UK to launch startup visas early next year for tech entrepreneurs
LONDON: UK Prime Minister Theresa May announced on Tuesday a new visa from spring 2019 to invite talented founders of business ventures to the United Kingdom as part of measures to showcase the country as the best place to run a tech company.
Called ‘Startup Visas’, the new route will replace the current Tier 1 (Graduate Entrepreneur) visa, which allows Indian and other non-EU graduates from UK universities with a “genuine and credible business idea” endorsed officially to remain in the country.
Currently, the visa is exclusively for graduates, but the new route will open it to talented business founders who may not have a degree. This will include accelthe erators playing a role in the endorsement of candidates who have credible business ideas, official sources said.
The new visa was announced by May in Downing Street on Tuesday evening at an event that saw £2.3 billion of private investment and 1,600 new jobs as part of London Tech Week.
May said: “The measures we are announcing today will allow innovative British startups to invest in their future — and in the UK — by hiring more skilled people, expanding their business and exporting their expertise across the world”.
“It’s a great time to be in tech in the UK, and our modern Industrial Strategy will drive continued investment, ensuring the nation flourishes in the industries of the future and creating more high-paying jobs.”
Home Office sources said the new visa seeks to build on recent reforms to the visa system — including doubling the number of visas available on the Exceptional Talent route to 2,000 per year — as part of efforts to portray Brexit-bound Britain is open to global business.