The Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) visa is closed, and unlike the investor route it cannot even be extended. Holders have two things left: an application to settle, and applications for family members to join them. That makes settlement the whole game, and the timing of it something to work out now rather than at the end of the current permission.
UK Work Visas
Tier 1 Entrepreneur to ILR 2026: No Extensions, Settlement Only
Where the Route Stands
New applications closed some time ago, and GOV.UK now states that existing holders can no longer extend either. Two applications remain available: to settle in the UK, and for family members to join you while you are here on the visa. Anyone who cannot reach settlement within their current permission needs a different route, and the closest business option is the Innovator Founder visa.
This is the point that separates the entrepreneur route from the investor one. Tier 1 (Investor) holders can still extend for two years; Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) holders cannot extend at all. Whatever permission you currently hold is the permission you have, and the only way to remain beyond it is to qualify for settlement inside that period or to move to another category before it ends. Planning that at the point the current leave is granted, rather than in its final months, is the difference between a settlement application and a scramble.
Who Can Still Apply
Holders of the visa can apply to settle, and can apply for family members to join them while they are in the UK on it. A dependant is a partner, a child under 18, or a child over 18 who is already in the UK as a dependant. Each family member applies for their own visa rather than being added to yours.
EU, Swiss, Norwegian, Icelandic and Liechtenstein family members who started living in the UK by 31 December 2020 may instead be able to use the EU Settlement Scheme. The general deadline was 30 June 2021, but later deadlines apply to some joining family members, and applications are still possible where there are reasonable grounds for missing it.
Settlement Requirements
Settlement runs through the dedicated route for Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) holders. The general conditions are the familiar ones: absences within the 180-day limit, a pass in the Life in the UK test, and English at the settlement standard — which rises to B2 in all four components for applications made on or after 26 March 2027 under HC 1691, as explained in our English requirements guide.
Beyond that, the assessment looks at the business: whether it was established and run as claimed, and whether the employment and investment conditions attached to the original grant were met. The framework sits in our settlement guide, and citizenship afterwards in our naturalisation guide.
Timing
Qualifying periods on this route have historically varied with the business outcomes achieved, so the date on which you become eligible is a question for the settlement rules applying to your own grant rather than a single number that fits everyone. What is not variable is the deadline at the other end: with no extension available, your current permission is the outer limit.
The practical sequence is to establish the earliest date you can apply, check it against the expiry of your permission, and if the two do not line up, plan the move to another route immediately rather than waiting to see.
Entrepreneur Against Investor
Both legacy Tier 1 categories are closed, but they were wound down differently. Investor holders retain a two-year extension and a twelve-month bridge for people whose permission has recently ended. Entrepreneur holders retain neither. Anyone comparing advice written for the two routes should check which one it was written for, because the most important rule is the one that differs.
Documents
Business evidence is the core: company records, accounts, employment records for any jobs created, and material showing the investment was made and the business traded as described. Because no sponsor corroborates any of it, contemporaneous records carry the entire weight, and gaps across a long qualifying period are hard to close after the fact.
Adult family members applying to join must provide a criminal record certificate from any country they have lived in for 12 months or more in the last 10 years. Those take time to obtain from each authority, and the slowest one sets the timetable for the whole family application.
Family Applications and Funds
Family members must be supported for their first 12 months in the UK, which means showing £1,890 for each dependant. A partner and one child therefore requires £3,780. The money must be evidenced as having been in your account or the dependant's account for at least 90 days before the application — a much longer period than the 28 days used on most work routes.
Acceptable proof is bank statements, a building society passbook, a letter from a bank, or a letter from a regulated financial institution. The 90-day rule is the one that catches families, because funds moved to demonstrate the requirement will not have been in place long enough.
Evidence for the Jobs You Created
Employment created by the business is usually the hardest limb to evidence years later, because it depends on payroll records, contracts and HMRC filings that may sit with an accountant or a former bookkeeper. Gather them while the business is still trading and the relationships are live — reconstructing employment history after a company has wound down is close to impossible.
Alternatives
GOV.UK points entrepreneurs directly at the Innovator Founder visa, which is the successor route for people setting up or running a UK business. It is not the same thing: it requires endorsement of an innovative, viable and scalable business rather than a specified investment and job-creation record.
Other options depend on the individual rather than the business. Global Talent runs on endorsement in a qualifying field, Skilled Worker on a sponsored job meeting the salary thresholds, Scale-up on six months of sponsorship by a high-growth business, and High Potential Individual on a recent degree from a listed university.
The Cost of Waiting
On an open route, an application that is not quite ready can wait. Here it cannot, because there is no extension to buy time and no way back in once permission ends. That asymmetry is the single most useful thing to understand about the route as it now stands, and it should drive every decision about when to apply and what to prepare first.
Where Applications Fail
The recurring causes are evidential rather than legal: business records that do not match the claims made at the original application, employment that cannot be evidenced to the standard required, and absences that only become visible when the five-year picture is assembled. English and knowledge of life are the easiest to fix and the most often left late.
A refusal is normally challenged through administrative review. On a closed route with no extension available, a refusal close to the expiry of permission leaves very little room, which is the strongest argument for applying as early as eligibility allows.
Sources: GOV.UK Tier 1 Entrepreneur route page on GOV.UK; settle in the UK; and Innovator Founder route page on GOV.UK guidance. Figures verified 22 August 2026.
Frequently Asked
Questions about Tier 1 Entrepreneur Settlement
No. GOV.UK states that holders can no longer extend. The only applications still available are for settlement and for family members to join you while you are in the UK on the visa. That makes your current permission the outer limit, and reaching settlement inside it the only way to stay on this route.
No, the route is closed to new applicants. Anyone wanting to set up or run a business in the UK is directed to the Innovator Founder visa instead, which works differently: it requires endorsement of an innovative, viable and scalable business rather than a set investment sum and a job-creation record.
£1,890 for each dependant, to support them for their first 12 months — so £3,780 for a partner and one child. The money must have been in your account or the dependant's account for at least 90 days before applying, which is far longer than the 28 days used on most work routes.
Your partner, your child under 18, or your child over 18 if they are already in the UK as your dependant. Each applies for their own visa rather than being added to yours. Adult family members must also provide a criminal record certificate from any country they have lived in for 12 months or more in the last 10 years.
Family members from the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein who started living in the UK by 31 December 2020 may be able to use the EU Settlement Scheme instead. The general deadline was 30 June 2021, but later deadlines apply to some joining family members and late applications are possible on reasonable grounds.
The dedicated settlement route for Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) holders, assessed against the business as well as the general conditions — absences within the limits, the Life in the UK test and English at the settlement standard, which rises to B2 from 26 March 2027. Business, investment and employment evidence is the part that takes preparation.
Bank statements, a building society passbook, a letter from a bank, or a letter from a regulated financial institution. Whichever you use, it must show the money held for at least 90 days before the application. Funds transferred in shortly beforehand will not satisfy the requirement however large the balance.
Move early. With no extension available, the options are Innovator Founder for a business you can get endorsed, Global Talent if you can be endorsed personally, or a sponsored route such as Skilled Worker or Scale-up. All of them take months to arrange, so the decision belongs at the start of your final grant rather than at its end.