The Upper Tribunal has held that a decision to refuse an application under Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) was unlawful. The full judgement in Shebi [2014] UKUT 216 (IAC) can be found here.
The caseworker reviewing the application had not accepted that the requirements contained in Appendix A of the Immigration Rules – that the appellant was a Sales and Marketing Director (in this case) and had suitable contracts in place – had been met.
The Upper Tribunal held that the evidence did demonstrate that the requirements in relation to the individual’s position and the contacts had been met. It found that the provision of contracts did not include an additional requirement that the contracts must be in a specific single document and that it was sufficient for the contracts to be evidenced through items such as purchase orders and invoices, as long as there was documentary evidence.
The Tribunal stated that:
“It strikes us as inconceivable that the entrepreneur route was to be confined to the types of trading in which contracts are made by single documents. Paragraph 41-SD very properly specifies that there must be documentary evidence sufficient to show genuine contracts, and containing sufficient information to enable the Secretary of State to check the matter with the other parties for the contracts if she chooses to do so. But there is a world of difference between requiring contracts to be evidenced by a proper paper trail and requiring each contract to be contained in a single document. In our judgment the Rules require the former, but not the latter.”
If you intend to file an application for initial leave or an extension of stay under Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) and you need specialist legal advice, please contact us.
