The Home Office released new figures on tier 1 Entrepreneur visa applications:
| The five tiers of the Points Based System | |
|---|---|
| Name of tier | Immigrant groups covered by tier |
| Tier 1 | Investors, entrepreneurs, graduate entrepreneurs and exceptionally talented migrants. |
| Tier 2 | Skilled workers with a job offer in the UK. |
| Tier 3 | Low-skilled workers needed to fill specific temporary labour shortages. Tier 3 has never been opened. |
| Tier 4 | Students. |
| Tier 5 | Youth mobility and temporary workers. This route is for those allowed to work in the UK for a limited period of time to satisfy primarily non-economic objectives. |
| Table 2: Entry Clearance Visas issued and granted extensions of stay for Tier 1 Entrepreneurs and Graduate Entrepreneurs, 2009 to 2014 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | |
| Entrepreneurs | ||||||
| Entry Clearance Visas | 298 | 428 | 911 | 1655 | 2883 | 3354 |
| Main Applicants | 118 | 189 | 421 | 701 | 1166 | 1089 |
| Dependants | 180 | 239 | 490 | 954 | 1717 | 2265 |
| Granted extentions of stay | 253 | 367 | 639 | 1302 | 5003 | 7281 |
| Main Applicants | 89 | 180 | 360 | 803 | 3327 | 4487 |
| Dependants | 164 | 187 | 279 | 499 | 1676 | 2794 |
| Total | 551 | 795 | 1550 | 2958 | 7886 | 10635 |
| Graduate Entrepreneurs | ||||||
| Anti Clearance Visas | – | – | – | 4 | 29 | 217 |
| Main Applicants | – | – | – | 0 | 13 | 175 |
| dependants | – | – | – | 4 | 16 | 42 |
| Granted extentions of stay | – | – | – | 37 | 239 | 494 |
| Main Applicants | – | – | – | 10 | 46 | 104 |
| Dependants | – | – | – | 27 | 193 | 390 |
| Total | – | – | – | 41 | 268 | 711 |