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.
- Route type
- Business & founder
- 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)an 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. That 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 still 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. That collapses both the visa and the settlement clock.
- Innovation is assessed against a genuinely original idea. Consultancies, property vehicles, import-export businesses and me-too businesses are routinely rejected.
- The earned settlement reform, if enacted as consulted on, could push the 3-year ILR out substantially. The consultation explicitly contemplated applying this to everyone not already holding ILR.