The Potential of Refugee Entrepreneurship in Wales | DISABLED ENTREPRENEUR

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Disclaimer: This article is for general information, education and discussion purposes only and does not constitute legal, immigration, financial, tax or business advice. Immigration rules and right-to-work requirements can change quickly, and an individual’s rights depend on their particular immigration status and the conditions attached to their permission to remain in the United Kingdom. Anyone uncertain about their immigration status, right to work or right to become self-employed should obtain advice from a suitably qualified immigration adviser or solicitor and check current GOV.UK guidance before starting work or entering into a business contract.

Turning Skills, Experience and Ambition into Economic Opportunity

How refugees and migrants can build businesses in Wales, the immigration rules they must satisfy, and why stricter vetting of couriers and gig-economy workers does not prevent people with lawful status from becoming entrepreneurs

Refugees can bring far more to Wales than labour alone. Many arrive with professional qualifications, practical skills, trading experience, languages, international connections and, in some cases, years of experience running businesses in their countries of origin.

For Wales, supporting people who have the legal right to work to become entrepreneurs could create businesses, generate employment, revitalise communities and help individuals become financially independent.

The Welsh Government’s Migrant Integration Framework specifically recognises entrepreneurship and self-employment as potential routes to economic integration. It states that supporting entrepreneurship can provide additional avenues into the economy and recommends business start-up schemes and mentoring for entrepreneurial activity.

However, there is an important distinction that frequently becomes lost in political debate.

A refugee, an asylum seeker, a person who has entered the UK through a recognised visa route, and somebody who currently has no lawful right to work in Britain are not the same thing.

Whether somebody can start a business depends primarily on their current immigration permission and right to work, not simply upon where they were born or how the political debate describes migration.

Refugee Entrepreneurship Could Be an Untapped Opportunity for Wales

Previous Welsh Government research found that refugees frequently arrive with ambitions to continue the careers or occupations they had before displacement.

Research into refugee employment and skills found that around two-thirds of people interviewed wanted to continue in the occupation they had previously followed. The research also highlighted difficulties including recognition of overseas qualifications, English-language ability and mismatches between refugees’ experience and the opportunities available to them in Wales.

Another Welsh Government study identified self-employment, commercial businesses and social enterprises as potential options, particularly for refugees who had previously run businesses. However, the research also warned about barriers such as access to finance and the risk of people becoming trapped in low-paid or economically marginal forms of self-employment.

This is why entrepreneurship should not simply be viewed as giving somebody a bicycle and directing them towards a food-delivery app.

A refugee may have previously been an accountant, engineer, mechanic, retailer, builder, designer, tailor, farmer, chef, consultant, IT specialist or business owner.

Wales potentially benefits when those abilities are identified rather than lost.

Businesses created by refugees and other migrants could include digital services, web development, translation, consultancy, import and export businesses, construction trades, cleaning companies, catering, restaurants, retail, logistics, courier services, manufacturing, professional services and social enterprises.

Entrepreneurship can therefore provide something traditional employment does not always offer: the ability to convert overseas experience directly into an economic asset.

A Refugee Is Not the Same as an Asylum Seeker

This distinction is crucial.

An asylum seeker is generally somebody who has asked the UK for international protection and is waiting for a decision.

A refugee is somebody whose protection claim has been accepted and who has been granted refugee status.

The rules relating to work are substantially different.

Asylum seekers are not normally permitted to work while their claims are being considered.

There are limited circumstances in which an asylum seeker whose claim has remained outstanding for more than 12 months through no fault of their own may apply for permission to work. However, permission granted under these provisions is restricted to specified skilled employment.

Importantly, it does not permit self-employment or setting up a business.

Therefore, somebody who is still an asylum seeker generally cannot lawfully decide to become a self-employed courier, open a shop, register as a sole trader and begin trading simply because they are waiting for an asylum decision.

Once refugee status or humanitarian protection has been granted, the position changes significantly.

Recognised refugees have immediate and unrestricted access to the labour market.

The Major Refugee Rule Change Introduced in March 2026

Anyone writing about refugee entrepreneurship today needs to understand an important rule change introduced this year.

For asylum claims lodged before 2 March 2026, people subsequently granted refugee status or humanitarian protection have generally been granted an initial period of five years’ permission to stay.

For most adult asylum claims lodged on or after 2 March 2026, successful applicants are normally being granted an initial period of only 30 months’ permission to stay.

Unaccompanied asylum-seeking children are generally treated differently and continue to receive longer permission under the current rules.

The Government describes the new system as temporary protection that can be reviewed.

However, crucially for entrepreneurship, people granted refugee status or humanitarian protection under this newer system still receive immediate and unrestricted access to the labour market.

This creates an interesting economic contradiction.

A refugee may legally be entitled to establish a livelihood and develop a business, yet only have 30 months of immigration permission before their continuing protection needs are reconsidered.

That uncertainty could potentially make it more difficult to obtain commercial finance, negotiate long leases, make major capital investments or persuade business partners to enter long-term agreements.

A bank or investor may legitimately consider commercial risk, but businesses must also be careful not to discriminate unlawfully merely because someone is a refugee or foreign national.

Does a Recognised Refugee Need a Business Visa?

Normally, no additional entrepreneur visa is required simply because a recognised refugee wants to become self-employed.

Their right to work derives from their immigration status.

They should nevertheless check their eVisa, Home Office decision and conditions of permission to make certain there is no unexpected restriction.

The UK is increasingly operating a digital immigration system. An eVisa records a person’s immigration status and the rights attached to it, including whether they are permitted to work. A person can generate a share code where an organisation needs to verify their status.

This is different from somebody living overseas who wants to migrate to Britain specifically to launch a company.

One immigration route currently available for certain entrepreneurs is the Innovator Founder visa.

That route requires an innovative, viable and scalable business proposition that has been assessed by an authorised endorsing body. Applicants normally need to satisfy English-language, financial and other immigration requirements.

A recognised refugee already lawfully living in Wales should therefore not assume that they need an Innovator Founder visa before opening an ordinary business.

Conversely, simply registering a company at Companies House does not give somebody immigration permission.

Company law and immigration law are separate matters.

A person cannot circumvent restrictions on working in Britain merely by becoming a company director.

What About Migrants Who Are Not Refugees?

“Migrant” is a broad description rather than one particular immigration status.

Some migrants have indefinite leave to remain. Others have settled status, family visas, work visas, graduate permission or other forms of leave.

Whether they can start businesses depends upon the conditions attached to their immigration permission.

Some visa categories permit self-employment while others restrict it.

People with indefinite leave to remain, for example, are generally free to work in any business or profession, including self-employment.

Anyone holding time-limited immigration permission should therefore check the exact conditions shown on their eVisa rather than assuming that because they may work for an employer they may automatically become self-employed.

What About People Arriving in Small Boats?

Political language can make this issue unnecessarily confusing.

People arriving across the Channel in small boats are frequently collectively described as “illegal immigrants” or “boat people”, but those descriptions do not tell us what their eventual immigration status will be.

A person may arrive irregularly and subsequently make an asylum claim.

While that asylum claim is outstanding, they are generally prohibited from working and, critically for this article, from running a business or becoming self-employed.

If their protection claim succeeds and they are granted refugee status, their legal position changes and they receive access to the labour market.

If somebody has no lawful immigration permission or right to work, they cannot legally operate as a self-employed worker simply as a way of avoiding immigration restrictions.

The offence of illegal working can apply to self-employed work as well as ordinary employment. Current Home Office guidance states that the offence covers both formal and informal working arrangements.

Therefore, the relevant question should not be:

“Is this person a migrant?”

It should be:

“Does this person currently have lawful permission to undertake this type of work in the UK?”

Government Crackdown on Illegal Working

The UK Government has substantially increased enforcement against illegal working, with particular attention being paid to sectors including hospitality, construction, logistics, delivery driving and other parts of the gig economy.

The Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act 2025, which received Royal Assent on 2 December 2025, introduced measures intended to strengthen border security and tackle irregular migration and illegal working.

One particularly important development concerns the gig economy.

Historically, statutory right-to-work checks concentrated heavily upon conventional employer-employee relationships. That created difficulties where individuals provided services as contractors, subcontractors or platform-based workers.

The Government is extending the Right to Work Scheme to wider working arrangements including gig-economy workers, individual subcontractors and online platforms operating in sectors such as food delivery, courier services, warehousing and construction.

At the time of writing in September 2026, updated Government material states that the new code is intended to apply to relevant work commencing from 1 October 2026.

This is particularly significant for delivery platforms because it reduces the possibility of somebody avoiding immigration checks simply by being described as “self-employed”.

Employers and contracting businesses that fail to comply with illegal-working requirements can face substantial penalties. The Government has highlighted civil penalties of up to £60,000 per illegal worker in its enforcement programme.

The crackdown should therefore be understood as a crackdown on illegal working, rather than a legal prohibition preventing refugees or lawful migrants from earning a living.

A recognised refugee who has the right to work should be able to pass a legitimate immigration-status check.

What Does a Refugee Need to Start a Business in Wales?

The precise requirements will depend on the business, but a person planning to become an entrepreneur would normally need to establish their lawful immigration status first and then deal with the same tax, insurance, licensing and commercial requirements that apply to other entrepreneurs.

A practical start-up checklist would include:

Confirm immigration permission and the right to become self-employed. Check the eVisa, Home Office documents and any conditions attached to the person’s immigration permission.
Obtain identification, a stable correspondence address and, where necessary, a National Insurance number. A National Insurance number is required for various tax and administrative purposes, and applications require identity verification.
Choose a business structure. This may be operating as a sole trader, partnership or limited company.
Register correctly for tax. A sole trader who needs to register does so through HMRC Self Assessment. The £1,000 trading allowance is relevant to when registration becomes necessary.
Consider Companies House registration if forming a company. A private company requires at least one director and a UK registered office address. Directors do not themselves have to live in the UK, although immigration permission still determines whether an individual may lawfully work here.
Open suitable banking facilities and maintain proper accounting records.
Prepare a business plan and cash-flow forecast, particularly when applying for finance.
Obtain the correct licences, registrations and insurance required for the particular industry.
Register for VAT if required, and understand Income Tax, National Insurance or Corporation Tax obligations depending upon the chosen structure.
Comply with data protection, consumer protection, health and safety, employment and equality legislation where applicable.
Carry out right-to-work checks on employees or other workers where required if the business begins recruiting people.
Protect the business with appropriate insurance, including motor insurance where vehicles are used commercially and employers’ liability insurance where legally required. Government business guidance confirms that motor insurance is required where vehicles are used in the business, and employers’ liability insurance will normally be required where people are employed.

Business Wales Could Play an Important Role

Refugee entrepreneurs should not necessarily be expected to navigate all of this alone.

Business Wales provides publicly funded support to people considering starting businesses.

Its current Entrepreneurship and Start-Up Service includes help with business planning, legal requirements, finance, funding, marketing and developing sustainable enterprises.

The Welsh Government’s wider integration strategy also recognises the value of start-up programmes and business mentoring for migrant communities.

In practical terms, Wales could benefit from combining refugee integration support with mainstream entrepreneurial support rather than treating the two as entirely separate issues.

Someone who previously ran a successful business abroad may not need to be taught entrepreneurship from scratch.

They may instead need help understanding UK taxation, regulation, banking, contracts, insurance and Welsh markets.

Access to Finance Can Be One of the Biggest Barriers

Legally being able to start a business does not necessarily mean that obtaining finance will be easy.

A newly recognised refugee may have little or no UK credit history, limited savings and no longstanding relationship with a British bank.

That can make conventional borrowing difficult.

Government-backed Start Up Loans may provide one possible route for eligible applicants. Current guidance states that applicants must be at least 18, have the right to work in the UK and be starting a business or operating one that has traded for less than five years. Applicants undergo a credit check and normally need a business plan, cash-flow forecast, personal budget and bank statements.

Recognised refugees and people with humanitarian protection may also be eligible for a Refugee Integration Loan.

This is not a conventional business investment loan, but permitted uses can include work clothing, work equipment and education or training. Current amounts are relatively modest, between £100 and £500 for an individual applicant, or up to £780 for a joint application with a partner.

Greater access to microfinance, mentoring and ethical start-up finance could therefore significantly improve refugee entrepreneurship in Wales.

Courier and Delivery Work: What Vetting Is Required?

Delivery work deserves particular attention because it is one of the most accessible routes into self-employment and has also become one of the sectors receiving the greatest immigration enforcement scrutiny.

Food and parcel-delivery companies increasingly want evidence not only of identity but of an individual’s legal entitlement to work as a self-employed person.

Checks can include immigration status, identification, driving records, criminal-record checks, vehicle documents, insurance, bank information and identity verification.

There is no single universal onboarding system because every company may impose additional contractual requirements.

Deliveroo

Deliveroo currently states that UK riders must be over 18 and provide proof of their right to work in the UK as self-employed.

Its published requirements also include a smartphone, an appropriate vehicle, a UK bank account and, for cars and motorised scooters, appropriate food-delivery insurance in addition to normal motor insurance. Deliveroo also states that riders must not have unspent criminal convictions.

New riders undergo a criminal-record check, with identity and address information forming part of the process.

Deliveroo additionally uses identity-verification technology, including selfie or video checks, intended to ensure that the person completing deliveries is the authorised account holder.

Even substitute riders must now be registered and complete identity and right-to-work checks before completing deliveries.

This is important because account-sharing has been one of the vulnerabilities identified in the delivery economy.

Uber Eats

Uber Eats similarly requires couriers to be at least 18 and have the appropriate right to work.

Depending upon the vehicle, applicants may need identification, a driving licence, DVLA check code, recent bank statement and relevant motor insurance.

Motorbike and car couriers need insurance suitable for delivery work.

Uber also requires a background-check process and indicates that separate documentation may be requested for right-to-work and basic disclosure checks.

Just Eat

Just Eat currently requires applicants to supply government-issued identification and, where applicable, a driving licence and Hire & Reward insurance.

Its courier guidance also states that couriers undergo criminal-background and right-to-work checks.

The company has published detailed guidance explaining its background-check procedure and the documentation that may be requested.

Parcel Delivery Companies

The same principle increasingly applies to parcel delivery.

Evri, for example, states that self-employed courier applicants need a smartphone, access to an appropriate vehicle and proof of their right to work in the UK as a self-employed person.

Its courier information states that applicants should have a full, valid driving licence, access to a car or van with a valid MOT and insurance, the right to work in the UK and no unspent criminal convictions.

For larger Evri Business Partner arrangements, the vetting can go considerably further. Evri states that it may conduct a right-to-work check, basic credit check and require a recent clear DBS check before entering into a contract with a business partner.

DPD, meanwhile, operates self-employed owner-driver opportunities as well as employed delivery roles. Its owner-driver model makes the contractor responsible for their own tax and insurance, and certain vehicle-leasing opportunities require applicants to have held an appropriate UK licence for a specified period.

Requirements change, so applicants should always check the company’s current onboarding rules before purchasing a vehicle or expensive insurance.

Vehicle Requirements Matter

Immigration status is only one part of becoming a delivery driver.

A driver must also legally be entitled to drive the relevant vehicle.

UK road law requires an appropriate valid driving licence, and foreign licence rules can depend upon the country issuing the licence and how long the person has been resident in Great Britain.

For many non-European licence holders becoming resident in Britain, the period during which they can use their overseas licence is normally limited to 12 months.

Drivers also need the appropriate MOT where applicable, vehicle tax and insurance.

Ordinary social, domestic and pleasure motor insurance should not simply be assumed to cover paid parcel or food delivery.

Couriers should tell their insurer exactly what work they intend to undertake and make sure the policy covers commercial delivery activity. Platforms may specifically require Hire & Reward, food-delivery or courier insurance.

A courier should also consider whether goods-in-transit and public-liability insurance are appropriate for the particular contract.

Does a Courier Need a DBS Check?

Not every self-employed courier in Britain is automatically required by law to obtain a DBS certificate simply because they deliver parcels.

However, a company may impose criminal-record screening as a contractual condition of joining its platform or network.

As the examples above show, Deliveroo, Uber Eats, Just Eat and certain Evri arrangements use criminal-record or background checks.

Therefore, a refugee with lawful immigration status should expect modern delivery-company vetting potentially to involve more than simply showing a driving licence.

Identity, address history and criminal-record information may all be checked.

This does not mean that somebody should automatically be excluded because they were born overseas.

Businesses remain subject to equality and anti-discrimination obligations while undertaking right-to-work checks. Government guidance specifically warns employers against unlawful discrimination when preventing illegal working.

Right-to-Work Checks Should Not Become Racial Profiling

Stronger immigration enforcement creates another risk.

Employers and contracting organisations must not decide who to investigate simply because somebody has a foreign accent, foreign name or does not appear British.

The purpose of a lawful right-to-work system is to establish immigration status, not ethnicity.

Checks should be conducted consistently.

A recognised refugee should not have to prove that they are somehow “more trustworthy” than somebody born in the United Kingdom simply because they came here seeking protection.

The important questions concern identity, immigration permission, competence, criminal-record requirements where applicable, licences, insurance and compliance with the contract.

Entrepreneurship Could Reduce Exploitation

Preventing illegal working is legitimate, but enforcement alone will not eliminate exploitation.

People with no right to work may be particularly vulnerable to unscrupulous employers, gangmasters and intermediaries who know that the individual is unlikely to complain about poor wages or dangerous working conditions.

Creating transparent pathways into lawful employment and entrepreneurship for those who do have the right to work can reduce that vulnerability.

A refugee who becomes a legitimate business owner can register for tax, purchase insurance, build a credit history, develop commercial relationships and eventually employ other people.

Instead of being confined to cash-in-hand work, that individual becomes part of the formal economy.

Why Wales Could Benefit

Wales has an ageing population in some areas, communities requiring regeneration and sectors experiencing skills shortages.

At the same time, refugees can arrive with skills and experience that are not immediately recognised by British employers.

Entrepreneurship provides a mechanism for connecting those two realities.

A Syrian chef may establish a catering company.

A Ukrainian software developer may create a digital consultancy.

An Afghan tradesperson may eventually operate a construction business.

A refugee with logistics experience may build a courier operation employing drivers.

A multilingual professional may offer translation, exporting or international consultancy services.

The opportunity should not be romanticised. Businesses fail, access to finance is difficult, and entrepreneurship can create financial risk regardless of nationality.

But refugees should at least have the opportunity to compete where the law gives them that right.

Integration Should Mean Economic Participation

The Welsh Government has said that integration should begin from the point of arrival and should help people develop independence rather than dependency.

Its Migrant Integration Framework specifically recognises that communities and the economy can benefit when migrants’ skills, perspectives and international connections are properly utilised.

Entrepreneurship fits squarely within that objective.

Supporting a refugee to create a sustainable business can be far more economically productive than leaving an experienced entrepreneur unable to use their knowledge.

It can generate tax revenue, reduce long-term dependency, create employment and introduce new products and services into Welsh communities.

Conclusion

The UK’s increasingly strict approach to irregular migration and illegal working does not mean that refugees and lawful migrants have no opportunity to become entrepreneurs.

The decisive issue is immigration status.

An asylum seeker waiting for a decision is normally prohibited from working and cannot lawfully set themselves up as self-employed.

A person without lawful permission to work cannot overcome that restriction by calling themselves a freelancer, subcontractor or company director.

However, once somebody is granted refugee status or humanitarian protection, they receive access to the labour market and can begin building an independent economic life.

For refugees whose claims were lodged from 2 March 2026 onwards, the new 30-month permission system may introduce uncertainty into long-term business planning, but it does not remove their immediate labour-market rights.

The growth of digital right-to-work verification and stricter checks within Deliveroo, Uber Eats, Just Eat, Evri and other logistics businesses will make identity, immigration-status and criminal-record vetting increasingly important.

This should make it harder for people without permission to work to enter the informal gig economy.

It should not prevent legitimate refugees from participating.

Wales therefore has a choice.

Refugees can be viewed merely as people requiring support, or they can also be recognised as potential business owners, innovators, taxpayers, employers and contributors to the Welsh economy.

With appropriate immigration documentation, access to finance, mentoring, business education and fair vetting procedures, refugee entrepreneurship could become an important part of Wales’s wider economic and social integration strategy.