Please remember that your own remuneration should not be taken from the £200,000 investment funds
10. Paper trail is important! When the investment funds are provided by a third party, you must include an evidence that the funds you have invested are from the same third party
11. Similarly, the caseworker will also look into genuine employment creation and they will be extremely concerned if there are lack of evidence in communications with your employees, lack of report or paperwork, as well as lack of evidence showing your employee’s working This is something common we see when a business operates from home or remotely. We advise you to ensure that you have kept all paper trails of your communications with your employee including emails, reports or other forms of communications.
12. Compliance checks are also Ensure that you have taken a copy of your employee valid identifications as proof of their rights to work. Additionally, we recommend you to ensure that each employee has signed their employment contract and you should keep a copy of their payslips. Confidentiality is a must, therefore, it is your responsibility to keep your employee’s personal record securely.

We encourage clients to contact us as early as possible to start preparing for their extension application.

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions relating to a specific matter or if you require guidance on how to submit this application.