UK Innovator Founder Visa 2026: A Guide for Founders
Last verified October 12, 2026. Visa rules change often, so confirm current requirements at GOV.UK, Innovator Founder visa before applying. Your specific case may have factors not covered here.
The Innovator Founder visa is for people who want to set up and run an innovative, viable and scalable business in the UK. An approved endorsing body has to assess the business before you apply. This guide follows the GOV.UK visa pages and Appendix Innovator Founder of the Immigration Rules.
Settlement after 3 years
GOV.UK says you can apply to settle permanently (indefinite leave to remain) once you have lived in the UK for 3 years and meet the other requirements. The Immigration Rules set business criteria for settlement, listed below.
Explore the Concierge ServiceWhat is the Innovator Founder visa?
The visa lets you set up one or more businesses in the UK and work for them as a director or as a self-employed business partner. To apply you need:
- An endorsement letter from an approved endorsing body
- A business that is innovative, viable and scalable, as the endorsing body assesses it
- Enough funding for the business, and evidence of where it comes from, shown to your endorsing body
- English at CEFR level B2
- Personal savings to support yourself (see below)
Initial stay
3 years
Extension
3 more years, with no limit on the number of extensions
Settlement
After 3 years, if you meet the requirements
Eligibility requirements
1. Endorsement from an approved body
You must have your business or business idea assessed by an endorsing body before you apply. If your business is eligible, the body gives you an endorsement letter. The Immigration Rules ask whether your business plan is:
- Innovative: a genuine, original business plan that meets market needs or creates a competitive advantage
- Viable: a plan that is realistic and achievable with the resources you have
- Scalable: structured planning, with potential for job creation and growth into national and international markets
Endorsing bodies on the GOV.UK list (updated 7 August 2026)
- • UK Endorsing Services
- • Innovator International
- • Envestors Limited
- • The Global Entrepreneurs Programme (GEP), which only provides endorsements for founders already invited to take part in its programme
GOV.UK lists a longer group of legacy endorsing bodies that no longer accept new applications and says not to approach them unless you are an existing endorsee. Read the current list before you apply: Innovator Founder and Scale-up visas endorsing bodies.
2. Funding for the business
For a new business you must show your endorsing body that you have enough funding and where it comes from. You do not need investment funds if your business is already established and was endorsed for an earlier visa, or if you changed your business and your endorsing body has agreed to it.
3. English language
You must show English at CEFR level B2 or above. GOV.UK lists these ways to do it:
- A GCSE, A level or Scottish equivalent in English, begun before you were 18
- A degree taught in English, from a UK institution or from outside the UK (a non-UK degree needs an Ecctis assessment)
- A Secure English Language Test from an approved provider
- Nationality of a listed country or territory, which exempts you
- Evidence you already gave in a previous successful visa application, in some cases
4. Age and personal savings
You must be at least 18. You must also have at least £1,270 in your bank account for 28 consecutive days before you apply, to support yourself. Money from investment funds or from illegal work cannot count.
Application process
Develop your business plan
Write a plan that answers the three questions the endorsing body asks:
- • What is original about the product or service, and the market need it meets
- • Why the plan is realistic with the resources you have
- • How the business can create jobs and grow nationally and internationally
Apply for endorsement
Submit your business or business idea to an approved endorsing body. If it is eligible, the body gives you an endorsement letter.
Cost, paid to the endorsing body: £1,000 to get an endorsement, and if your visa application succeeds, £500 each time you meet your endorsing body. You meet it after 12 months and 24 months.
Apply for the visa
Apply online and have these ready:
- • Your endorsement letter
- • A valid passport or other document that shows your identity and nationality
- • Bank statements showing £1,270 held for 28 consecutive days
- • Evidence that you meet the English language requirement
- • TB test results, if you are from a country where the test is required
- • Certified translations of any document not in English or Welsh
Visa fee: £1,357 per person (3 years, applying from outside the UK), plus the Immigration Health Surcharge
Prove your identity
You either scan your identity document with the UK Immigration: ID Check app, or have your fingerprints and photo taken at a visa application centre, which may mean travelling, possibly to another country.
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Decision
GOV.UK says you will usually get a decision within 3 weeks. A paid faster decision may be available: the priority service (£500) targets 5 working days.
Fees for one founder
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Endorsement, paid to the endorsing body | £1,000 |
| Endorsing body meetings, 2 over the 3-year visa (£500 each) | £1,000 |
| Visa application fee (3 years, from outside the UK) | £1,357 |
| Immigration Health Surcharge (3 years) | £3,105 |
| Total | £6,462 |
| Priority service (optional) | £500 |
| Total with the priority service | £6,962 |
Not included: the cost of an English test, a TB test where required, translations and any consultant or lawyer, which vary and are not government fees. Each family member makes a separate application and pays the visa fee. Your £1,270 in savings must be in your account but is not a fee.
What you can do on the visa
- Set up one or more businesses and work for them as a director or as a self-employed business partner
- Work outside your business, as long as the job needs at least a level 3 qualification
- Bring your partner and children, who can work (except as a professional sportsperson or coach) and study
You cannot apply for most benefits (public funds), and you cannot work as a professional sportsperson, such as a sports coach.
Path to settlement
You can apply to settle after at least 3 years in the UK with permission as an Innovator Founder, if you meet the settlement requirements in Appendix Innovator Founder. Among them:
The achievement requirements (at least two)
- At least £50,000 invested in and spent on the business
- Customers at least doubled within 3 years, and above the UK mean for comparable businesses
- Significant research and development, with a UK intellectual property application
- At least £1 million annual gross revenue in the last full accounting year
- At least £500,000 annual revenue, with at least £100,000 of it from exports
- At least 10 full-time equivalent jobs for settled workers
- At least 5 full-time equivalent jobs for settled workers, each with a mean salary of at least £25,000
Each job must have existed for at least 12 months and average at least 30 paid hours a week.
Where applications run into trouble
A plan that is not original
The plan has to be genuine and original, and meet market needs or create a competitive advantage.
A plan that is not realistic
The plan has to be realistic and achievable with the resources you have.
No evidence of funding
You must show your endorsing body that you have enough funding and where it comes from.
Savings not held for 28 consecutive days
The savings requirement is measured over the 28 days before you apply, and investment funds do not count toward it.
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FAQ
What is the UK Innovator Founder visa?
The Innovator Founder visa is for people who want to set up and run an innovative, viable and scalable business in the UK. You can set up one or more businesses and work for them as a director or as a self-employed business partner. You must have your business or business idea assessed and endorsed by an approved endorsing body before you apply. Source: GOV.UK, Innovator Founder visa.
What does the endorsing body assess?
Whether the business plan is innovative (genuine and original, meeting market needs or creating a competitive advantage), viable (realistic and achievable with the resources you have) and scalable (structured planning, with potential for job creation and growth into national and international markets). Source: Immigration Rules, Appendix Innovator Founder, paragraph INNF 8.3.
Which endorsing bodies can endorse an Innovator Founder application?
GOV.UK lists three Business Endorsing Bodies that can issue Innovator Founder endorsements: UK Endorsing Services, Innovator International and Envestors Limited. The Global Entrepreneurs Programme issues endorsements only for founders already invited to take part in its programme. A longer group of legacy endorsing bodies no longer accepts new applications. Check the current list on GOV.UK before you apply; the version read for this guide was updated on 7 August 2026.
How much does the visa cost?
From outside the UK the visa application fee is £1,357 per person for 3 years, plus the Immigration Health Surcharge (£1,035 a year, £3,105 for 3 years). The endorsement costs £1,000, paid to the endorsing body, and if your visa application succeeds you also pay £500 each time you meet your endorsing body, after 12 months and after 24 months. Confirm the current amounts on GOV.UK before you pay.
How long does the visa last, and can I extend it?
The visa lasts 3 years. You can extend it for another 3 years, and GOV.UK says there is no limit on the number of times you can extend. You must meet your endorsing body after 12 months and after 24 months. Source: GOV.UK, Innovator Founder visa.
Can I work outside my business?
GOV.UK says you can work outside your business as long as the job needs at least a level 3 qualification. You cannot work as a professional sportsperson, such as a sports coach, and you cannot apply for most benefits (public funds). Source: GOV.UK, Innovator Founder visa.
Can my family come with me?
Your partner (husband, wife, civil partner or unmarried partner) and your children under 18 can apply as your dependants, as can a child over 18 who currently has permission to be in the UK as your dependant. Each family member makes a separate application and pays the visa fee. Dependants can work, except as a professional sportsperson or coach, and can study. Source: GOV.UK, Innovator Founder visa, your partner and children.
How do I settle in the UK?
You can apply to settle after at least 3 years in the UK with permission as an Innovator Founder, if you meet the settlement requirements in Appendix Innovator Founder: the continuous residence requirement; confirmation from your endorsing body that the business is registered with Companies House, active, trading and sustainable for 12 months and that you have an active key role in it; at least two of the listed achievement requirements (for example investment, revenue, jobs or customer growth); and the Knowledge of Life in the UK requirement. Source: Immigration Rules, Appendix Innovator Founder, paragraphs INNF 17.1 to 20.1.
Sources, read on 12 October 2026: GOV.UK, Innovator Founder visa and its eligibility, knowledge of English, documents, apply from outside the UK and partner and children pages, and the Immigration Rules, Appendix Innovator Founder.
Conclusion
The Innovator Founder route turns on the endorsement. The endorsing body assesses the business, you meet it after 12 and 24 months, and settlement depends on business achievements that the Immigration Rules list. Check GOV.UK and the Immigration Rules before you apply, because fees and rules change.
Ready to prepare your Innovator Founder application?
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