United Kingdom · Business & founder
Innovator Founder visa
Open
Last verified July 2026
Open. The mandatory GBP 50,000 investment threshold was removed when the route replaced the old Innovator and Start-up categories; endorsement is now the only real gate.
This is the closest thing the UK has to a founder route with a fast settlement clock — 3 years to ILR is materially quicker than most European equivalents. But it is not an investor visa wearing a founder costume: endorsing bodies test innovation, viability and scalability, and they conduct contact-point checks throughout. A passive vehicle will fail.
The facts
- Minimum investment
- £1.4k
- Total landed cost
- Application fee GBP 1,357 from outside the UK or GBP 1,693 in-country (from 8 April 2026), plus endorsement body fees, plus the Immigration Health Surcharge at roughly GBP 1,035 per person per year. Whatever capital the business genuinely needs is separate — and endorsing bodies expect it to be real
- Timeline
- 3–9 months — Visa decision typically 3 weeks outside the UK once endorsed; securing endorsement is the long pole and can take several months
- Physical presence
- No more than 180 days absent in any 12 months for settlement purposes
- Family
- spouse or partnerchildren under 18
- Permanent residency
- 3 years on the route, subject to the endorsing body confirming continued progress
- Citizenship
- 3 years to settlement plus 12 months, so 4 years in principle — but see the earned settlement reform
- Language test
- B1 English plus Life in the UK test for citizenship; B2 to enter the route
- Dual citizenship
- Permitted
- Requirements
- endorsement from an approved endorsing body against innovation, viability and scalability testsB2 EnglishGBP 1,270 personal savings held 28 days (unless exempt)active day-to-day role in the business
What can go wrong
- The endorsing body list has repeatedly contracted. As of the GOV.UK list updated 20 April 2026 there are only three business endorsing bodies — UK Endorsing Services, Innovator International and Envestors — which is a concentration risk: if none of the three likes your idea, the route is closed to you.
- Removing the GBP 50,000 threshold made the route cheaper but not easier. Endorsement is a judgement call on innovation and scalability, and refusal rates are meaningful.
- Endorsement is not one-and-done. Contact-point reviews at 12 and 24 months can withdraw it, which collapses both the visa and the settlement clock.
- 'Innovation' is assessed against a genuinely original idea. Consultancies, property vehicles, import-export and me-too businesses are routinely rejected.
- The earned settlement reform, if enacted as consulted on, could push the 3-year ILR out substantially — and the consultation explicitly contemplated applying to everyone not already holding ILR.