Innovator Founder visa
For founders building a business in the UK. The formal investment threshold was removed — but endorsing bodies set their own standards, and those standards are demanding.
What endorsement actually requires
Your business must be new, innovative, viable and scalable. Four words that do a great deal of work:
The contact point obligation
Endorsement is not a single event. You must maintain contact with your endorsing body at defined points after arrival, and demonstrate that the business is progressing broadly as planned.
If the business has changed direction significantly, or has not progressed, the endorsement can be withdrawn — which affects your permission. This catches founders out, because a pivot is a normal part of building a company and is not obviously an immigration event. It is one.
The business plan
Endorsing bodies read a great many of these and they recognise a template immediately.
What distinguishes a plan that gets endorsed: a clearly articulated problem and why existing solutions do not solve it; evidence of market need beyond assertion — customer interviews, letters of intent, pilot results, a waiting list; a credible explanation of why you are the person to build it; financial projections with visible assumptions; and a specific plan for jobs and growth rather than a chart that rises.
We do not write business plans — that is properly your work, and an endorsing body can tell when it is not. What we do is tell you where the plan will fail the criteria before you submit it.
Is this the right route?
Frequently it is not, and the alternative is usually better.
Settlement
Five years remains the qualifying period, and settlement requires the business to have met defined criteria. The proposed ten-year “earned settlement” baseline has not been enacted and no date has been confirmed.
From 26 March 2027 the English requirement for settlement rises from B1 to B2 on this route as on others.
What it costs
A fixed fee, quoted before we begin and usually staged — an initial assessment of whether the business is likely to be endorsable, then the endorsement and application work. Endorsing body fees, Home Office fees and the Immigration Health Surcharge are additional.
The initial assessment is deliberately a separate stage. If the answer is that the business will not be endorsed in its current form, that is much cheaper to learn at the start.
Questions
Questions people ask us
Do I still need £50,000 to invest?
No. The formal investment requirement was removed. But endorsing bodies assess viability, which includes whether the business has the funding it needs to do what the plan says — so funding still matters, it is simply no longer a fixed number.
What counts as innovative?
Something genuinely different, not merely well executed. A better version of an existing service is usually not enough. This is the requirement that defeats most applications and it is worth testing honestly before spending anything.
Can I run an existing business on this route?
Generally not if it is already established and trading with other backing. The route is for founders building something new.
What happens if the business fails?
Your permission is connected to the endorsement, and endorsement depends on continued progress. A failed or substantially changed business is an immigration issue as well as a commercial one — take advice early rather than at the next contact point.
Should I consider Global Talent instead?
Very possibly. It is more flexible and has no business or contact-point requirements. If you have a track record in your field, assess that route first.
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Start with a conversation
A free 20-minute call. Tell us what has happened and we will tell you whether we can help, what it would involve and roughly what it would cost.
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A free 20-minute call
Tell us what has happened and we will tell you whether we can help, what it would involve and roughly what it would cost. No advice is given on this call and there is no charge for it.
£350 plus VAT
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One hour with a partner, followed by a written summary of your position and options. For people who want proper advice without instructing a firm yet. Credited in full against your fees if you go on to instruct us.
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