- Mon - Fri: 9:00 am - 06.00pm / Closed on Weekends
Menu
You can apply for an Innovator Founder visa if:
This visa used to be called the Innovator visa.
If you or your family member started living in the UK by 31 December 2020, you may be able to apply to the free EU Settlement Scheme.
The deadline to apply was 30 June 2021 for most people. You can still apply if either:
Check if you can still apply to the EU Settlement Scheme.
Otherwise you need a visa to work in the UK.
Irish citizens do not need to apply for a visa or to the EU Settlement Scheme.
You must be able to show that your business idea is:
You’ll need to get an endorsing body to assess that your business idea meets the requirements.
You must be able to speak, read, write and understand English. You’ll usually need
to prove your knowledge of English when you apply.
You may be eligible for another type of visa to work in the UK.
You can stay for 3 years if you either:
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 Your visa may be cut short if your endorsement is withdrawn by the endorsing body.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.
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.
You must apply online.
How you apply depends on whether you’re:
Your partner and children can apply to join you or stay in the UK as your ‘dependants’ if they’re eligible.
As part of your application, you’ll need to prove your identity and provide your documents.
You may need to allow extra time if you need an appointment to do this. You’ll find out if you need one when you start your application.
Once you’ve applied online, proved your identity, and provided your documents, you’ll usually get a decision on your visa within:
If you need to go to an appointment, you may be able to pay for a faster decision.
How you do this depends on whether you’re outside the UK or inside the UK
How much you pay for an Innovator Founder visa depends on your situation and where you apply from.
Who you’re applying for | Apply (outside the UK) | Extend or switch (in the UK) |
You | £1,036 | £1,292 |
Your partner and children | £1,036 each person | £1,292 each person |
You must pay the visa fee for each person that applies at the same time as you or applies later to join you in the UK.
You’ll also have to pay the healthcare surcharge as part of your application.
Check how much you’ll have to pay before you apply.
You’ll also need to have your biometric information (fingerprints and a photo) taken – there’s no fee for this.
With an Innovator Founder visa you can:
You cannot:
If your application is successful, you’ll get a full list of what you can and cannot do with an Innovator Founder visa.
Before you apply you need to have your business or business idea assessed by an endorsing body
They will provide you with an endorsement letter if your business is eligible.
You must also:
Read the specific requirements for the Innovator Founder visa before you apply.
You’ll need to prove to your endorsing body that you have enough funding and where it’s from.
You do not need any investment funds if either:
You need to have had at least £1,270 in your bank account for 28 consecutive days before you either:
You cannot use either of the following to support yourself:
Read the guidance on financial evidence for more information about the money you need and how to prove it.
You’ll usually need to prove your knowledge of the English language when you apply, unless you did this in a previous successful visa application.
You must prove you can read, write, speak and understand English to a level B2 on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) scale.
You can prove your knowledge of English by:
You do not need to prove your knowledge of English if you’re a national of one of the following countries or territories:
When you apply you need to provide an ‘endorsement letter’ to show that an endorsing body has assessed your business or business idea. You also need to provide:
If your documents are not in English or Welsh you’ll also need to provide a certified translation. You’ll need a blank page in your passport for your visa if you’re:
You may need to provide additional documents depending on your circumstances.
You must apply online for an Innovator Founder visa.
Check which documents you’ll need to apply.
You can apply online to extend an Innovator Founder visa you’ve had in the last year.
You may also be able to apply at a visa application centre. You can apply from any country as long as you’ve been given permission to live there for at least 6 months. Check if there’s a visa application center that you can travel to that accepts Innovator Founder visa applications.
You cannot switch to this visa if you have one of the following:
You can stay for 3 years after switching to an Innovator Founder visa.
There’s no limit on the number of times you can extend your visa.
