Recent Changes with the Immigration Rules

Starting from 11 July 2014, the following changes to the Immigration Rules will be enforced.

Switching from Tier 4 Student/Other Study Category to Tier 1 (Entrepreneur)

Students can only switch to Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) if they have access to £50,000 funding to invest in business from the following sources:

one or more UK Entrepreneurial seed funding competitions endorsed by UK Trade & Investment; or
one or more UK Government Departments, or Devolved Government Departments in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland.

Applications based on access to funding from Venture Capitalist Firms will be removed. Those who already have leave in this category from this source of funding will continue to be able to extend their stay.

Switching from Tier 1 Post-study Work to Tier 1 (Entrepreneur)

Tier 1 (PSW) holders can only switch to Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) if they:

have access to £50,000 funding from:
- one or more UK Entrepreneurial seed funding competitions endorsed by UK Trade & Investment, or
- one or more UK Government Departments, or Devolved Government Departments in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland, or
have access to £50,000 funding from any source, and have already established themselves in a genuine business before 11 July 2014, and are working in a skilled occupation.

Applications based on the following sources will be removed:

£50,000 funding from Venture Capitalist Firm
£50,000 funding from any source who are not established in a genuine business before 11 July 2014

Those who already have leave in these categories will continue to be able to extend their stay.

Tier 5

A new scheme, “Mathematics Teacher Exchange”, will be added to the Tier 5 Government Authorised Exchange route.

This scheme is funded by the Department for Education (DfE) and will be run by the National College for Teaching and Leadership, an executive agency of the DfE. The scheme aims to share learning and best practice regarding the teaching of mathematics in schools in England and China.

Approved English Tests

The following English tests will be removed from the list of approved English Tests on 1 August 2014: