UK Innovator Founder Visa 2026/27: Endorsement and Application Guide

What the Innovator Founder route covers

The UK Innovator Founder route is for an adult who wants to establish and run an innovative business in the UK. A Home Office-approved endorsing body assesses the business and the founder's role; the Home Office separately decides the visa application. The route is different from the Global Talent visa application route, which assesses an individual's leadership or potential in an eligible field or a qualifying prize rather than a proposed business venture.

The rules checked on 28 October 2026 require an endorsement letter for a new-business application, at least 70 points overall, and specific points for the business plan, innovation/viability/scalability, English and personal maintenance. An endorsement is not a visa grant, and a visa grant is not a promise of extension or settlement. This guide explains the route stages; it cannot judge whether a particular idea will be endorsed or whether an individual meets suitability rules.

What the business endorsement assesses

For a new business, the founder must have generated or significantly contributed to the idea and must have a day-to-day role carrying out the plan. The founder can be the sole founder or an instrumental member of the founding team; the route does not require a one-person company. The business plan must be genuine and original, meet a new or existing market need or create a competitive advantage, and be realistic against the resources available. The body also assesses the founder's relevant skills and market knowledge and evidence of structured planning, job creation and growth into national and international markets.

“Innovative, viable and scalable” is an evidence-based assessment. A novel product description alone is not enough: the application needs to explain the market, why the offer is meaningfully different, how the business can deliver it, and how it can grow. The official rules do not set one universal minimum investment figure for all new-business endorsements. The founder should explain the funding needed for this specific plan, where it comes from and how it will be used. The endorsing body must be satisfied with the legitimacy of invested funds.

This route also has a same-business path for people with qualifying prior permission whose business was previously assessed. That path asks for evidence that the business is active, trading and sustainable, has made significant progress against its plan, and that the applicant remains active in day-to-day management. It is not a shortcut that lets a new applicant join an unrelated business already trading.

Sequence endorsement and the visa application

Start by checking the current approved endorsing bodies and route instructions. Ask the relevant body about its current application process, assessment scope, evidence format, charges and timelines; those commercial details are not interchangeable with Home Office visa fees. Prepare a coherent business plan, market and competitor evidence, delivery and financial assumptions, founder-role evidence and a transparent funding story. Avoid presenting projections as guaranteed outcomes.

Once endorsed, apply online for entry clearance from outside the UK or permission to stay from inside the UK if your current immigration status allows it. The endorsement letter must be no more than three months old on the date of the application and must not have been withdrawn. The rules allow an endorsement-based application to be submitted before or at the same time as the visa application, but a visa decision depends on the endorsement and all immigration requirements being met. If the endorsement is refused or unavailable, a visa application cannot substitute for it.

Applicants switching inside the UK must apply before their current permission expires and must check the route exclusions. In particular, visitors, short-term students, parents of child students, seasonal workers, domestic workers in private households, people on immigration bail and people with leave outside the Rules cannot normally switch under this route. A Student applicant must have completed the sponsored course, or have studied at least 24 months of a full-time PhD, subject to the detailed Rules. Applying for endorsement does not itself extend immigration permission.

The principal applicant must be at least 18, satisfy suitability requirements, prove English unless exempt, and meet the personal maintenance rule. The usual English level is B2 in speaking, listening, reading and writing. The listed proof routes and exemptions depend on the applicant's circumstances, so use the current English guidance.

For maintenance, the normal figure is £1,270 held for 28 consecutive days. An applicant applying from outside the UK, or applying in the UK after less than 12 months' permission, usually needs to show it. Someone applying in the UK who has held permission for at least 12 months on the application date meets this route's financial requirement without showing the funds. These are personal living funds; they are separate from the business's funding plan and do not establish that the business is viable.

Before submitting, use the official document list for your circumstances. It includes the endorsement letter, identity document, financial evidence and English evidence, with other items applying in particular cases, such as a tuberculosis certificate or certified translation. Keep the submitted version of the business plan and evidence, and make sure names, dates, funding explanations and business details agree across the pack. The Home Office can request additional information or verify evidence; an endorsing body's positive assessment does not remove those checks.

Published usual decision times begin after you have applied online, proved your identity and provided the required documents: three weeks for an application from outside the UK and eight weeks for one made inside the UK. These are estimates, not guaranteed completion dates. An appointment, document verification, interview, dependant application or individual circumstances can add time. If applying in the UK, check the current permission expiry and apply in time; if applying overseas, obtain entry clearance before travelling. Keep the application confirmation and follow any requests through the channel given by UKVI.

Plan for endorsement checkpoints and work conditions

An initial grant can last up to three years. The founder must attend at least two regular contact-point meetings with the endorsing body during that permission period and show progress against the plan. The overview describes meetings after 12 and 24 months. If an endorsement is withdrawn, the visa may be cut short, so keep the body informed of material business changes and follow the contact-point requirements in the endorsement arrangement.

The visa permits work for the business or businesses the founder established and permits other employment only in a role requiring skill at least at RQF level 3. It does not permit the founder to supply labour to another business through a contract or agency arrangement disguised as work for their own company. Most public funds are not available, and study is subject to any applicable ATAS condition. Check the individual grant conditions before taking on work or study.

Include partners and children as separate applicants

An eligible partner and dependent child can apply under the route. Each family member needs their own application and must meet the relationship, identity, suitability and financial rules. Dependants applying from abroad generally need funds held for 28 days: £285 for a partner, £315 for the first child and £200 for each additional child, in addition to the founder's required funds, unless the in-country 12-month exemption applies. Check the current partner and child guidance and Appendix rules for exact relationship, age, care and independent-life conditions.

Dependants' permission normally follows the founder's permission end date. Their applications and later settlement periods are separate: a founder's eligibility for ILR does not automatically settle a partner or child. Each applicant should check their own application timing, residence and evidence requirements.

Extension and settlement are different stages

To extend, the founder generally needs to continue the endorsed business or establish a new one, meet the route requirements and obtain a new endorsement assessment. An application should be made before current permission expires. There is no stated fixed limit on the number of extensions, but each extension is a fresh application and endorsement decision. A dependant's permission does not extend automatically; they must apply separately before their own permission expires.

Settlement may be possible after three years in the UK on the Innovator Founder or qualifying legacy Innovator route; time on other visa routes does not count toward this route's three-year period. The founder needs a new settlement endorsement confirming significant progress, an active key role, a Companies House-registered and trading business that appears sustainable for at least the next 12 months, and at least two distinct business-success criteria. Those criteria include investment spent developing the business, customer growth, research and UK IP protection, specified revenue/export levels, or qualifying settled-worker jobs. The same criterion cannot be counted twice, and team members cannot double-claim shared achievements.

The founder must also meet continuous residence and Life in the UK requirements. Dependants have their own qualifying-period and settlement conditions. Read the official settlement overview and evidence list before planning around a target date. Three years' permission alone does not create an entitlement to ILR.

Fees and timing

The live route and application pages set visa charges by application location and stage; endorsing bodies also charge for their endorsement and contact-point services. The figures displayed on GOV.UK when checked on 28 October 2026 were £1,357 for an application from outside the UK and £1,693 to extend or switch inside the UK. Endorsement was £1,000, with at least two contact-point meetings charged at £500 each. Applicants also pay the Immigration Health Surcharge where required; dependants pay their own visa and surcharge costs. Because fees and surcharge rates can change, verify the current GOV.UK route fees and IHS calculation before budgeting or paying.

A practical route checklist

Frequently asked questions

Official sources

• GOV.UK: Innovator Founder visa overview and endorsing bodies — route purpose, business tests, duration, work, contact points and current charges.
• GOV.UK: eligibility and financial requirements — age, maintenance, business-funding distinction and route eligibility.
• Home Office: Immigration Rules Appendix Innovator Founder — endorsement validity, points, business criteria, work conditions, dependants and settlement rules.
• GOV.UK: English requirement and required documents — evidence routes and application documents.
• GOV.UK: partner and child applications, switching and extension — family, in-country application and later permission steps.
• GOV.UK: settlement eligibility and endorsement criteria — qualifying time, business success, residence and settlement endorsement.
• GOV.UK: Immigration Health Surcharge — current surcharge calculation.

Immigration rules, endorsing-body arrangements, fees and application procedures can change. The figures and route pages above were checked on 28 October 2026. Recheck the official sources for your application date; this guide is general information, not legal advice or an individual eligibility decision.