If you want to operate a UK business and you need a visa because you are a non-UK national and you meet the innovator visa immigration rules, you will need to provide a genuine business idea that has been endorsedby one of the Home Office endorsing bodies. The endorsing body will want to see if your business is innovative, viable and scalable. On top of your business idea, you need to provide financial forecasting.

Up until 28 March 2019 this visa route was known as Tier 1 Entrepreneur. From 29 March 2019 Innovator is the entrepreneur visa. The Home Office caseworkers will no longer verify your business plan or business idea, unless you first secure an endorsing body letter with a pin reference, you cannot apply for this visa under Leave to Enter or Leave to Remain.

Under the new Innovator visa route, these are the major changes:

• You only need £50,000 under Innovator whereas Tier 1 Entrepreneur you needed £200,000.
• You now need CEFR Level B2 English whereas under Tier 1 Entrepreneur it was CEFR Level B1.
• Under Innovator a professional firm would validate your business plan, under Tier 1 Entrepreneur Home Office would validate.

Note: If you prefer to apply under Start-Up, the endorsement options are different.

Under this visa route, you must start a UK business, this can be a director of a limited business, self-employed or partnership. You are not permitted to be take up employment with another organisation in the UK.

Can I work for another organisation?

This is not permitted under Innovator visa. It is permitted under Start-up visa, but Start-Up visa route cannot be extended past 2 years.

Click hereto learn more about Innovator visa route.

The application is done in two phases. First you need an approved body to approve your business idea. At present there are 46 organisationapproved by the Home Office. 

Before contacting an endorsing body, have you prepared the following:

• Innovative, viable and scalable business idea?
• Financial forecasting?

Unless you are able to demonstrate the above, you will not get endorsement.

Once the above has been done, you will need to contact the endorsing bodies. They will expect you to demonstrate you are a founder of an idea or business and have the entrepreneurial skills to make your business a real success. If you need help preparing the above, contact G4I for help.

You need to comply to immigration rule W6.1 Endorsement Criteria. A letter must be issued by the endorsing body and they have been allocated a number they can endorse. The endorsement body will issue you a 11 digit in your endorsement letter which must be provided as part of your visa application. 

If you need help with an endorsement letter, G4I has already designed one for one of the endorsing bodies. If key data is not included in the letter, it will impact on your visa application. Contact us for further guidance.

Important

A key aspect is demonstrating, to the endorsing body, that you will spend the majority of your time running your business.

Visa Process

Once endorsement has been secured, you can start the process 2.

The initial application can be:

• Leave to Enter
• Leave to Remain

How much funding will I need for my business?

You will need access to £50,000 in funds. Funds can be your own funds, gifts to you from family or, investment by a third-party such as a Venture Capitalist Firm. Depending on how you obtained your funds will depend on what evidence you must provide.

If you are in the UK on a valid visa that permits switching into this visa category, different rules are likely to apply.

English

You are required to provide evidence of your ability to Speak, Read, Listen and Write to CEFR B2 Level.

Innovator Teams

If two innovators want to apply as a team they can do so. They will both need £50,000 in funds and both will need to apply under their own visa form, but the two innovator applications will be considered as a team as long as the Home Office is aware of this. Prior to applying for your visa, both would apply together as a team to get endorsement.

Financial Savings

Whether applying under Leave to Enter or Leave to Remain, you must demonstrate in your visa application that you have held for 90 consecutive days £945.00 in a regulated financial institute.

How long will the visa be granted for?

The initial visa will be granted for 3 years.

To extend the Innovator visa you will need to comply to the immigration rules whilst in the UK, still be endorsed and have a valid visa when applying.

One of the rules is getting your business endorsed again. You can go back to the same endorsement body that initially endorsed you or, get endorsement from any endorsing body as long as the endorsing body is on the Home Office approved listwhich is often updated.

Funding

You do not need to have £50,000 to get your visa extended but you must demonstrate that you invested your initial £50,000. If you prefer to start-up a new business, then you will need another £50,000 investment.

You must demonstrate to the endorsing body that you are still running a viable business, the business idea you originally got endorsed business plan and you complied to the immigration rules. If you decide to start up another new business, you must demonstrate first to the endorsing body that the business is innovative, viable and scalable.

Note: You must also demonstrate that you will spend the majority of your time running your business.

How do I comply to running a business as an innovator?

When you obtain endorsement, one of the rules is to report back to your endorsing body and they will look at your business and confirm if you are still on track. If you decide not to bother with your business, you are then likely to get your visa curtailed.

You might want our Business Plan, Road Map and Financial Forecasting Services. A typical business plan will cover areas you would expect a business plan to cover but our custom-made service offering doesn't just look as a business plan, we can tailor a number of other factors like UK Compliance, Sponsoring Overseas Workers and are you on track via our Road Map Support? 

How long can my visa be extended for?

There is no time limit which means every 3 years you can keep extending under this visa route.

Once you have been in the UK for 5 years under innovator visa route, you can apply for UK settlement, see settlement section below.

Can I settle via the Innovator visa route?

Yes, you can as long as you complied to the visa rules you are under.

Settlement period will depend whether your initial visa was under Leave to Enter or Leave to Remain.

Leave to Enter Guideline

Your entry visa was under Innovator which was approved on the 15 July 2019 and you landed in the UK on the 31 July 2016. You submitted an ‘In-time Innovator visa which was approved. Based on the above dates, you can apply for settlement status no earlier than 3 July 2024.

Leave to Remain Guideline

Your applied in the UK on the 15 July 2016 to switch from Start-Up or another approved visa into Innovator visa route, the Home Office approved the visa on the 12 September 2019. You then submitted an ‘In-time Innovator visa which was approved. Based on the above dates, you can apply for settlement status no earlier than 15 August 2021.

What about my dependants?

They can also apply to settle in the UK. See section below for further guidance.

Can my family apply under this visa route?

All 'direct' family members can apply to enter the UK or apply to remain in the UK under this visa route as your dependants.

Who are 'Direct' family members?

• Married or Civil Partnership
• Fiancé, Fiancée or Proposed Civil Partnership
• Unmarried partner
• Children aged 0-17 (entry visa only)
• Children aged 18 and over (if in the UK already and entered the UK under aged 18).

Family members sometimes apply with their primary partner but often they apply at a later date. Sometimes the primary partner obtains settlement once been in the UK 5 years and then bring their family members to the UK. Regardless when your family members apply as your dependant, if you obtained Innovator visa and then family applied, they must apply under this visa route until they can apply for UK settlement status.

Criminal Record Checks

Adult family members (18 and over) must provide a criminal record certificate from any country they have lived in for 12 months or more in the last 10 years.

Financial Savings

Each family member applying under Leave to Enter or Leave to Remain must demonstrate in their visa application that they have held for 90 consecutive days £630.00 in a regulated financial institute.