Entrepreneurs
Engaged in business activity
This page explains what evidence you should provide that you are engaged in business activity, if you are applying to extend your permission to stay in the United Kingdom as a Type 1 Entrepreneur under the points-based system.
On this page
Full details of all requirements are in the immigration rules at paragraphs 245H-N of part 6a and Appendix A which you can find on the right of this page. You must read the policy guidance before you apply under this category. You can download the guidance and application form from the Applying section.
You must provide one or more pieces of evidence from the following list relevant to your circumstances.
If you are self-employed
If you are self-employed at the time of applying for the extension, you must send evidence that you are paying Class 2 National Insurance contributions at the time of your application. We do not need to see evidence of Class 4 National Insurance contributions if you are paying them.
National Insurance contributions may be paid by quarterly bill or direct debit, or you may have applied for a small earnings exception certificate.
You must provide one of the following documents relevant to your circumstances:
- if your National Insurance is paid by quarterly bill, you must send the bill from the quarter immediately before the application. This must be an original document and not a copy; or
- if your National Insurance is paid by direct debit, you must send a copy of the most recent bank statement issued before the application, showing the direct debit payment of National Insurance to HM Revenue & Customs; or
- if you have very low earnings and have applied for the small earnings exception, you should send an original small earnings exception certificate issued by HM Revenue & Customs for the most recent return date.
If you are a director
If you are a director at the time of your application, you must provide a current appointment report from Companies House. This report will list the directors of a company and the dates of their appointment.
You must get a printout of the current appointment report from Companies House (this will mean paying a fee to Companies House). The date of this document should be within the three months immediately before the date of your extension application.
This report must show you named in the application is the director of a business that is actively trading and not struck-off, dissolved or in liquidation on the date that the printout was produced.
Directors who are on the list of disqualified directors provided by Companies House will not be awarded points, as they are not able to continue as directors in the United Kingdom. We will check this list before awarding points. You can see the list of disqualified directors on the Companies House website which you can find on the right side of this page.
If you were given previous permission to stay under the business person or innovator categories
If you were given previous permission to stay under the business person or innovator categories in place before we introduced the entrepreneur category, you may not be able to provide a printout of the current appointment report at the time of your application, or may not have kept the evidence that you are paying Class 2 National Insurance contributions.
If you choose to send evidence of registration but do not have one of the specified documents when you need to make the application, you must show on the form that you need more time to get it. We will hold the application open for a period of up to 10 weeks, to allow you time to get and send us the document separately. At the end of these 10 weeks, if you have still not sent us this document, we make a decision on your application based on the information already sent. This is likely to lead to us refusing the application.