You should obtain an endorsement letter from an approved UK endorsing body which confirms that:

• You are a fit and proper person to receive endorsement under the Innovator Founder route;

• The endorsing body has no concerns over the source of any funds invested into your business;

• The endorsing body has no reason to believe that you or your business may be the beneficiary of illicit or unexplained wealth;

• You have a business plan and you either generated or made a significant contribution to the ideas in that business plan;

• You will have a day-to-day role in carrying out the business plan;

• You will have at least two Contact point meetings with the endorsing body at regular intervals;

• You are either the sole founder or an instrumental member of the founding team; and

• You have an innovative, viable and scalable business venture; 

• Your endorsement letter was issued not more than 3 months before the date of your Innovator visa application;

You can stay for 3 years if you either:

• come to the UK on an Innovator Founder visa

• switch to this visa from another visa while in the UK

You’ll need to meet with your endorsing body after 12 months and 24 months to show you’re making progress with your business. Your visa may be cut short if your endorsement is withdrawn by the endorsing body. If you want to stay longer, you must re-apply with a new endorsement before your current visa expires.

If you want to stay longer in the UK

You can apply to extend your stay for another 3 years when your visa is due to expire. There’s no limit on the number of times you can extend.

You may be able to apply for settlement once you’ve been in the UK for 3 years.

Once you’ve applied, proved your identity and provided your documents, you’ll usually get a decision on your visa within:

• 3 weeks, if you’re outside the UK

• 8 weeks, if you’re inside the UK

You may be able to pay to get a faster decision.

With an Innovator Founder visa you can:

• set up a business or several businesses

• work for your business - this includes being employed as a director, or self-employed as a member of a business partnership

• do work outside your business, as long as it’s ‘skilled work’ - for example, a job on the Skilled Worker eligible occupations list or a job needing at least a level 3 qualification

• bring your partner and children with you as your ‘dependants’, if they’re eligible

• travel abroad and return to the UK

• apply to settle permanently in the UK, if you’ve lived in the UK for 3 years and meet the other eligibility requirements

You cannot:

• work as a professional sportsperson, for example a sports coach

• apply for most benefits (public funds), or the State Pension

Your partner and children can also apply to join you or stay in the UK as your ‘dependants’ if they’re eligible.

If your partner or child’s application is successful, their visa will usually end on the same date as yours. If a child’s parents have visas with different expiry dates, the child’s visa will end on the earlier date.

A dependant partner or child is any of the following:

• your husband, wife, civil partner or unmarried partner

• your child under 18 - including if they were born in the UK during your stay

• your child over 18 if they’re currently in the UK as your dependant

You’ll need to provide evidence of your relationship to your dependant when you apply.

Your partner

You must be able to prove one of the following:

• you’re in a civil partnership or marriage that’s recognised in the UK

• you’ve been living together in a relationship for at least 2 years when you apply

• you’ve been in a relationship for at least 2 years when you apply but you cannot live together, for example because you’re working or studying in different places, or it’s not accepted in your culture

If you’re not living together, you’ll need to prove that you have an ongoing commitment to each other, for example by providing evidence that you:

• communicate regularly with each other

• support each other financially

• care for any children you have together

• spend time together as a couple, for example on holiday or at events

Your child

They must:

• live with you, unless they’re living away from home in full-time education - for example, at boarding school or university

• not be married or in a civil partnership

You’ll need to provide evidence of their address, such as:

• a bank statement

• credit card bills

• driving licence

• NHS registration document

• an official letter from their university or college

Money they need to support themselves

Your partner and children must each have a certain amount of money available to support themselves while they’re in the UK.

In addition to the £1,270 you must have to support yourself, you - or your partner or child - will need:

• £285 for your partner

• £315 for one child

• £200 for each additional child

You’ll usually need to show proof of this when you apply, unless you or they are applying from inside the UK and you’ve been here for 1 year or more.

In order to qualify for indefinite leave to remain as an Innovator Founder you will need to show that:

• You have been endorsed by an approved UK endorsing body that is satisfied that you have shown significant achievements judged against the business plan assessed in your previous endorsement, you are registered with Companies House as a Director or Member of your business, your business is active, trading and appears sustainable for at least the following 12 months and you have had an active key role in the day-to-day management and development of the business;;

• You satisfy at least two of the following:

  • At least £50,000 has been invested into the business and actively spent furthering your business;

  • The business has created the equivalent of at least 5 full-time jobs for settled workers, which have an average salary of at least £25,000 a year;

  • The business has created the equivalent of at least 10 full-time jobs for resident workers with no average salary requirement;

  • The number of customers has at least doubled within the most recent 3 years and is currently higher than the mean number of customers for other UK businesses offering comparable main products or services;

  • The business has engaged in significant research and development activity and has applied for intellectual property protection in the UK;

  • The business has generated a minimum annual gross revenue of £1 million in the last full year covered by its accounts;

  • The business has generated a minimum annual gross revenue of £500,000 in the last full year covered by its accounts, with at least £100,000 from exporting overseas.

• You have spent not more than 180 days outside the UK in any rolling 12 month period during the 3 years prior to the date of application; and

• You have sufficient knowledge of the English language and Life in the UK.