UK Innovator Visa

The UK innovator visa is a successor of Tier 1 entrepreneur visa. It is for experienced business people who are looking forward to expand or establish their business in the United Kingdom.

Similar to the Start up visa, an innovator visa requires all applicants to obtain an endorsement letter from an approved endorsement body.

However, the initial investment funds has been reduced in this route from £200,000 (Tier 1 entrepreneur visa) to £50,000 only.

• A minimum funding of £50,000 must be available to invest in the Business. You can make a team but cannot share your investment funds with other member of the team i.e. each team member must have a funding of £50,000 available to invest;
• Initial UK Innovator visa will be granted for 3 years;
• UK Innovator visa allows you to bring your dependant family members i.e. spouse (husband/wife) or any children under 18 to the UK;
• You are not allowed to take upon other employment outside your own business, however the Dependant wife/husband will be eligible to take up any employment or do any business.

You must:

• be 18 years of age;
• have an endorsement letter from an authorised endorsement body that your business is feasible;
• have a minimum level of English Language at least CEFR level B2 in reading, writing, speaking and listening. However, if you are applying within the United Kingdom and have already proved your knowledge of English language to be of level B2 in any earlier successful application, then you are exempt of this requirement. Moreover, if you are a national of English-speaking country then you are exempt of this requirement;
• be able to maintain yourself while you are in the UK. You need to have at least £945 in your bank account for 90 consecutive days before you apply;
• Each dependant shall have an additional £630.00 in the Bank account.

All the applicants will be assessed for the following criteria: –

Innovation:

You must have a genuine, original business plan that meets the market needs and offering something more than just competing with similar local traders and that your idea will bring something new to forgoing UK business market.

Viability:

You must have the skills, knowledge and experience to run a successful business. You must identify long-term and short-term plans for the business.

Scalability:

You must have a structured plan that your business will grow and have potential for job creation to help grow the economy.

Specialist business immigration advice and guidance throughout the case is very important and critical for the success of the application. Our expert business immigration solicitors keep an eye on new rules and are familiar with the requirements in order to make a successful application. We assist you from start to finish, making sure your application and supporting documents are correct and according to the Home Office guideline.

If you are applying from outside the UK then you must pay £1021.00 per person, however if you are switching or extending your leave in this category inside the United Kingdom then you must pay £1277.00 per person.

In addition to this there is an Immigration Health Surcharge fee that is payable towards your 3 years of grant of leave in the United Kingdom.

A decision towards the Innovator visa can be made within 3 weeks and you can apply up to 3 months before the intended travel date. You can also check the current processing time of the UK Visa Applications.

On completion of the successful 3 years on Innovator visa, you can apply for a further 3 years extension in the same category before expiry of your visa. There is no limit on the number of times you can apply to extend.

Moreover, on completion of 3 years of leave in this category you may apply for settlement/Indefinite leave to remain, subject to the requirements, and in another one year you can apply for your British / UK nationality.