Innovator Visa

Eligible international innovators must:

• Have their business plan assessed by an endorsing body
• Meet the English language requirement
• Be at least 18 years old
• Have enough personal savings to support themselves while in the UK

To be eligible for this visa, you must have had at least £945 in your bank account for 90 consecutive days before you submit your application form. To support yourself, you cannot use one of the following:

• Money from your investment funds
• Money earned while working in the UK illegally
• Money from shared investment funds

Eligible UK Innovator Visa applicants may need to prove their knowledge of the English language to meet innovator visa requirements. To this end, you can either:

• Pass an approved English language test with at least CEFR level B2 in writing, reading, speaking and listening
• Having an academic qualification that was taught in English and is recognised by UK NARIC as being equivalent to a UK bachelor’s degree, master’s degree or PhD

You do not need to prove your knowledge of English if you have already proved it in an earlier successful application, or if you are a national of an English-speaking country.

When applying for this visa category, you must provide a bundle of documents to demonstrate your eligibility, and which must include:

• An endorsement letter from an approved body that has assessed your business idea
• Your passport or other valid travel identification
• Bank statements showing that you have and at least £945 in savings in your bank account for 90 consecutive days before your application
• Proof that you meet the English language requirements
• Your tuberculosis test results (if applicable)

You will also need to provide a certified translation of any document that is not in English or Welsh.

You can apply online. If your application is successful, you will need to have your fingerprints and photograph taken at a visa application centre to get a biometric residence permit.

Your biometric residence permit must be collected within 10 days of the date you intend to enter the UK.

If you hold an Innovator Visa, you can stay in the UK for 3 years. After this time, you can apply to extend your permit for another 3 years. There is no limit to the number of times you can apply to renew your immigration status as an international innovator.

The same rules apply if you are switching to this visa from another category. You may be able to apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain in the UK once you have been in this country on this immigration status for 3 years.

To start the innovator founder application process, you need endorsement from an authorised body. These bodies, listed on the Home Office website, include Envestors Limited, UK Endorsing Services, Innovator International, and The Global Entrepreneurs Programme (GEP). If you applied for the innovator visa scheme before 13 April 2023, the previous endorsing bodies can still endorse you, but only for the same business idea as your previous application.

Visa holders can settle in the UK on this visa route, and the time accrued on an Innovator visa will count towards UK settlement requirements.

You need to apply for a UK Innovator Visa extension before your current permit expires. To be eligible for a renewal, you must submit your application online and:

• Keep meeting the eligibility requirements
• Be still running a business in the UK or intend to set a new one (provided that you have £50,000 in investment funds to set up a new business)

You do not need to have your business or business idea assessed by an approved body to extend your stay in the UK. It will take up to 8 weeks to get your decision from the Home Office.

It costs £1,036 to apply for an Innovator Visa from outside the UK. This does not include a further fee of £19.20 to have your biometric information taken.

If you are already in the UK and you wish to extend your Innovator Visa or switch to this permit from another immigration status, you will be charged £1,292.

The same fees apply for each member of your family you wish to include in your application as your dependant.

In addition, you will also have to pay the healthcare surcharge, which amount depends on your personal circumstances.

You may be able to switch to an Innovator Visa if you currently hold one of the following permits:

• UK Start-up Visa
• Graduate Entrepreneur Visa
• Entrepreneur Visa
• Any T2 visa
• Standard Visitor Visa provided that you came in the UK to get the funding necessary to set up your business and you already hold a supporting letter from an endorsing body

If you are on a different visa type, you may still be able to change your status into an Innovator Visa. However, you may need to first leave the UK and submit your application from abroad.

Additionally, if you plan to switch to this visa from a Student visa, one of the following must apply to you:

• You’ve completed the course you were sponsored to study on your Student visa
• The start date of your job is after the completion date of your course
• You’ve been studying for a PhD for at least 24 months

You can include the following family members in your application:

• Your partner
• Your child under 18
• Your children over 18 who are currently in the UK as dependants

You must have £630 available for each dependant in addition to the £945 you need to support yourself.

As part of your application, you need to show proof of these funds, which must have been in your bank account or your dependants’ account for at least 90 days before you apply.

The earliest you can submit your Innovator Visa application is 3 months before the date you plan to enter the UK.

You should get a decision on your visa from the Home Office within 3 weeks. However, the processing time may be longer if you applied from outside the UK.

If you wish to get a faster decision, you can apply for the Home Office’s Priority service. To learn more about this option or to enquire about the predicted processing time of your application, you can contact our team of immigration lawyers in Birmingham.

Your family members must submit their application online. They will need to have their fingerprints and photograph taken at a visa application centre to get their biometric residence permit. This must then be collected within 10 days of the date they intend to enter the UK.

Children over the age of 18 cannot apply if they are outside the UK. Nevertheless, they can submit their application from inside the UK if they are already here as your dependants.

You family members can extend or switch their visas if they are already in the UK. They can either apply as dependent partners or children. However, they cannot submit their application from within the UK if they hold a Visitor Visa.