18 March 2019

Sweeping changes to the Immigration Rules are coming in from next week with the Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) route due to close for new applicants from 29 March 2019 and being replaced with new ‘Start-up’ and ‘Innovator’ routes.

The Government has also announced changes to Tier 1 (Investor), Tier 2 and Appendix EU.

Innovator route
The Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) route will close to new applications from 29 March 2019 and be replaced by a new ‘Innovator’ route. The new route will require an investment of £50,000, a significant reduction from the £200,000 required of most applicants under the current Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) route.

The new Innovator route will require applicants to receive an endorsement from a designated endorsing body, alleviating the Home Office of the task of assessing the credibility of businesses.

Start-up
The Tier 1 (Graduate Entrepreneur) route will close to new applications from 5 July 2019 and be replaced by the new Start-up route.

There are a number of welcome changes under this new route including a longer period of initial leave (now two years), no investment threshold (previously £50,000), and applicants no longer need to be recent graduates in order to qualify.

Like with the Innovator route, applicants for the Start-up visa will need to receive an endorsement from a designated endorsing body.

Tier 1 (Investor) changes
Changes have been introduced to the Tier 1 (Investor) route to improve the Government’s ability to assess the source of funds used for investment. The funds would have to have been held by the applicant for two years prior to the application, otherwise the applicant is required to demonstrate the exact source of the funds.

The changes also remove Government bonds as an eligible investment under the route. This change is designed to promote investment in trading UK companies.

EU Settlement Scheme
The Government has inserted provisions in the Immigration Rules to support the operation of the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS).

These provisions include enabling applications to be made outside the UK, non-EEA citizens to apply for EUSS Family Permits, residents of the Channel Islands and Isle of Man to apply under the EUSS, and citizens of Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Switzerland to apply under the EUSS.

Other Changes
Among other small changes, the UK Government has extended the exemption of doctors and nurses from the Tier 2 (General) restricted certificate of sponsorship cap and, following a review, has increased the minimum salary requirements for many SOC codes for Tier 2 applications.

Get in touch
If you have any queries in relation to any of the changes announced by the Government, please contact your usual LDS or LDA lawyer or enquiries@lauradevine.com.