Half of entrepreneur immigrants turned down, says department

The Department for Enterprise says almost half of business immigrants asking for its backing are turned down.

A Freedom of Information request to the department asked about those applying for visas to move here under rules for innovators and start-ups.

In its response the department said of 302 applications for endorsement under the scheme, 163 had been turned down.

And it added although 32 of those decisions had been challenged, none of the appeals had succeeded.