Indefinite leave to remain if you have a business, investor or talent visa
Time in the UK and financial requirements
You must:
- have lived in the UK for long enough - this can be from 2 to 5 years
- meet the financial requirements, if relevant
The rules depend on your type of visa.
Global Talent
The time you must have been in the UK depends on how you were endorsed.
You can apply after 3 years if you were endorsed by either:
- the British Academy, the Royal Academy of Engineering, the Royal Society or UK Research and Innovation
- Arts Council England or Tech Nation - this must be as a recognised leader (‘exceptional talent’)
Or if you were endorsed by Arts Council England or Tech Nation as an emerging leader (‘exceptional promise’), you can apply after 5 years.
If you did not need an endorsement for your visa because you had won an eligible award, you can apply after 3 years.
Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) visa
The time you must have been in the UK depends on how much you’ve grown your business.
You can apply after 3 years if you’ve either:
- created the equivalent of 10 new full-time jobs that existed for 12 months
- generated £5 million business income in 3 years
You can apply after 5 years if you’ve created the equivalent of 2 new full-time jobs that existed for 12 months.
Tier 1 (Investor) visa
The rules depend on when you successfully applied for your first Tier 1 (Investor) visa.
On or after 6 November 2014
The amount of time you must have spent in the UK depends on how much cash you’ve invested.
| Time living in the UK | Cash |
|---|---|
| 2 years | £10 million |
| 3 years | £5 million |
| 5 years | £2 million |
You must have invested those funds in share capital, loan capital or UK government bonds in active UK companies within 3 months of your ‘investor start date’.
You cannot include UK government bonds if you first successfully applied for your visa on or after 29 March 2019.
There’s more about investment criteria in the detailed Tier 1 (Investor) guidance.
Before 6 November 2014
The amount of time you must have spent in the UK depends on your level of investment.
| Time living in the UK | Cash | Personal assets | Loans from a UK-regulated financial institution |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 years | £10 million | £20 million | £10 million |
| 3 years | £5 million | £10 million | £5 million |
| 5 years | £1 million | £2 million | £1 million |
You must have invested at least 75% of those funds in UK government bonds, share capital or loan capital in active UK companies within 3 months of your ‘investor start date’.
There’s more about investment criteria in the detailed Tier 1 (Investor) guidance.