The UK Innovator Founder visa is an immigration route for entrepreneurs who want to launch a new, innovative business in the UK and run it themselves. There is no minimum investment requirement: what matters most is the endorsement of your business idea by an approved organisation known as an endorsing body. The visa is granted for 3 years, can be extended with no limit on the number of extensions and, if the business meets the required criteria, leads to indefinite leave to remain (ILR) after 3 years.
Key takeaways
- You need an endorsement of your business idea from an organisation on the Home Office’s official list.
- There is no minimum investment threshold: the endorsing body assesses whether your funds are sufficient and legitimate.
- You must have English at level B2 and at least £1,270 in personal savings held for 28 consecutive days.
- The visa fee is £1,357 when applying from outside the UK, plus the healthcare surcharge and endorsement fees.
- Your partner and children can come to the UK with you as your dependants.
- The founder can apply for ILR after 3 years if the business has met at least two of seven set criteria.
What is the UK Innovator Founder visa
The Innovator Founder visa is a business immigration route that, from 13 April 2023, replaced the Innovator visa and the Start-up visa, which is now closed to new applicants. The name reflects its purpose: the route is designed for a founder who has generated the business idea, or contributed significantly to it, and who will manage the company in the UK on a day-to-day basis.
Under the official GOV.UK eligibility rules, the business must be new, innovative, viable and scalable. You cannot use this visa to join a business that is already trading. You must be the sole founder or an instrumental member of the founding team, and your business plan must be realistic given your resources, skills and experience.
Before you apply for the visa, an endorsing body — an organisation authorised by the Home Office to assess overseas entrepreneurs’ projects — reviews your business idea. You cannot apply for the visa without an endorsement letter. An endorsement alone does not guarantee a visa: the final decision rests with the Home Office, based on all the requirements of the Immigration Rules.
The route leads to settlement. After 3 years on the Innovator Founder visa, and provided the business criteria are met, the founder can apply for ILR and later, subject to the separate naturalisation requirements, for British citizenship.
Who the Innovator Founder visa is for
The Innovator Founder visa is aimed at people who plan not simply to invest in a UK business, but to create and grow a company themselves. The route is most often used by:
- founders of technology, healthcare, fintech and other start-ups with an original product or service;
- experienced entrepreneurs bringing a new line of business to the UK market;
- graduates of UK universities who have completed their course on a Student visa, or Graduate visa holders who want to set up their own company;
- holders of the former Start-up and Innovator visas who continue to develop an already endorsed business.
Not every visa allows you to switch to this route from inside the UK. Under Appendix Innovator Founder, you cannot switch if you are in the UK as a visitor, short-term student, seasonal worker or domestic worker in a private household, or if you are on immigration bail or have permission outside the Immigration Rules. Students must either have completed their course or have studied full time for a PhD for at least 24 months.
If your idea is more of an investment than an innovation, or you plan to work for an employer, other routes may suit you better — see the comparison below. For a founder with a strong idea, however, the Innovator Founder visa offers clear advantages.
Benefits of the Innovator Founder visa for founders and their families
- Right to set up one or several businesses of your own in the UK
- Work as a director of your company or as a member of a business partnership
- Employment outside your business in roles at RQF level 3 or above
- Relocation of your partner and children with the right to work and study
- Extensions of 3 years each, with no limit on the number of extensions
- Option to apply for ILR after 3 years if the business criteria are met
- No set minimum amount of investment in the business
Innovator Founder visa requirements for applicants
The Innovator Founder visa requirements fall into two groups: those that apply to you as the applicant and those that apply to your business. The endorsing body checks the business, while a Home Office caseworker checks the personal requirements when deciding your visa application.
Key requirements for UK Innovator Founder visa applicants
- Aged 18 or over on the date of your visa application
- Endorsement letter issued no earlier than 3 months before you apply
- English at level B2 in reading, writing, speaking and listening
- Personal savings of at least £1,270 held for 28 consecutive days
- Key role in the day-to-day management and development of the business
- No grounds for refusal under the suitability requirements
- Tuberculosis test certificate for residents of countries on the Home Office list
You can prove your knowledge of English in one of the ways listed on GOV.UK: a UK school qualification such as a GCSE or A Level, a degree from a UK institution, a degree taught in English from an institution outside the UK confirmed through Ecctis, or a Secure English Language Test (SELT) with an approved provider. Nationals of a number of countries, including the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Malta, do not need to prove their English.
You cannot use your investment funds to meet the personal savings requirement. If you are applying from inside the UK and have held permission here for 12 months or longer, you automatically meet the financial requirement. Whether you need a tuberculosis certificate depends on where you live — the list of countries is published on the GOV.UK page about tuberculosis tests for visa applicants.
Business idea endorsement: the role of the endorsing body
The endorsing body is at the heart of the whole route. Under Appendix Innovator Founder, it must confirm that you have a genuine, original business plan that meets new or existing market needs, that the plan is realistic given your resources, that you have or are actively developing the necessary skills and experience, and that the project shows structured planning with potential for job creation and growth into national and international markets.
Beyond the idea itself, the endorsing body assesses whether you are a fit and proper person and confirms that it has no concerns about the legitimacy of your funds or how they were transferred. In practice, the assessment centres on four criteria:
- New — the business is not yet trading, and you cannot join an existing company.
- Innovative — the product or service is clearly different from what is already on the market.
- Viable — you have the skills, market awareness and resources to launch the business.
- Scalable — there is a plan for growth, recruitment and expansion into new markets.
New applications can only be endorsed by organisations listed under “Business Endorsing Bodies” in the official list of endorsing bodies. Organisations on the “Legacy” list may only provide further endorsements to applicants they previously supported on the Innovator or Start-up routes before 13 April 2023. The list is updated regularly — several organisations were removed in 2026 — so check it immediately before you apply.
An endorsement costs £1,000 per applicant. Once your visa is granted, you must meet your endorsing body at least twice — usually after 12 and 24 months — and each of these contact point meetings costs £500. The rules set no minimum investment: the endorsing body assesses whether your funds are enough to deliver the plan and where they come from. Professional business plan drafting, with a financial model and market analysis, helps you present a convincing case.
How many points you need for the Innovator Founder visa
Applications are assessed on a points basis: you need 70 points, of which 50 must come either from the new business criteria or from the same business criteria — you cannot combine the two. The remaining 20 points are mandatory for everyone and are awarded for English language and the financial requirement.
| Criterion | New business | Same business |
|---|---|---|
| Business plan generated by the applicant or with a significant contribution from them | 30 | — |
| Business venture is innovative, viable and scalable | 20 | — |
| Previous permission on the Innovator Founder, Innovator, Start-up or Tier 1 (Graduate Entrepreneur) route, with the business assessed by an endorsing body | — | 10 |
| Business is active, trading and sustainable and shows significant achievements against the business plan | — | 20 |
| Applicant is active in the day-to-day management and development of the business | — | 20 |
| English language at level B2 | 10 | 10 |
| Financial requirement | 10 | 10 |
| Total | 70 | 70 |
A common misconception is that 20 points are awarded for investing £50,000. That was a rule of the old Innovator visa: under the current route, £50,000 appears only as one of the seven criteria for settlement. Today the business plan carries the most points — 30 — so its quality largely determines the outcome of your first application.
Documents for an Innovator Founder visa application
You apply online. The exact document list depends on your circumstances, but the core set looks like this:
- a valid passport or other travel document proving your identity;
- an endorsement letter with a reference number, issued no earlier than 3 months before you apply;
- bank statements showing £1,270 held for 28 consecutive days, where required;
- proof of your knowledge of English, unless you are exempt;
- a tuberculosis test certificate, if you are applying from a country where it is required;
- relationship evidence for family members, such as marriage and birth certificates or proof of living together.
Documents in other languages must come with a translation certified in line with GOV.UK guidance: the translator confirms it is a true and accurate translation of the original and adds the date, their full name and contact details. It is worth arranging translation services early so that your application is not delayed.
You prove your identity either with the “UK Immigration: ID Check” app or by giving your fingerprints and photo at a visa application centre. If your application is successful, your status is held digitally as an eVisa in your UKVI account, which you use to prove your right to live and work in the UK — for example when renting a home or opening a bank account.
How much the Innovator Founder visa costs
The cost of the Innovator Founder visa is made up of the visa application fee, the Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS) and the endorsing body’s fees. Each family member pays the application fee and the IHS. Below are the current amounts according to GOV.UK at the time of writing.
| Payment | Amount | Who pays |
|---|---|---|
| Application fee, applying from outside the UK | £1,357 | Each applicant |
| Application fee, extending or switching in the UK | £1,693 | Each applicant |
| Immigration Health Surcharge, adult | £1,035 a year — £3,105 for 3 years | Founder and partner |
| Immigration Health Surcharge, child under 18 | £776 a year — £2,328 for 3 years | Each child |
| Endorsement by an endorsing body | £1,000 | Founder |
| Contact point meeting | £500 per meeting, at least 2 meetings | Founder |
| Faster decision: priority / super priority | £500 / £1,000 | Optional, where available |
Example: a founder and his wife apply from outside the UK. Application fees come to 2 × £1,357 = £2,714, the healthcare surcharge for 3 years to 2 × £3,105 = £6,210, and the endorsement to £1,000. That is £9,924 before the move, plus £1,000 for two contact point meetings during the visa. In addition, £1,555 in personal savings (£1,270 + £285) must be held in the bank — this is not a fee but evidence that you can support yourselves.
Specialists assist with the payment of the applicable fees and check that the amounts match the rules on the date of application: application fees and the healthcare surcharge are reviewed periodically, and the application fee is not refunded if your visa is refused.
Innovator Founder visa processing times
Once you have applied online, proved your identity and provided your documents, the standard Home Office processing times are:
- usually within 3 weeks if you apply from outside the UK;
- usually within 8 weeks if you extend or switch from inside the UK.
If you cannot wait, you may be able to pay for a faster decision: the priority service (£500) usually gives a decision within 5 working days, and super priority (£1,000) usually by the end of the next working day. Availability depends on the visa application centre and the type of application. Home Office processing times are not guaranteed: a decision can take longer if documents need verifying, an interview is required or there are particular circumstances.
Allow separate time for the endorsement itself: how long it takes depends on the organisation you choose and how ready your business plan is. Bear in mind that the endorsement letter can only be used for 3 months, so it is best to prepare your visa documents in parallel rather than waiting until after the endorsement.
Stages of your application with Imperial & Legal
The path from business idea to visa, and later to settlement, consists of several consecutive stages. Here is how support for the Innovator Founder visa usually works.
Consultation and initial assessment of your idea
Business plan preparation and endorsement
Visa application preparation and submission
Home Office decision and relocation to the UK
Contact points, visa extension and settlement
You can go through each stage on your own, but mistakes in the business plan or visa documents are costly: the application fee is not refunded if the visa is refused, and reapplying requires a new endorsement if the letter has expired.
Bringing your family on the Innovator Founder visa
Members of your family can apply as your dependants at the same time as you or later. According to the GOV.UK guidance on partners and children, a dependant can be:
- your husband, wife or civil partner;
- your unmarried partner, if you have been in a relationship for at least 2 years;
- your child under 18, including a child born in the UK during your stay;
- your child over 18 who is already in the UK as your dependant.
On top of the founder’s £1,270, you need £285 for a partner, £315 for the first child and £200 for each additional child. A family of two adults and two children needs £2,070, held for 28 days in the founder’s or a dependant’s account. Dependants can work — except as a professional sportsperson — and study, and their visa usually ends on the same date as the founder’s.
An important point that is often missed: your partner does not settle automatically when you do. Under the rules, they must have lived in the UK for 5 continuous years as your partner, pass the Life in the UK Test and prove their English — currently B1 in speaking and listening, and B2 for applications made on or after 26 March 2027. Separate requirements for children are set out in Appendix Children.
Innovator Founder visa support
What Imperial & Legal support includes
Business plan and idea
Testing your idea against the criteria and preparing the plan
Project endorsement
Choosing an endorsing body and preparing the endorsement bid
Visa application
Documents, online form and support until the Home Office decides
Route to ILR
Contact points, visa extensions and the settlement application
The work does not stop once the visa is granted: how the business develops in the first three years determines both your extension and your chance of settlement.
Extending the Innovator Founder visa
The Innovator Founder visa is granted for a maximum of 3 years and can be extended for a further 3 years, with no limit on the number of extensions. To extend, you need a new endorsement, this time under the same business criteria: the company is registered with Companies House, you are listed as a director or member, and the business is active, trading, sustainable and has made significant progress against the business plan. You can also extend with a new business if it is endorsed as a new venture.
You must also show that you have attended at least two contact point meetings with your endorsing body and confirm that you will attend two more during your next period of permission. If your endorsement is withdrawn, your visa may be cut short, so keep a good working relationship with the endorsing body throughout your stay.
Apply to extend before your current visa expires. Decisions usually take up to 8 weeks, and you must not travel outside the UK, Ireland, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man until you get a decision — otherwise your application will be withdrawn. Your family members’ visas are not extended automatically: they apply together with you or later, but before their own visas expire.
Indefinite leave to remain for Innovator Founders
A founder can apply for indefinite leave to remain (ILR) after 3 years on the Innovator Founder visa. You need a fresh endorsement letter issued no more than 3 months before you apply. It must confirm that the business is registered with Companies House, active and trading, appears sustainable for at least the next 12 months, has shown significant achievements against the business plan, and that you play a key role in managing it. In addition, the business must meet at least two of seven criteria:
- at least £50,000 has been invested in the business and actively spent furthering it;
- the number of customers has at least doubled within the most recent 3 years and is higher than the mean for comparable UK businesses;
- the business has engaged in significant research and development and applied for intellectual property protection in the UK;
- annual gross revenue of at least £1 million in the last full year covered by its accounts;
- annual gross revenue of at least £500,000, with at least £100,000 from exporting overseas;
- the equivalent of at least 10 full-time jobs created for settled workers;
- the equivalent of at least 5 full-time jobs created for settled workers, each with a mean salary of at least £25,000 a year.
You cannot rely on the same criterion twice: investing £100,000 counts as one criterion, not two. If several members of a founding team are applying for settlement, they cannot share the same means of meeting the criteria — two founders relying on 10 jobs need 20 jobs in total. Each job must have existed for at least 12 months and involve an average of at least 30 hours of paid work a week.
Apart from the business criteria, the founder must meet the continuous residence requirement (Appendix Continuous Residence) and pass the Life in the UK Test. Long absences from the UK can break your qualifying period, so plan your travel over the 3 years with these rules in mind.
The consultation on Earned Settlement ran from November 2025 to February 2026. According to a Home Office announcement, the government proposes fast-tracking high earners and entrepreneurs to settlement in 3 years. One change has already been made: from March 2027, most settlement applications will require English at level B2. Until the outcome is published, the current rules apply — 3 years for the founder.
British citizenship after ILR
British citizenship does not follow automatically from ILR — naturalisation is a separate process with its own requirements. Under the GOV.UK guidance on applying for citizenship, you can usually apply if you have lived in the UK for 5 years and have held ILR for 12 months. A founder who settles after 3 years therefore needs to wait until both periods are complete.
The following are also taken into account:
- no more than 450 days outside the UK in the 5 years before you apply and no more than 90 days in the last 12 months;
- no breaches of the immigration rules and meeting the good character requirement;
- proof of English and the Life in the UK Test, if not already provided.
For more on the process, fees and documents, see the page on British citizenship. The UK allows dual citizenship, but you should separately check the rules of the country whose citizenship you currently hold.
Practical examples: how the route works
The Innovator Founder visa suits entrepreneurs in very different situations. Here are three typical scenarios.
A tech start-up founder applying from abroad
An entrepreneur has developed a SaaS product for logistics and wants to enter the UK and European markets. He prepares a business plan with a hiring forecast, obtains an endorsement, applies from his home country with his wife and child and, after relocating, registers a UK company and opens a business bank account.
A UK university graduate
A master’s student has completed her course and wants to develop a health tech project she started while studying. She switches to the Innovator Founder visa without leaving the UK: she meets the financial requirement with a bank statement and secures an endorsement on the strength of her prototype and first pilot customers.
An entrepreneur on a former Start-up or Innovator visa
A company owner who came to the UK on an Innovator visa before April 2023 extends his stay under the same business criteria. He no longer needs investment funds: what matters is showing that the business is active, trading and on track with its plan, and obtaining a new endorsement from the same organisation.
These scenarios are not just theory: below are success stories of Imperial & Legal clients who have taken this route.
Success stories on the Innovator visa
Innovator founder visa case: successful relocation of a tech entrepreneur from Argentina to the UK
Imperial & Legal guided a high-tech entrepreneur from Argentina through every stage of relocation to...
How we helped Diego and Marina move to UK: visas and new accommodation
Diego is the owner of a successful business. His income allowed him to live a comfortable life in Mexico, where he was born and raised. But the...
How an entrepreneur from Portugal started a medical business in the UK
Our client Daniel is 42 years old and comes from Portugal. He has been involved in the medical business for many years, and his colleagues say he has...
Helping entrepreneurs from Brazil to buy a house in UK
Edoardo and Marina moved to the UK from São Paulo, Brazil, a few years ago. The company they founded develops and implements artificial intelligence technologies. Major investors have already shown...
Obtaining UK Innovator Founder Visa and Registering UK Company for Owner of IT Company from India
Our Client Harif is a 34-year-old from Mysore. Since he was a child, computers have been his...
Innovator Visa For Family From USA
Doing business in the UK is great because it is one of the world’s business hubs free of bureaucracy. You can also benefit from the UK taxation system. The UK Corporation Tax rate at 19% is the...
One of these clients, a technology founder from Argentina, explained why he chose the UK for his project.
I have a business in Argentina related to the high-tech sector. I had long-standing plans to enter the UK market. It is much easier to find serious investors and launch a promising project designed to last several years here. Therefore, I obtained an innovator visa in advance, but I did not have any free time to prepare for the move.
As his story shows, the visa is only part of the task: once it is granted, an entrepreneur still needs to organise the move, find a home and get the company running in a new market.
Innovator Founder and other UK business visas
The Innovator Founder visa is not the only way to run a business or work in the UK. The right choice depends on whether you have your own idea, an employer or recognised achievements in your field.
| Feature | Innovator Founder | Global Talent | Skilled Worker | UK Expansion Worker |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basis | Your own innovative business endorsed by an endorsing body | Endorsement by a relevant body or a prestigious prize | Job offer from an employer with a sponsor licence | Transfer to set up a UK branch of an overseas business |
| Visa length | Up to 3 years, unlimited extensions | Up to 5 years at a time | Up to 5 years before extending | Usually up to 12 months |
| Route to ILR | After 3 years if the business criteria are met | After 3 or 5 years depending on the field | After 5 years | Does not lead to settlement |
| Employer needed | No | No | Yes | Yes, an overseas employer |
If you already have recognised achievements, for example in digital technology, the Global Talent visa may be a better fit: it does not require a business plan endorsement or contact point meetings. If your company already trades overseas and is opening a UK branch, the UK Expansion Worker visa may suit you, although it does not lead to settlement. If you have a job offer, consider the Skilled Worker visa. The settlement periods in the table reflect the current rules and may change after the Earned Settlement reforms.
Common mistakes in Innovator Founder visa applications
Refusals on this route are usually caused not by the idea itself but by how it is presented and how the timing is managed. The most common mistakes are:
- A weak business plan. Generic statements without market, competitor and financial analysis will not convince an endorsing body that the idea is innovative and viable.
- An idea without innovation. A restaurant, shop or standard service with nothing to set it apart from the market rarely passes the assessment.
- Unclear source of funds. The endorsing body must be satisfied that your money is legitimate, and gaps in the evidence raise concerns.
- An expired endorsement. The letter can only be used for 3 months; if your visa documents are not ready in time, you will have to start again.
- Maintenance funds held for too short a period. The £1,270 must be in your account for 28 consecutive days and cannot be part of your investment funds.
- Missed contact point meetings. Without two meetings with the endorsing body you cannot extend your visa, and your endorsement may be withdrawn.
Many of these mistakes can be spotted before you apply, through a professional review of your business plan and documents. If you are unsure whether your project will pass the assessment, it is better to find out early than to lose time and the application fee.
Where to start preparing for the Innovator Founder visa
The Innovator Founder visa is one of the few routes that let an entrepreneur move to the UK without an employer and without a fixed investment amount, and — if the business grows successfully — settle after 3 years. In return, the rules demand a genuinely innovative idea, a well-structured business plan and ongoing evidence of progress to the endorsing body.
Start with an honest assessment of your idea against the four criteria — new, innovative, viable and scalable. Then check your English, your personal savings and the evidence of where your capital comes from. Plan the timing so that your endorsement does not expire before you apply, and think ahead about which two of the seven settlement criteria your business can realistically meet within 3 years. Bear in mind that after the move you will need accounting services and filings with Companies House and HMRC.
This page is for information only and does not constitute individual legal advice. Immigration rules and fees change, so check the requirements on GOV.UK on the date you apply or speak to a specialist.
