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Entrepreneurs

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New employment created

This page explains what evidence you should provide that you have created new employment, if you are applying to extend your permission to stay in the United Kingdom as a Type 1 Entrepreneur under the points-based system.

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 at least one document from the following.

You may use evidence from your activities as a self-employed entrepreneur, or as a director, or a combination of evidence from both roles towards evidence of having created posts.

If you are a business person or innovator

If you are a business person or innovator, you only need to show that you have created two full time jobs. You do not need to show that the employment created has been for 30 hours a week or for a continuous 12 months period.

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Evidence that the employee is a settled worker

See more information on employing legal workers.

You can only claim points for jobs that are given to people who are settled in the United Kingdom.

Documents kept by an employer as evidence that an employee is a settled worker will often be the passport pages that contain the employee's personal details, and the page containing the United Kingdom Government stamp or endorsement, if appropriate. It may also be a copy of the worker's birth certificate.

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The number of hours worked by an employee

To score points for any periods of employment created, you must have the appropriate evidence to support the claim for that employment.

Every employer must register with HM Revenue & Customs and notify HM Revenue & Customs of the employment, and the earnings of their employees. We are not able to offer advice on registering as an employer or on the records that an employer must keep. You can find these on the HM Revenue & Customs website or through the sponsorship and employers' helpline which you can find on the right of this page.

HM Revenue & Customs need the employer to keep a record form P11 for at least three years. This form will show details of the earnings for the employee for each week that they worked for the employer. 

You must send evidence to prove you created two new full-time posts. If your money resulted in more than two posts being created, you should not send the extra information.

You must send the following documents for each worker as evidence of the employment created.  (If the business employed workers before you joined it, we will also need the extra documents detailed below):

  • a duplicate form P11 signed and dated by you;  
  • an original form P45 or P46. This must only be submitted in cases where the P11 does not show the start date for the worker; and
  • duplicate wage documents issued to the worker covering the full period of employment of the worker.

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How to assess hours of work from form P11

The hours claimed for the award of points must be supported by a P11 entry that you have signed and dated.

Form P11 (as used to report to HM Revenue & Customs) is the employer's record of the earnings of each separate employee.

These details will remain confidential and will be used to assess your claim for points. 

You can find a copy of the P11 form on the HM Revenue & Customs website which you can find on the right of this page.

You must supply the hourly rate.

You must provide any changes to the worker's hourly rate and the dates of this change. This allows the hours worked to be accurately calculated by dividing the earnings by the hourly rate.

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How to assess the dates of the employment from the P11

To claim points, the post must be created as a result of your contribution to the United Kingdom economy. The posts created by you, or your business, must be new posts.

If you have joined an existing business, you must have created posts as a result of your contribution. When awarding points, we will only accept evidence of posts created after the date that you started work in a business.

Form P11 provides evidence of the dates of employment of the worker. You must supply a signed and dated duplicate P11 document with the dates of starting employment.

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Form P45 and P46

If the date of the start of the employment is not shown in the P11 form, then you must send an original form P45 or form P46 for the worker. The worker must provide these to an employer on starting a job, and they contain the starting date of the employment.

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Pay statements (wage slips)

You must also send duplicate pay statement documents, often known as pay slips or wage slips, issued to the workers for whom points are being claimed. These must cover the full period of the employment for which points are being claimed. 

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Hourly rate

You must also state the hourly rate for each employee used to claim points. This will enable us to calculate how many hours of work were created for each worker.

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Assessing the date that you joined the business

For directors of a company the information from the Companies House current appointment report will be used for two assessments. We will check that you were a director of the company that employed the worker. We will also check that you were a director of the specific employing company at the time that the settled worker was employed. 

If you joined an existing company as a director and wish to claim points for employment created, you may only submit hours of employment created after you joined the company.

Companies House will not have records if you are self-employed. In this case we will cross-check the details of the business with the evidence you provide to show that it was a United Kingdom business. This will include the dates that you became self-employed, the names on the P11 and bank account, and the address of the business.

If you are setting up a new business after you entered the United Kingdom, we will accept that the posts created are additional to jobs that existed in the United Kingdom before you arrived. 

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Extra documents we require if you have taken over or joined an existing business

If you have taken over or joined an existing business or businesses and wish to show that you have created new posts in these businesses, you must provide evidence that these posts are a net increase in the employment in the United Kingdom.
If you have joined a business that employed workers before you joined it, you must provide extra evidence to support a claim for points for creating jobs in the business. As well as the evidence specified for the number of hours of work created, you must show that you created new posts.

You must send:

  • a duplicate form P35 document; and 
  • an original accountant's letter confirming that the new posts have been created.

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Form P35

This is the annual return listing the names of employees of a business.

If this is an online copy of the P35 return to HM Revenue & Customs, the copy must be signed and dated by you.

You must send the P35 for the year before the jobs were created and the year that the jobs were created for any businesses used as evidence for the creation of jobs.

This should show the net increase of two posts. This means that the total number of employees should have increased by the number of posts that you claim to have created. If other posts have been lost, points will not be awarded unless the total number of posts has increased by the number claimed.

To assess the net creation of jobs, we will compare the number of workers before you joined the business with the number of workers afterwards. 

If the posts were created too recently for a P35 to have been produced, a draft should be supplied, signed and dated by you. 
If your previous permission to stay in the United Kingdom was made under one of the former business person or innovator categories, you do not need to meet this requirement.

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Accountant's letter confirming that the new posts have been created

This should verify that there has been a net creation of jobs, and confirm the number of posts.

The accountant must be a member of one of the following professional bodies:

  • The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW); or
  • the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Scotland (ICAS); or
  • the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland (ICAI); or
  • the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA); or 
  • the Association of Authorised Public Accountants (AAPA).

The letter must be an original document and contain the following details:

  • the name and contact details of the business;
  • your status in the business; 
  • the number of posts created in the business;
  • the dates of the employment created;
  • the registration or permission of the accountant to operate in the United Kingdom; 
  • the date that the accountant created the letter on your behalf.

The accountant must confirm the content of the letter to us if we ask.

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