# UK Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) Visa, need advice



## KayEss (Sep 30, 2013)

Hello everyone, I'm new here, so I need some information before I apply for my UK Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) Visa. I'll try to keep my query as short as possible.

I'm from India (26 years old & single) and I'm self employed from last 2 years. I have family friends in the UK and they offered me to join their business which is doing well and they need to expand as they need trustworthy people. I have visited London twice since 2012 and have planned to join them as the business is good and I can handle my business in Delhi & NCR with the support of my brother. Now the visa which suits my purpose is UK Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) Visa. I need to have £200,000 funds to get this visa. I have given online test on the UKBA website and I can achieve a 95 % score as I'm post graduate and also have maintenance funds which are more than 90 days old. I have also transferred part of the money to my UK account which was opened last year, so that work can be started. The UKBA (UK Border Agency) says that I can show the invested amount within the period of 6 months while applying for the visa online after the investment. So I have following questions to work on, they are;

1. I have to show £200k in the banks as investment funds. Should this amount of £200k be 30 days old as well (like maintenance amount) or is there no condition/requirement of the period for which they have been in that account. I did not find any info online written on this.

2. I have transferred £25,000 till now in my account in the UK (Barclays Bank current account). This money is being utilized by my family friends there in starting up the new branch of the business in the UK. How can I show this as part of my investment in the UK. The business as of now is on my uncle's name as I do not hold any status in the UK. But I have signed a contract with him, according to which the business is in his and my name. I'm 50% partner in this branch. I have the original copy of this contract signed with my uncle and I have given them the signed cheque book to make the payments from my account only for the business.

3. I'm getting funds by selling the property in Delhi and my plan is to sell the property, get the funds in my account and apply for visa. As I couldn't find any requirement that funds need to be 3 months old or something. So how should I go about it? Would they ask me the source of funds? 

4. As the property value is less than £200K, I'm planning to borrow some money from my relatives like brother in law or uncles or even cousins, would that be acceptable to the UKBA if they ask me source of funds? 

5. Since I can't get all the funds in such a short period of time as my business will start soon and I have promised them that I will be back to look after it by May-June this year, one of my family friend who is also interested in joining the business as a partner with my family friends in the UK and will be my partner while applying for the visa. His name is also there in the contract and he will be arranging half of the funds and I'll arrange other half. So I need any advice on this part as to how to go about it.

6. Our plan is fixed and we know where to invest the funds. The business in which we are entering right now, we will be investing £60k of our share. Once we have the Visa and this business works well in the next 1 year, which is expected, we have plans to open another branch in the Greater London and investment would be around £150k. We have plans to invest more than £200,000 in less than 3 year period, but that's just a plan. So do we need to show a proper business plan to the UKBA while applying for the Tier 1 Visa? I couldn't find any such requirement on the website. So should we need to worry about showing them the plan or not?

7. What are the chances of refusal? I have been to many countries and I was never ever refused a visa. But this is the first time we'll be applying for such a visa. I and my partner have scored 95% on the online test at the UK Border Agency and we will also have the funds soon. What are the chances of refusal? Do we need to hire any solicitor before applying or should we hire one if we get the refusal? 

One of my friend who is already in the UK on the same visa advised me that you do not need to hire any solicitor. One just needs to complete the requirements. The UKBA Visa system is points based and it is not like the USA where they refuse because they like refusing random people even if they have all the documents. He said if we have all the required documents and funds, we will get a visa. But since the amount is big (INR 90k for 1 visa and no refund if refused) and I do not want any refusal on my passport, I need to be sure before I apply for the visa.

Any help on above points will be much appreciated. 
Thanks a lot in advance!


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