UK Entrepreneur Visa: The Job Creation Requirement
If you have been granted a Tier 1 Entrepreneur visa, you will probably already be planning ahead for your extension of stay application. As well as registering as a director of a UK company (or as self-employed) within 6 months of arriving in the UK and investing your investment funds into your business, you will also need to satisfy a job creation requirement. The Job Creation requirement is set out at Tables 5 and 6 of Appendix A to the Immigration Rules.
What is the job creation requirement?
The Immigration Rules state that when applying to extend a Tier 1 Entrepreneur visa, the applicant must have established a new business or businesses that has/have, between them, created the equivalent of at least two new full-time jobs for persons settled in the UK. Alternatively, you may have taken over or invested in an existing business or businesses and your services or investment may have resulted in a net increase in the employment provided by the business or businesses for persons settled in the UK by creating the equivalent of at least two new full time jobs for persons settled in the UK.
If you are a Director of a business, you will need to show that your business has created two new posts. If you are self-employed, you will need to employ the workers directly. Only employees of your business will qualify. Self-employed contractors who are working for your business will not qualify for the award of points.
Full-time or Part-time
The jobs that you create must be new full-time jobs. UK Visas and Immigration considers a 30-hour working week to be full-time. However, part-time work can form part of the total number of hours of employment created. For example, the working hours of two part-time workers can be combined to add up to 30 hours a week or more and form the equivalent of one full-time post.
Continuous 12-month period
At the date of your application for an extension of stay as a Tier 1 Entrepreneur, the jobs that you have created must have existed for at least 12 months of the period for which your previous leave was granted.
The employment created does not need to be in a single period. It can be made up of shorter periods. This offers Tier 1 Entrepreneur visa holders some flexibility. For example, a worker who is employed for part of a year and then leaves the post can be replaced by another worker so that the employment as a whole adds up to 12 months. However, the limitations of the job creation rule must also be recognised, especially as it applies to those who entered the Entrepreneur category from 6 April 2014.
If you successfully applied to enter the route before 6 April 2014, guidance published by UK Visas and Immigration confirms that you will satisfy the job creation requirement at the extension of stay stage if you continue to employ:
- a single worker for 24 months; or
- one worker for 6 months and one for 18 months; or
- four workers for six months each
However, these examples go further than the Immigration Rules in force since 6 April 2014. If you applied to enter the Tier 1 Entrepreneur route on or after 6 April 2014, you must have created employment for at least two separate people and the jobs must have existed for at least a full 12 months each.
Entrepreneur Teams
If you entered the Tier 1 Entrepreneur route as part of an entrepreneurial team, both team members can rely on the same employment to satisfy the job creation requirement. In other words, entrepreneur teams are still required to create the equivalent of at least two (not four) new full-time jobs for persons settled in the UK and the jobs must have existed for at least a full 12 months each.
Documentary evidence
The Immigration Rules set out strict requirements in terms of the documentary evidence that must be provided to UK Visas and Immigration in order to satisfy the job creation requirement. In order to guarantee against your application for an extension of stay as a Tier 1 Entrepreneur being refused by the Home Office, the correct evidence must be provided, in specified format.
Contact Us
For advice and assistance with preparing an application for an extension of stay or settlement as a Tier 1 Entrepreneur, contact our specialist Entrepreneur immigration barristers in London.
