This article outlines everything that applicants should know regarding the Innovator visa.

Purpose and length of stay

The innovator route is open to applicants who:

  • are experienced businesspeople looking to establish a business in the United Kingdom;
  • are the founders of their business, relying on their own business plans;
  • have an innovative, viable and scalable business idea;
  • are supported by an endorsing body;
  • have £50,000 funding to invest in their business, unless they are switching from the Tier 1 (Graduate Entrepreneur) or Start-up category (relying on the same business for which the initial visa was obtained) and are able to demonstrate that their business is performing adequately;
  • are 18 years old or over; and
  • will not be employed as doctors or dentists in training or as professional sportspeople.

This route offers three years' leave for both initial and extension applications. There is no maximum time limit for this category and it can lead to settlement in the United Kingdom. If the applicant is applying for leave to remain from within the United Kingdom, they must have, or have last had, leave in any of the following categories:

  • Innovator;
  • Start-up;
  • Tier 1 (Graduate Entrepreneur);
  • Tier 2; or
  • Visitor (Prospective Entrepreneur).

Applicants need not be the sole founder of the business and the business can already be trading as long as they are one of its founders.

Endorsing bodies

Applicants must have an appropriately issued endorsement from a Home Office-approved endorsing body for this category.

The endorsing body will:

  • stay in contact with those whom they have endorsed at checkpoints six, 12 and 24 months after the application has been granted;
  • inform the Home Office if, at these checkpoints, the individual has not made reasonable progress with their original business venture and is not pursuing a new business venture that also meets the endorsement criteria;
  • inform the Home Office if an applicant misses a checkpoint without the endorsing body's authorisation;
  • withdraw its endorsement if checkpoint requirements are not complied with, unless it is aware of exceptional and compelling reasons not to do so. The Home Office must be made aware of these reasons; and
  • inform the Home Office if it has any reason to believe that the endorsed individual has breached any of their conditions of stay.

Immigration permission as an innovator will be cut short if an endorsing body withdraws its endorsement of an individual migrant or loses its status as an endorsing body for this category.

Endorsement criteria for applicants will differ depending on whether the applicant is relying on a new business or the same business.

New business endorsement can occur where:

  • the application is an initial application or an extension application; and
  • the applicant is pursuing a different business venture from that which was assessed in the endorsement which led to their previous grant of leave.

Evidence of investment funds is required.

Same business endorsement can occur where:

  • the applicant's last grant of leave was in the Tier 1 (Graduate Entrepreneur), Start-up or Innovator category; and
  • the applicant is pursuing the same business venture that was assessed in the endorsement which led to that grant of leave.

Start-up visa holders who have changed their business venture during their leave with approval from their endorsing body will need to meet the 'same business' criteria when they submit an application for the Innovator category.

In all cases, the endorsement must be obtained before making an application. Thus, an applicant who is in the United Kingdom with existing leave must ensure that they have received an endorsement and made an application under the Innovator category before their current leave expires so that they can avoid overstaying.

Endorsement criteria for initial and extension applications

New business endorsement criteria

Same business endorsement criteria
  • Innovation – the applicant has a genuine and original business plan that meets new or existing market needs or creates a competitive advantage.
  • Viability – the applicant has the necessary skills, knowledge, experience and market awareness to successfully run their business. This criterion will be met only if the business plan is realistic and achievable based on the applicant's available resources.
  • Scalability – there is evidence of structured planning and potential for job creation and growth into national and international markets.
  • Working time – the endorsing body must be satisfied that the applicant will spend their entire working time in the United Kingdom developing business ventures.
  • The applicant has shown significant achievements judged against their previous business plan.
  • The company is registered with Companies House and the applicant is listed as a director or member of that business.
  • The business is active and trading.
  • The business appears to be sustainable for at least the following 12 months.
  • The applicant has demonstrated a key role in the daily management and development of their business.
  • The endorsing body is reasonably satisfied that the applicant will spend their entire working time in the United Kingdom continuing to develop business ventures.

Confirmation that the applicant meets the appropriate endorsement criteria must be included in an endorsement letter, which must also contain:

  • the endorsing body's name;
  • an endorsement reference number;
  • the date of issue (no earlier than three months before the application date);
  • the applicant's name, date of birth, nationality and passport number;
  • a short description of the applicant's business venture and the main product or services that it provides or will provide to its customers; and
  • the name and contact details (eg, phone number, email and workplace address) of an individual at the endorsing body who will verify the contents of the letter to the Home Office if requested.

The endorsing body must not have withdrawn its support by the time that the decision maker considers the application.

Investment funds for new businesses

Where an applicant is seeking to meet the 'new business' endorsement criteria, at least £50,000 of funding must be available to invest in the applicant's business. This can include funds already invested in the business.

Where the applicant is not the sole founder, there must be at least £50,000 of funding available per non-resident Innovator team member.

No further evidence is required where the endorsement letter confirms that at least £50,000 is available to the applicant or has already been invested in the business.

Where not confirmed by the endorsement letter, the applicant must provide:

  • evidence in the form of a letter from any organisation or individual providing the funding (an additional declaration, legal representative letter and bank letter will be required if the funding is coming from an overseas organisation, a UK organisation employing fewer than 10 people or an individual person); or
  • bank statements or bank letters proving that the funds are held in a regulated financial institution and, if relevant, are transferrable to the United Kingdom, where funds are held by the applicant.

Genuineness and other considerations

In addition to having an endorsement, the Home Office will make its own assessments in relation to an applicant's:

  • ability and intention to establish a business in the United Kingdom;
  • intention to comply with their immigration conditions; and
  • intention to use any relevant investment funds for the purposes set out in their application, and to those funds being available as claimed.

Applicants in the Innovator category must also meet an English-language requirement, which is set at Level B2 of the Council of Europe's common European framework for language and learning, as well as a cash fund maintenance requirement of £945 and £630 for any dependants.

The Home Office can ask for further information or evidence from the applicant or endorsing body and may refuse the application if it is not satisfied that the endorsement was issued appropriately.

Settlement

If the applicant is making a settlement (eg, indefinite leave to remain) application, the endorsement letter must confirm that the 'same business' endorsement criteria continue to be satisfied and that the applicant's business venture meets at least two of the following requirements:

  • At least £50,000 has been invested into the business and actively spent furthering the business plan assessed in the applicant's previous endorsement.
  • The number of the business's customers has at least doubled within the past three 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 IP protection in the United Kingdom.
  • The business has generated a minimum annual gross revenue of £1 million in the past year.
  • The business has generated a minimum annual gross revenue of £500,000 in the past full year covered by its accounts, with at least £100,000 from exporting overseas.
  • The business has created the equivalent of at least 10 full-time jobs for resident workers.
  • The business has created the equivalent of at least five full-time jobs for resident workers, who have an average salary of at least £25,000.

Where the applicant relies on job creation criteria, jobs must:

  • have existed for at least 12 months and comply with all relevant UK legislation; and
  • require at least 30 hours' paid work per week.

An applicant can rely on any combination of the above, even if similar or overlapping, but cannot rely on one requirement twice.

If the business venture has one or more other team members who are applying for, or who have been granted, settlement as an innovator, they cannot share the same means of meeting the settlement requirements.