UK Innovator Founder Visa

The route requires an endorsement from one of four designated business endorsing bodies, and leads to Indefinite Leave to Remain after 3 years where the founder’s business meets defined progress markers.

What is the UK Innovator Founder Visa?

The UK Innovator Founder Visa is a 3-year work and business route for founders setting up a new business in the UK that is innovative, viable, and scalable. The route allows the founder to set up and run the endorsed business, take secondary employment in a skilled role outside the business, and bring dependants, with a direct pathway to Indefinite Leave to Remain at the 3-year point on the same visa.

The route is set out in Appendix Innovator Founder of the Immigration Rules and replaced the Innovator and Start-up visas on 13 April 2023. The minimum-investment requirement that applied to the previous Innovator route, of £50,000, was removed; instead, the endorsing body assesses whether the business has sufficient funds to be viable on its own facts, which is a qualitative test rather than a fixed financial threshold.

Who can apply for the UK Innovator Founder Visa?

A person can apply for an Innovator Founder Visa where they hold an endorsement from a designated business endorsing body, are aged 18 or over, meet the English language requirement at B2, can support themselves on arrival, and pass the Home Office’s suitability checks. The applicant must be a founder of the business, not an investor, a passive shareholder, or a hire.

The eligibility requirements set out in Appendix Innovator Founder, in plain English:

• Be aged 18 or over at the date of the visa application.
• Hold an endorsement from a designated business endorsing body for the role of founder, issued no more than 3 months before the date of application.
• Have a leading role in the business. The applicant must be actively running the business, not a passive shareholder or board adviser.
• Meet the innovation, viability and scalability test as assessed by the endorsing body (set out in detail below).
• Meet the English language requirement at CEFR level B2 in all four skills (speaking, listening, reading, writing).
• Meet the maintenance requirement. Hold at least £1,270 in savings for 28 consecutive days, in an account in the applicant’s name. The requirement is waived where the applicant has been in the UK with permission for at least 12 months at the date of application.
• Pass the suitability requirements in Part 9 of the Immigration Rules.
• Provide a valid passport or other travel document, and a tuberculosis test certificate where applying from a listed country.

A team of co-founders may apply on the same business where each co-founder is endorsed separately by the same body for the same business. Each co-founder meets the personal eligibility requirements independently.

To discuss eligibility for a particular business or set of co-founders, contact our immigration team on 0208 757 5751 or use our contact form.

The business idea requirement: innovation, viability and scalability

The business idea must be innovative, viable and scalable, and the applicant must have a leading role in the business. The three tests are defined in Appendix Innovator Founder.

• Innovative means the business has a genuinely original business plan that meets new or existing market needs and creates a competitive advantage. The idea cannot already be trading in the UK market in substantially the same form.
• Viable means the business plan is realistic and achievable based on the applicant’s available resources, skills and experience. The endorsing body assesses funding sufficiency on the facts; there is no fixed minimum investment.
• Scalable means the plan shows structured planning, potential for job creation, and the capacity to grow into national and international markets.

The three tests are assessed by the endorsing body, not by the Home Office. Each body publishes its own application form, evidence requirements and decision criteria within the Appendix Innovator Founder framework, but all four apply the same three tests in substance. A business plan that is well-evidenced on viability but thin on innovation, or that copies a model already common in the UK market, is the most common reason for an endorsement refusal.

The four endorsing bodies in 2026

Four business endorsing bodies are designated under Appendix Innovator Founder as of 2026. Tech Nation, universities and accelerators that previously held endorsing status are now legacy bodies and manage existing endorsees only; they do not accept new Innovator Founder applications.

• UK Endorsing Services (UKES) is the largest by volume and accepts applications from any sector at any stage of business maturity. UKES also endorses Scale-up visa applications.
• Innovator International is sector-agnostic and operates with a defined application process and panel review for both Innovator Founder and Scale-up routes.
• Envestors Limited is investor-network-led and is best suited where the business has, or is positioning for, equity investment.
• The Global Entrepreneurs Programme (GEP) is invitation-only and is run by the Department for Business and Trade to attract a small number of high-impact founders, typically in deep tech, life sciences and advanced manufacturing. Applicants cannot apply to GEP directly; the programme identifies and invites candidates.

A founder cannot hold multiple live endorsements. Where an application to one body is refused or withdrawn, an application to another body is permitted, with the new body assessing the business on its own criteria. The previous decision does not bind the second body but is usually disclosed.

The endorsement process and contact point meetings

The endorsement application is the first stage and is made directly to the chosen endorsing body. The body reviews the business plan, conducts a panel or one-to-one assessment, and either endorses the founder or refuses the endorsement. Endorsement fees are set by each body. Endorsement is valid for 3 months from issue; the visa application must be lodged within that window.

After the visa is granted, the founder must attend two mandatory contact point meetings with the endorsing body during the 3-year visa period, at 12 and 24 months from grant of leave. At each contact point, the endorsing body reviews progress against the business plan, the trading position, and the founder’s continuing involvement in running the business. Where progress is materially off-plan, or the founder has stepped back from active involvement, the endorsing body can withdraw the endorsement. Withdrawal triggers curtailment of the leave, with the founder given a defined period to leave the UK or apply for an alternative route.

English language

The applicant must meet the English language requirement at CEFR level B2 or above. The requirement is met by holding an academic qualification taught in English (evidenced by an Ecctis Academic Qualification Level Statement where the qualification is from a non-UK institution), being a national of a majority English-speaking country named in the Immigration Rules, or passing a Secure English Language Test from an approved provider at the required level. Previous applications and previous English language tests passed for other UK visas are recognised on the conditions set in the Rules.

Permitted activities on the Innovator Founder Visa

The Innovator Founder Visa permits the founder to set up and run the endorsed business, take secondary employment in a skilled role outside the business, study, and bring dependants. Secondary employment must be at RQF Level 3 or above, must not exceed 20 hours per week where it would crowd out the founder’s involvement in the endorsed business, and must not replace the endorsed business as the founder’s primary activity.

The visa does not extend to most public funds. The founder cannot use the Innovator Founder route to join an existing business that is already trading in substantially the same form. The route is also not a route for investor passive participation; the founder must have a leading role in the day-to-day running of the business.

Dependants on the Innovator Founder Visa

The main applicant’s partner and children may apply as dependants. The partner must be the spouse, civil partner, unmarried partner with at least 2 years of being in a relationship akin to marriage or same-sex partner. Children must be under 18 at the date of the dependant application, or have previously been granted leave as a dependant on the route.

Switching into the Innovator Founder Visa

A founder in the UK on most work or study routes may switch into Innovator Founder without leaving the country. Eligible routes include Student, Graduate, Skilled Worker, Health and Care Worker, Global Talent, Start-up, the closed Innovator route, High Potential Individual, Scale-up, and Representative of an Overseas Business. The founder applies for endorsement first, then makes the visa application from inside the UK.

Switching has no effect on the settlement timeline; the 3-year qualifying period for ILR is calculated from the date the Innovator Founder leave begins, not from the date of switching. A founder who switches from Start-up retains any time spent on Start-up only where the business endorsed under Start-up is the same business being endorsed under Innovator Founder, and the endorsing body confirms continuity.

Extension and settlement

The Innovator Founder Visa is granted for 3 years and may be extended for further 3-year periods where the endorsing body continues to endorse the founder. Settlement, known as Indefinite Leave to Remain, is available after 3 years of continuous residence in the UK on the Innovator Founder Visa, where the founder’s business meets at least two of seven defined progress markers set out in  Appendix Innovator Founder, and the founder continues to meet the wider route conditions.

How Whytecroft Ford can help

To discuss an Innovator Founder Visa application with an experienced immigration adviser, contact our team on 0208 757 5751 or use our contact form.