Need Help With Your UK Innovator Founder Visa Application?
Immigration advice and application support for founders building an innovative UK business.
You have a business idea and plans for the UK. We help you understand how the Innovator Founder route works, what endorsement means for your application and which immigration requirements you need to meet.
Whether you are preparing for your first application or hold an endorsement, your case is managed by a qualified, authorised and regulated immigration adviser. We agree the work and professional fee before you instruct us.
Prefer to speak to the team? Request a Call Back.
Is Innovator Founder the Right Route for Your Business?
The Innovator Founder Visa replaced the former UK Innovator Visa. It is sometimes described as a UK entrepreneur visa, but it has specific requirements beyond owning a business or investing money.
For a new business endorsement, your venture must be innovative, viable and scalable. You must have generated or significantly contributed to the business idea and intend to play a day-to-day role in carrying it out.
The route is not a general permission for anyone buying an existing business or registering a UK company. An approved endorsing body must assess the proposed venture against the relevant criteria.
If you are exploring your options, our UK business visa routes guide explains why the intended activity matters. We can help identify which immigration questions need answering before you commit to an application.
How We Help With Your Innovator Founder Application
When instructed for appropriate immigration application work, the Knightsbridge Immigration team manages the process from initial contact to case preparation and submission.
1. Review your immigration position and application stage
Your adviser checks your current permission, proposed application, endorsement position and relevant history. We establish whether the work falls within our authorised scope and explain any need for referral.
2. Explain the requirements and evidence
We explain the immigration requirements, the role of the endorsing body and the documents needed for the agreed visa application. You receive tailored guidance on evidence, outstanding information and relevant dates.
3. Prepare the agreed application work
We review the material provided, raise inconsistencies and prepare the visa application within the agreed scope. You check the application details and approve them before submission.
4. Manage submission and remaining steps
We manage the agreed submission process and explain identity verification, biometrics and evidence instructions. You remain responsible for accurate information, requested documents and the business information supplied to the endorsing body.
Our UK visa document checklist guide explains how documents should support the relevant requirements.
Endorsement and Immigration Advice Have Different Roles
An approved endorsing body assesses the business against the endorsement criteria. The Home Office decides the visa application. An endorsement does not guarantee a visa, and an immigration adviser cannot guarantee endorsement.
We explain how the endorsement process connects with the immigration application and identify the evidence needed for the work you instruct us to undertake. The endorsement letter normally needs to have been issued within three months before the visa application.
Business planning, commercial research, accounting and investment advice may require separate professional input. The business idea and its supporting explanations must reflect your genuine contribution and circumstances.
If your needs include work outside our immigration service, we explain what requires a separate arrangement. We do not promise to obtain investment or turn an unsuitable business into an eligible venture.
What Do Innovative, Viable and Scalable Mean?
Innovative: The business needs a genuine, original plan that meets market needs or creates a competitive advantage. A standard business with a new name is not automatically innovative.
Viable: The plan must be realistic and achievable with the resources available. Your skills, knowledge, experience and market awareness matter, including those you are actively developing.
Scalable: There must be structured planning and potential for job creation and growth into national and international markets.
These are substantive tests. A professionally formatted business plan alone does not establish that they are met. The endorsing body assesses the venture and your role in it.
Do You Need to Invest £50,000?
There is no fixed £50,000 minimum investment requirement for an initial Innovator Founder application. The old blanket investment figure should not be used as the current entry test.
For a new venture, you still need credible funding and an explanation of its source. The amount needed depends on what the business will realistically cost to establish and develop.
Business funding is separate from the personal maintenance requirement. Investing £50,000 can also be relevant to one of the later settlement business-achievement criteria, but it is not the only criterion and does not by itself secure settlement.
English Language Requirement and Personal Funds
Unless an exemption applies, you need English at B2 in reading, writing, speaking and listening. Evidence may include an approved test or another permitted method, such as a qualifying degree.
Applicants applying from overseas generally need at least £1,270 in personal maintenance funds, held for the required 28-day period. An applicant applying inside the UK after at least 12 months with permission generally does not need to show maintenance funds.
Business investment funds cannot simply be reused as your personal maintenance evidence. Eligible dependants have separate requirements. We explain which documents apply to the immigration work being prepared.
What Will the Application Cost?
We provide a written quotation for our professional work after establishing the service you need. The quote identifies the work included, your responsibilities and any separate tasks or applications.
Current external charges include:
| Item | Current charge |
|---|---|
| Visa application from outside the UK | £1,357 per person |
| In-country switch or extension | £1,693 per person |
| Endorsement application | £1,000 per person, excluding VAT |
| Mandatory contact point meeting | £500 per meeting, excluding VAT |
At least two contact point meetings are required during the permission period. Endorsement and meeting fees are paid to the endorsing body. The Immigration Health Surcharge and other applicable costs are additional.
These charges are separate from our professional fee. See our immigration fees page, or Start a Query for a quotation covering your proposed work.
Already in the UK or Continuing an Endorsed Business?
Whether you can switch depends on your current immigration category and circumstances. Visitors and some other categories normally cannot switch into Innovator Founder inside the UK. Student applicants have additional conditions to check.
If you already hold Innovator, Innovator Founder or relevant earlier endorsed permission, the same-business criteria and endorsing arrangements may need reviewing. Do not assume that an earlier endorsement automatically supports a new application.
Our Start-Up Visa alternatives guide provides context for people considering options after the closure of that route.
What Happens When You Get in Touch?
Start a Query with your current location, immigration status, proposed business activity and any deadline. Tell us whether you have an endorsement, have contacted an endorsing body or already hold endorsed permission.
If you are applying with co-founders, tell us who will need UK immigration permission and how responsibilities are shared. Each founder must meet the relevant visa application requirements; endorsement of one person does not automatically cover another.
We use that information to establish whether we can assist and explain the appropriate service, scope and fee. Detailed advice, document review and application preparation are agreed before they begin.
Start a Query or Request a Call Back.
Innovator Founder Visa Questions
How long does the visa last?
Permission is normally granted for three years. You must continue meeting the conditions and attend the required endorsing-body meetings. Further permission may be available if the requirements are met.
Can this route lead to Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR)?
Settlement may be possible after three qualifying years. You need a further endorsement and must meet the business-achievement, continuous residence and other requirements. The business must satisfy at least two specified achievement criteria. Three years of residence alone is insufficient.
Can my partner and children apply?
Eligible dependants may apply, subject to their own relationship, financial and other requirements. Each person has separate costs. Dependants do not automatically qualify for settlement when the founder does.
How long does a visa decision take?
Published standard times are usually three weeks for an overseas application and eight weeks for an in-country application. Endorsement assessment and application preparation are separate stages. Additional checks can extend the timetable. Our after-submission guide explains the general process.
What if endorsement or my visa application has been refused?
Tell us when enquiring and provide the relevant decision when requested. Refusal advice, complex representations and work outside our authorised scope are referred to our solicitor partners, who agree their own engagement and fees with you.
Take the Next Step With Your UK Business Plans
Tell us where you are in the process. We will explain the immigration work available and the next step for your circumstances.
Prefer a conversation? Request a Call Back.
AHJ Immigration is a brand of Knightsbridge Immigration Ltd, which is authorised and regulated by the Immigration Advice Authority. All advice and casework are managed through Knightsbridge Immigration Ltd.
