UK Entrepreneur Visa Success Rate | Extensions | Settlement

The Tier 1 Entrepreneur visa route was introduced in 2008 to replace a number of other business immigration routes, the Business Person and Innovator routes. According to the Official Statistics, during 2008-17 a total of 21,727  Tier 1 Entrepreneur Main applications were successful and granted Entry Clearance (6,413), Extensions (14,495 including Leave to Remain) and Settlements (819). During the ten-year period, most main applicants (1,166) were granted Tier 1 Entry Clearance Visas in 2013; whereas, the highest number of extension grants (4,401) were made in 2014. So far, the highest number of settlements (414 indefinite leave to remain) were granted in 2017.

Why Extensions are higher than Entry Clearances?

The number of extensions (14,495) grants to the main applicants is higher than entry clearance (6,413) grants as switching from other PBS routes is allowed from inside the UK. Therefore, a number of applicants switched from Tier 1 (General), Tier 1 Post Study Work, Tier 2 and Tier 4 to Tier 1 Entrepreneur, thereby making the number of extensions higher than entry clearance grants.

Entry Clearance Applications, Grants and Success Rate

As illustrated in Table 2, during the last ten years i.e. from 2008 to June 2018, a total of 27,968 applications have been made by the main applicants and their dependent family member under the route. 27,789 entry clearance applications have been resolved and 18,390 visas issued and the UK Business Visa Success Rate is 66.18%. So far, 9,195 applications have been refused and the Tier 1 Entrepreneur Refusal Rate has been 33.08%; whereas, 200applications withdrawn by the applicants and 4 applications lapsed during the period.

Main Applicants

From 2008 to June 2018, a total of 12,663 applications have been made by the main applicants under the route. 12,523 entry clearance applications resolved and 6,920 visas granted with a success rate of 55.26%. So far, 5,510 entry clearance applications of the main applicants have been refused with a refusal rate of 44%; whereas, 91 applications withdrawn by the main applicants and 2 applications lapsed during the period.

Dependants

From 2008 to June 2018, a total of 15,305 applications have been made by the dependants under the route. 15,266entry clearance applications resolved and 11,470 visas granted to the Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) dependants with a success rate of 75.13%. So far, 3,685 entry clearance applications have been refused with a refusal rate of 24.14%; whereas, 109 applications withdrawn, and 2 applications lapsed during the period.

A disparity in the Success and Refusal Rate of Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) Main Applicants and Dependants is due to the number of family members and sequencing of the applications as under the policy guidance an applicant can apply with or without dependents.

Tier 1 Entrepreneur Entry Clearance Success Rate Per Year

Table 4 provides the annual details of the Tier 1 Entrepreneur Success Rate of the Main Applicants from 2008 to June 2018. The immigration statistics indicate a variation of 30% in the annual success rates during the ten year period as success rate during 2012 was 78.06% and it came down quite drastically in 2013 to touch a level of 49.18% due to policy changes announced in Jan 2013. The success rate increased in 2014 to 55.40% but afterwards in 2015 again came down to reach its lowest ebb of 48.01%. Since 2016 the success rate is on the rise and in 2018 so far it is 56%, which looks promising for genuine entrepreneurs to get the immigration through this route for setting up business in the UK.

Tier 1 Entrepreneur Extension Refused and Success Rate

As elucidated in Table 5, during the last ten years i.e. from 2008 to June 2018, a total of 47,781 decisions have been made on extension (including leave to remain to remain: switching) applications made by the main applicants and their dependent family member under the route from inside the UK. During the period, 25,539  extensions granted and the Tier 1 Entrepreneur Extension Success Rate is 53.45%. So far, 22,242 Tier 1 Extension Applications have been refused and the Tier 1 Entrepreneur Extension Refusal Rate is 46.55%.

Tier 1 Entrepreneur Extension Success Rate Per Year

Table 6 provides the annual details of the Tier 1 Entrepreneur Extension Success Rate of the Main Applicants from 2008 to June 2018. There has been a variation of 46% in the annual success rates during the last ten year period as the success rate during 2011 was 82.57% and it was only 35.92% during 2013 due to policy changes announced in Jan 2013. The success rate increased in 2014 to 50.56% and afterwards further improved to 67.29%in 2017.  In the first two quarters of 2018, the success rate is more than 61%,  which is a positive sign for future extensions.