UK Innovator Founder Visa: Eligibility, Endorsement, Costs

Key Takeaways

– The Innovator Founder visa replaced both the Start-up and Innovator visas in April 2023 and is now the UK’s main route for entrepreneurs without an employer sponsor. – There’s no fixed minimum investment requirement — you just need to show £1,270 in personal maintenance funds and convince an endorsing body your business idea is innovative, viable, and scalable. – Getting endorsed by an approved endorsing body is the real gatekeeping step; the visa application itself is comparatively procedural once endorsement is secured. – Costs add up across three separate layers: a £1,000 endorsement fee, a £1,357 (outside UK) or £1,693 (inside UK) Home Office application fee, and £1,035 per year in the Immigration Health Surcharge. – It offers one of the fastest settlement timelines in the entire UK system — Indefinite Leave to Remain after just 3 years, compared with up to 10 years on many other routes.

If you’re an entrepreneur looking to build a business in the UK without an employer to sponsor you, the Innovator Founder visa is almost certainly the route you’ll end up researching. It’s the UK’s main entrepreneur visa, and in 2026 it remains one of the more accessible business immigration options globally — but the real work happens before you ever submit a visa application. This guide covers eligibility, how endorsement actually works, current costs, and the route to settlement.

What Is the Innovator Founder Visa?

Launched in April 2023, the Innovator Founder visa replaced both the old Start-up visa and the original Innovator visa, merging them into a single route. There’s no longer a separate entry-level tier for first-time founders — everyone applies through this same route, whether they’re launching their first venture or have run businesses before. The route removed the fixed investment threshold that used to apply under the old Innovator visa, replacing it with a more flexible assessment of whether your specific business idea is innovative, viable, and scalable.

Innovator Founder Visa Eligibility Criteria

To qualify for the Innovator Founder visa, you generally need to:

• Have a genuinely original business idea — not a copy of an existing business you intend to simply take over or join as a passive investor
• Secure endorsement from a Home Office-approved endorsing body confirming your idea is innovative, viable, and scalable
• Meet the English language requirement at CEFR B2 or equivalent
• Show at least £1,270 in personal funds, held for 28 consecutive days, to support yourself while you get started
• Be at least 18 years old, with no upper age limit

There is no fixed minimum investment requirement for the business itself under the Innovator Founder visa — you’ll need to show your endorsing body that you have realistic funding in place to execute your plan, but the Home Office doesn’t set a specific threshold the way the old Innovator visa’s £50,000 requirement once did.

Getting Endorsed: How the Process Actually Works

Endorsement is the real gatekeeping stage of the Innovator Founder visa, and it has to happen before you submit anything to the Home Office. You’ll need to put together a detailed business plan and supporting evidence, then submit it to an approved endorsing body for assessment against three criteria: is the idea innovative, is it viable, and is it scalable. If the endorsing body is satisfied, they issue an endorsement letter, valid for three months, which you then submit alongside your visa application.

Each endorsing body sets its own assessment fee (typically around £1,000, paid directly to the body rather than the Home Office) and has its own sector focus and process. As of an April 2026 snapshot, the active endorsing bodies accepting new applications include UK Endorsing Services, Innovator International, and Envestors Limited, with the Global Entrepreneurs Programme also able to endorse but only for founders already invited into that specific programme. This list changes periodically, so it’s worth checking GOV.UK’s current endorsing bodies list directly rather than treating any particular organisation as a permanent option.

UK Innovator Founder Visa Costs in 2026

Budgeting for the Innovator Founder visa means accounting for three separate cost layers, not just one application fee.

Cost item	Amount
Endorsing body assessment fee	£1,000
Home Office application fee (outside UK)	£1,357 per person
Home Office application fee (switching/extending in UK)	£1,693 per person
Immigration Health Surcharge	£1,035/year per adult, £776/year per child
Endorsing body contact point meeting (x2, at 12 and 24 months)	£500 each

Each dependant who applies alongside you pays their own visa fee and IHS at the same rate. Over a standard 3-year visa, total costs for a single applicant typically run well into five figures once every layer is added up — worth factoring into your business plan, not just your visa budget.

How to Apply for the Innovator Founder Visa: Step by Step

1. Develop your business plan. Before approaching any endorsing body, have a genuinely detailed plan ready — weak or generic plans are the most common reason for rejection at this stage.

2. Choose and apply to an endorsing body. Pick one matching your business sector from GOV.UK’s current list, and submit your plan for assessment.

3. Secure your endorsement letter. If successful, you’ll receive a letter valid for three months to use in your visa application.

4. Apply online to the Home Office. Submit your visa application with your endorsement letter, proof of funds, and English language evidence.

5. Complete identity verification. Either at a visa application centre for biometrics, or via the UK Immigration: ID Check app for eligible applicants.

6. Receive your decision. Roughly 3 weeks for applications made outside the UK, or around 8 weeks for in-country switching or extension applications.

Start at the official GOV.UK Innovator Founder visa page for the current application portal and endorsing bodies list.

What You Can and Cannot Do on This Visa

Holders of the Innovator Founder visa can:

• Work for their own business, including as a director or self-employed business partner
• Take on supplementary work outside the business, in a role requiring at least an RQF Level 3 qualification, generally up to 20 hours a week
• Bring a partner and children as dependants, who get full work and study rights
• Apply to extend the visa for a further 3 years if the business is still active and progressing

What it doesn’t allow is using the visa primarily as a route into employment with someone else’s company — your main activity needs to stay focused on the endorsed business itself.

Bringing Dependants on an Innovator Founder Visa

Partners and children under 18 can join the main applicant as dependants. Each dependant pays their own visa application fee and Immigration Health Surcharge, calculated at the same rates shown above. Dependant partners get largely unrestricted access to the UK labour market, including the option to work for any employer or start a separate business of their own.

Settlement: The Route to Indefinite Leave to Remain

This is where the Innovator Founder visa stands out. After 3 years of continuous residence, founders can apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain, provided their business is still active, trading, and financially sustainable, and they’ve met at least two of a defined set of business-growth milestones set by the Home Office — typically covering areas like job creation, revenue growth, or investment in research and development. That 3-year timeline compares favourably with many sponsored work routes, where settlement periods are lengthening under broader 2026 reforms; see our UK Indefinite Leave to Remain guide for how those changes are affecting other routes.

Dependant partners follow a separate, longer settlement timeline — generally five years of continuous residence as a dependant — rather than inheriting the founder’s faster three-year pathway automatically.

Innovator Founder Visa vs Other UK Routes

The Innovator Founder visa isn’t the only option for ambitious newcomers to the UK. The High Potential Individual visa suits recent graduates of top global universities who don’t yet have a business idea ready for endorsement, though it’s short-term and doesn’t lead directly to settlement.

The Graduate visa gives international students unrestricted post-study work rights for up to two years, which some founders use as a bridge before switching into the Innovator Founder route once their business idea is ready.

And for founders who’d rather take up sponsored employment instead of building their own venture, the Skilled Worker visa remains the main alternative. For a full comparison of where each UK visa category fits, see our guide to the different types of UK visa.

Frequently Asked Questions About the Innovator Founder Visa

Source: GOV.UK — Innovator Founder visa guidance, accessed June 2026.

Disclaimer: This article is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal or immigration advice. UK visa rules, fees, and endorsing bodies change periodically; always confirm current requirements on GOV.UK or with a qualified immigration adviser before applying.