October 29, 2018, by The Ingenuity Lab

How the Tier 1 Visa Turned a Dream into a Reality

Ingenuity19 is looking for the next generation of entrepreneurs and innovators to create scalable social and commercial enterprises that can transform Nottingham, the UK and beyond.

We are looking for students, staff, graduates and early career researchers from across the University of Nottingham to come together and discover problems worth solving, and offer you the tools to create scalable sustainable solutions.

Of all the participiants in Ingenuity18, 72% were international students. The Tier 1 Visa offers a potential next step in extending your UK stay.

Today we heard from Dr Terri Holloway, who relives her story and experiences in the UK…

Most graduates will agree that it’s often difficult to pinpoint exactly which direction to take after completing your degree; but in 2015, when I was faced with this decision, my combined life-experiences up to that point seemed to sketch a very clear path for me.

My most recent experience at that time was relocating from America to England to earn a Phd in Nutritional Sciences with a focus on plant-based diets. This experience was absolutely invigorating as it gave me the opportunity to design clinical interventions for those likely to contract life-threatening diseases. My results after four years of research were positive, and even my study participants were excited about the changes that occurred on this crazy journey they entered into with me to reduce their meat intake by 50 %.

It was amazing to see how much healthier they were in just a few short weeks; so at graduation, I knew that this was much more than a university experience, but was something that I would do for the rest of my life—helping people to live healthier lives and prevent disease with a plant-based diet.

With one visit to our University’s Visa and Immigration Team, I knew just how this dream would become a reality—through the Tier1 Graduate Entrepreneur Visa. Ruth Hudson, who I was privileged to meet with, told me that the Tier 1 Visa scheme was for Internationals who had aspirations of setting up businesses in the UK. When Ruth explained that this visa existed, I immediately knew that it was for me, and I was super excited to learn everything about it!

For International students like me, this Visa is ideal because it offers so much more than just an opportunity to start a business in the UK; it also provides the resources and training through Ingenuity Lab membership to build a thriving business alongside like-minded entrepreneurs.

For those who are interested in this journey, the first step is to complete an online application through the Ingenuity Lab. Graduating students from every department and every country are encouraged to apply. Successful applications are those which show a clear and specific problem worth solving, and most importantly, innovation and creativity, which are key ingredients that bring something fresh and new into our thriving international community. If this sounds like it might be for you, you can read more about it here. It was a life-changing decision for me. What could it do for you?

Official Ingenuity 19 applications will be open in November.

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