You can apply for an Innovator visa if:

you want to set up or run a business in the UK
you’re from outside the European Economic Area (EEA) and Switzerland
you meet the other eligibility requirements
your business or business idea has been endorsed by an approved body

Getting endorsed

You must be able to show that your business idea is:

a new idea – you cannot join or invest in a business that is already trading
viable, with potential for growth

How long it takes to get a visa

The earliest you can apply is 3 months before you travel.

You should get a decision on your visa within 3 weeks when you apply from outside the UK.

Fees

How much you pay for an Innovator visa depends on your situation and where you apply from.

Who you’re applying for	Apply (outside the UK)	Extend or switch (in the UK)
You	£1,021	£1,277
You (if you’re from Turkey or Macedonia)	£966	£1,222
All dependants	£1,021 each person	£1,277 each person

How long you can stay

You can stay for 3 years if you:

come to the UK on an Innovator visa
switch to this visa from another visa

You can apply to extend for another 3 years when your visa is due to expire. There’s no limit on the number of times you can extend.

You may be able to apply for settlement (known as ‘indefinite leave to remain’) once you’ve been in the UK for 3 years.

If your endorsement is withdrawn

Your visa may be cut short if your endorsement is withdrawn. If you want to stay longer, you must re-apply with a new endorsement before your current visa expires.

What you can and cannot do

You can:

set up a business or several businesses
work for your business – this includes being employed as a director, or self-employed as a member of a business partnership
bring family members with you

You cannot:

do any work outside your business, for example work where you’re employed by another business
work as a doctor or dentist in training
work as a professional sportsperson, for example a sports coach
get public funds

Eligibility

Before you apply you need to have your business or business idea assessed by an approved body.

They will provide you with an endorsement letter if your business is viable.

You must also:

meet the English language requirement
be at least 18 years old
be able to prove that you have enough personal savings to support yourself while you’re in the UK

If you want to set up a new business

You must have at least £50,000 in investment funds to apply for an Innovator visa if you want to set up a new business.

Your funding can come from any source.

You do not need any investment funds if your business is already established and has been endorsed for an earlier visa.

Supporting yourself

You need to have had at least £945 in your bank account for 90 consecutive days before you apply.

You cannot use either of the following to support yourself:

money from your investment funds
money earned while working in the UK illegally

You can form a team with other Innovator applicants, but you cannot share the same investment funds.

Your team must have £50,000 for each Innovator applicant. For example, if you have 2 Innovator applicants, your team must have £100,000 to invest.

Knowledge of English

You may need to prove your knowledge of the English language when you apply.

You can prove your knowledge of English by either:

passing an approved English language test with at least CEFR level B2 in reading, writing, speaking and listening
having an academic qualification that was taught in English and is recognised by UK NARIC as being equivalent to a UK bachelor’s degree, master’s degree or PhD

You do not need to prove your knowledge of English if you’ve already proved it to be level B2 or above in an earlier successful application.

Exceptions

You will not need to prove your knowledge of English if you’re a national of one of the following countries:

Antigua and Barbuda
Australia
the Bahamas
Barbados
Belize
Canada
Dominica
Grenada
Guyana
Jamaica
New Zealand
St Kitts and Nevis
St Lucia
St Vincent and the Grenadines
Trinidad and Tobago
USA

Documents you must provide

When you apply you need to provide an ‘endorsement letter’ to show that an approved body has assessed your business or business idea.

You also need to provide:

a current passport or other valid travel identification
bank statements showing you’ve had at least £945 in savings in your bank account for 90 consecutive days before you apply
proof that you meet the English language requirement
evidence of your investment funds (if you’re setting up a new business)
your tuberculosis test results if you’re from a country where you have to take the test

You need a blank page in your passport for your visa.

You’ll need to provide a certified translation of any documents that are not in English or Welsh.

You may need to provide additional documents depending on your circumstances.

Endorsing bodies: innovator visa

The below is a list of authorised endorsing bodies that can issue endorsements for innovator visas.

Business endorsing bodies

The Bakery

The Bakery endorses bona-fide entrepreneurs who qualify for their corporate innovation programmes.

Bethnal Green Ventures

BGV is an early stage investor in tech, for good companies, who only endorse start-up entrepreneurs accepted onto their support programme.

Blue Orchid

Blue Orchid will only endorse high growth start-ups who are working within their client base across England’s North West and West Midlands.

Capital Enterprise

Capital Enterprise will only be endorsing founders within their community. Check back as this may change in time.

Communities and Business Partners (CBP)

CBP are an award-winning business development organisation, supporting highly innovative, skilled individuals to help realise their entrepreneurial growth ambitions. Selected endorsements are considered for high-growth business opportunities across the UK.

CyLon

CyLon is interested in hearing from emerging cyber security companies or entrepreneurs planning on setting up an innovative cyber start-up.

Deep Science Ventures

Apply if you are a scientist or engineer determined to start a deep science company. Please apply through the current opportunities page.

DRS Business Solutions

DRS will only consider applications for endorsement from those individuals who they are working with in their client base.

Emerge Education

Emerge Education invests in and supports the growth of early stage education startups.

Emsworth Corporate Planning (ECP)

ECP providing business implementation and mentoring services for dynamic and disruptive companies looking to establish themselves in the UK. They are fully prepared to review a sector-agnostic range of business opportunities. Please visit the ECP website.

Envestors Limited

Envestors is an award-winning corporate finance advisor that endorses international innovators wanting to build a business in the UK and fundraise through their digital platform technology.

First Corporate Finance

They offer an open invitation to entrepreneurs worldwide with innovative business ideas to register in their Business Support Program, with future potential endorsement. Contact them now.

Fortunis Capital Ltd

Fortunis Capital works with motivated individuals and teams who have innovative and scalable proposals that aim to have a positive impact on wider society. They actively manage their entire portfolio.

Founders Factory

Founders Factory is an award-winning tech startup accelerator and incubator. They endorse entrepreneurs joining one of their programmes.

Ignite

They only endorse applicants who are successful in applying for one of their accelerator programmes.

Innovate Britain

Innovate Britain focus on vital enterprise sectors including Education, Healthcare, Manufacturing, Consumer and Infrastructure. Applications are accepted through their website.

Innovator International (powered by Geminus)

Geminus can provide endorsements to clients on their “Innovator International” business support programme, available across the UK.

International Innovation Hub Ltd

An award-winning team who work with highly innovative and skilled individuals to realise their growth aspirations. Located in the north, particularly the Manchester and Liverpool region, with expertise in green and renewable energy, engineering, manufacturing, digital and tech.

Invest Northern Ireland

Invest NI endorses entities for Start-up/Innovator Visas through participation on its accelerator program or requests from client companies only.

Kollider

Kollider is a high growth business incubator. They endorse members with innovative ideas in the creative, digital and tech sectors expected to scale in their markets within 24 months.

Level 39

Level39 only endorses those involved in FinTech, cyber security, smart cities, retail tech and other globally ambitious tech business.

MDR LAB

MDR LAB is an accelerator for tech start-ups in the legal space. They only endorse migrants accepted onto our 10-week May-July programme.

MedCity

MedCity supports collaboration, investment, entrepreneurship and industry within the life sciences across Greater South-East of England.

NatWest Entrepreneur Accelerator

RebelBio

RebelBio specialises in pre-seed investments in Biotech, Healthtech, Life Sciences, Future of Food, Agtech and Biomaterials. They invest broadly in science-based, tech-enabled early-stage start-ups.

Royal Bank of Scotland Entrepreneur Accelerator

The Royal Society of Edinburgh

The Royal Society of Edinburgh only provide endorsement to their awardees who have received an RSE Enterprise Fellowship. They cannot support any individual who does not fall under this category.

Sapphire Capital Partners LLP

Sapphire is a multi-award winning venture capital firm located in London and Belfast. Sapphire seeks to identify and assist bonafide entrepreneurs who will qualify for further investment through Sapphire’s numerous startup venture capital funds.

Scottish EDGE

Scottish EDGE can endorse winners of its bi-annual funding competition for innovative, high-growth potential Scottish businesses. Approximately 6% of applicants win.

Seedcamp

Seedcamp invest early in world-class founders attacking large, global markets and solving real problems using technology. Please visit their website for more information and FAQs.

SETsquared Bristol

SETsquared Bristol is not currently accepting external or speculative applications for Innovator through endorsement. This may change in the future, so please check back here for updates.

Startup Funding Club

Startup Funding Club invests in early stage ventures from across all sectors, leading their first funding round, supporting growth and taking them to the next stage.

The Start-up Race

The Start-up Race are a global accelerator that supports world-class entrepreneurs and start-ups who want to create disruptive and innovative businesses. They only consider applications for Start-up and Innovator visa endorsements from individuals supported through their programmes and communities.

Tech Nation

Tech Nation focuses on entrepreneurs of product-led digital technology businesses and are developing an initiative to identify and support Tech Nation applicants. They aim to begin endorsing applications by April 2020 or sooner if possible. Please visit their website for future updates.

UK Innovator visa