Download the full report on the Migreat platform.
In an attempt to attract the world’s entrepreneurial crème de la crème, specific visa routes for entrepreneurs and startups are spreading globally. In the UK, the idea of such a visa has gained momentum due to the growth of an exciting startup scene in London which provided policymakers with a global stage to promote the UK to foreign entrepreneurs as the leading hub for innovation and business creation.
In this context, and in light of the growing complexity and tightening of immigration rules in the UK, Migreat launches today an independent report documenting the experience of entrepreneurs applying to the UK Entrepreneur Visa. The reality of the process behind the rules and how it compares to similar Entrepreneur Visa schemes worldwide.
Entitled ‘A UK Immigration System Open to Innovation and Promising Entrepreneurs?’, the year long research highlights the common pitfalls and administrative challenges associated with the visa application process.
The report explains how the growing demand for the visa has resulted in tougher rules and checks being implemented. In particular, it describes how this growing administrative rigidity has caused some talented entrepreneurs to fail the application. Hence, in the report, Migreat highlights four main common causes of rejection and suggest four simple measures that can be taken to avoid them:
Migreat’s Director of Strategic Partnerships, Josephine Goube, presenting today the report said: The UK Government was a bold pioneer when it created a specific visa to ease the immigration of Entrepreneurs back in 2008. Unfortunately, in our research we found that in reality, the visa filters out exceptional international talents such as Seedcamp winners and entrepreneurs that raised more than £1m start-up capital. As such, the report is here to offer a space for foreign entrepreneurs to voice their concerns and help each other as well as to contribute to feed the discussion for policy makers on how to keep the UK attractive to global entrepreneurs.
Through this report, Migreat shows how the immigration administrative system can sometimes be inadequate with the reality and dynamics of promising entrepreneurial businesses. It also demonstrates that access to expert information and assistance is key and essential for any genuine entrepreneur to successfully apply.
The report findings were reported in the press by the Huffington Post, Management Today and Tech City among many other publications: Immigration and Visa solicitors, Startup Visa Blog, Business Zone, Inagist, Relocate Magazine, Elite Business magazine, LexLawLegal, Hurriyet, National Headlines, UK Asian Online and News Tech World.
The report is available online on Migreat platform, if you are an entrepreneur applying to the visa, you can find free support on www.migreat.com to all your questions and connect online with immigration experts.
Links
The full report ‘A UK Immigration System Open to Innovation and Promising Entrepreneurs?’ can be downloaded on the Migreat platform
Data
For more data on Entrepreneur Visa issued in 2013, see our blog post
http://blog.migreat.com/2014/02/19/statistics-on-uk-migrant-entrepreneurs-in-2013/
