New UK business visas from 29 March 2019: old v new rules comparison table
Before 29 March 2019 From 29 March 2019 Categories Tier 1 (Entrepreneur), open to all migrants. Tier 1 (Graduate Entrepreneur) for graduates from UK universities, who completed a degree on Tier 4 visa and obtained an endorsement from their university to support their business idea Start-up and Innovator, both open to everyone. Start-up – your 1 st business in the UK (but not first ever – you can have had a business outside the UK). Innovator - for experienced business people. Endorsement is needed for all. Visa duration Tier 1 (Graduate Entrepreneur) – 1 year, extension for another year. Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) – initially 3 years, extension – 2 years. ILR can be after 3 years (accelerated route) or after 5 years. Start-up visa - 2 years. After that can switch to Innovator (or to another category, such as Tier 2 or Spouse visa). Innovator – 3 years, then extension for another 3 years. No limit on how many extensions, every tim