The UK Innovator Founder visa is an active business route for eligible founders with an endorsed, innovative, viable and scalable venture. Permission normally lasts three years. There is no fixed minimum business-investment amount for initial entry, but adequate business funding and separate personal maintenance requirements still apply. Settlement after three years is conditional, not automatic.
This is not a passive investment or property-purchase route: founders must take a key role in developing and managing the venture. Start with AIA’s UK Innovator Founder programme overview for the programme and local-partner process.
In this guide: Endorsement | Funding and English | Costs | Steps | Family | Settlement | FAQs
Key takeaways
- Secure mandatory endorsement: Your business idea must be assessed as new, innovative, viable, and scalable by a UK Home Office-approved endorsing body, and your endorsement letter must be no more than 3 months old when you apply.
- Separate the budgets: no fixed business-investment amount is specified for entry, but you need adequate venture funding. GBP 50,000 invested and actively spent is one possible settlement criterion, not a compulsory investment for every applicant.
- You need English at B2 level in reading, writing, speaking and listening.
- You need at least GBP 1,270 in savings held for 28 days, unless you have lived in the UK with permission for 12 months or longer.
- The application fee is GBP 1,357 outside the UK, or GBP 1,693 inside the UK. Endorsement costs GBP 1,000, and each contact point meeting costs GBP 500.
- The visa lasts 3 years. You can extend for further 3 year periods, each with a fresh endorsement. You may apply for settlement after three years if all requirements are met, including at least two of the seven business-achievement criteria.
How does Innovator Founder endorsement work?
An approved endorsing body must assess your business idea. For a new business, the endorsement must confirm you have a business plan and generated or significantly contributed to its ideas, you will have a day to day role in carrying it out, you will have at least 2 contact point meetings during your permission, and you are the sole founder or an instrumental member of the founding team. If endorsement is withdrawn, your visa may be cut short.
Bodies that can endorse new initial applications are UK Endorsing Services, Innovator International, and Envestors Limited, plus the Global Entrepreneurs Programme, which is invitation only for founders already invited onto that Department for Business and Trade programme. Legacy bodies listed on the GOV.UK page can only endorse applicants they previously endorsed before 13 April 2023. They do not accept new applications.
Endorsement costs GBP 1,000 per person, paid directly to the endorsing body. Contact point meetings cost GBP 500 each, paid directly to the endorsing body. The GOV.UK guide states the meetings take place after 12 months and 24 months.
What funding and English evidence do founders need?
For a new business, the endorsing body must be satisfied about adequate funding and its source. There is no fixed GBP 50,000 entry threshold. Investing and actively spending GBP 50,000 is one of seven business-achievement criteria used for settlement; it is not compulsory for every settlement applicant, because at least two qualifying criteria must be met.
Separately, you must show personal savings of at least GBP 1,270 held for 28 consecutive days before you apply. If you are in the UK with permission for 12 months or longer, you meet the financial requirement without showing funds. Money from investment funds and money earned while working illegally cannot be used.
The English requirement is B2 in reading, writing, speaking and listening, unless the applicable rules allow an exemption or accepted previous evidence. Recognised evidence routes can include eligible UK qualifications, an English-taught degree with the required assessment, or an approved Secure English Language Test. Applicants must be at least 18; entry clearance is required before arrival when applying from overseas.
What does the Innovator Founder visa cost?
| Item | Amount | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Application fee, outside the UK | GBP 1,357 per person | Plus the healthcare surcharge. |
| Application fee, inside the UK | GBP 1,693 per person | For extending or switching. Biometrics carry no fee. |
| Endorsement | GBP 1,000 per person | Paid directly to the endorsing body. |
| Contact point meetings | GBP 500 each | At least 2 meetings during permission. |
The immigration healthcare surcharge is additional. GOV.UK lists GBP 1,035 per year for most adult applicants and GBP 776 per year for applicants under 18. Exactly three chargeable years would be GBP 3,105 for an adult, but the actual amount depends on the permission period and official calculation. Business capital, personal maintenance, living costs and professional fees are separate. See GOV.UK’s healthcare surcharge guidance.
For preliminary family-budget comparisons, use AIA’s residence cost calculator. Confirm programme coverage and treat its output as an estimate, not a business-funding assessment or fixed professional-fee quote.
What are the main application steps?
- Assess the venture. Prepare the business concept, market evidence, funding plan and intended founder role.
- Seek endorsement. Use an approved endorsing body and obtain an endorsement meeting the current timing and content requirements.
- Prepare evidence. Check the required identity, English, personal maintenance and any other applicable documents.
- Apply through the correct route. Follow GOV.UK instructions for an overseas application or eligible in-country switch or extension, including fees and identity checks.
- Follow the decision and monitoring conditions. The Home Office decides the visa. After approval, comply with the permission and endorsing-body contact requirements.
These are general information steps. UK eligibility, endorsement and legal advice require an individual assessment by the appropriate authorised professionals; neither an endorsement nor a fee payment guarantees a visa.
Can your partner and children apply?
Your partner and children can apply as dependants if eligible. A partner can be a husband, wife, civil partner, or unmarried partner, including the 2 year cohabitation and 2 year relationship routes set out on the GOV.UK page. A child must be under 18, or over 18 if they already hold permission as your dependant. They must live with you, unless away in full time education, and must not be married or in a civil partnership. A dependant visa usually ends on the same date as yours.
Dependants need savings in addition to your GBP 1,270: GBP 285 for a partner, GBP 315 for one child, and GBP 200 for each additional child. Dependants in the UK with permission for 12 months or longer meet the financial requirement without showing funds.
Can you extend the visa or settle after three years?
The visa lasts 3 years, whether you come to the UK on it or switch to it inside the UK. You can extend for another 3 years when it expires, with no limit on the number of extensions, but each extension needs a fresh endorsement before your current visa expires. You can set up one or several businesses, work for your business as a director or self employed partner, and do outside work only in a job needing at least level 3 qualification. You cannot apply for most benefits or work as a professional sportsperson.
Eligible founders may apply for settlement after three years on the route, subject to all requirements. These include a fresh settlement endorsement, evidence of business progress and an active key management role, a qualifying active and sustainable business, continuous residence, and the Life in the UK requirement where applicable. The endorsement must meet the relevant timing rules.
For settlement, the business must meet at least two of these seven achievement criteria, alongside the other requirements:
- at least GBP 50,000 invested and actively spent on the business
- customer numbers at least doubled in the most recent 3 years and above the mean for comparable UK businesses
- significant research and development with intellectual property protection applied for in the UK
- at least GBP 1 million in annual gross revenue in the last full year
- at least GBP 500,000 in annual gross revenue with at least GBP 100,000 from exporting overseas
- at least 10 full time jobs for settled workers
- at least 5 full time jobs for settled workers at a mean salary of at least GBP 25,000 a year
The same criterion cannot be counted twice, and founders applying through the same venture cannot share the same means of meeting a criterion. Qualifying job creation has additional duration, hours and settled-worker conditions. Consult Appendix Innovator Founder, INNF 17 for the full test.
Settlement planning must use the Immigration Rules in force at the relevant application date. A policy announcement is not a grant of permission and should not be treated as a substitute for the current Rules.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a minimum investment for the Innovator Founder visa?
There is no fixed minimum business-investment amount for initial entry. The endorsing body still assesses adequate funding and its source. GBP 50,000 invested and actively spent is one possible settlement criterion, not a compulsory amount for every settlement applicant.
What does endorsement cost?
GBP 1,000 per person, paid directly to the endorsing body. Contact point meetings cost GBP 500 each, with at least 2 meetings during your permission.
How long does the visa last?
Permission normally lasts three years. Eligible applicants can seek further three-year extensions with a fresh endorsement. Settlement may be possible after three qualifying years, but all settlement requirements must be satisfied; endorsement or initial approval does not guarantee it.
What English level do I need?
The requirement is B2 in all four skills, subject to applicable exemptions and accepted previous evidence. Not every applicant needs a new test; the permitted evidence depends on their circumstances.
Can my partner and children come with me?
Yes, if eligible. Dependants need GBP 285 for a partner, GBP 315 for one child, and GBP 200 for each additional child, on top of your GBP 1,270, unless the 12 month UK permission rule applies.
Official sources
- GOV.UK, Innovator Founder visa, checked November 2026.
- GOV.UK, Innovator Founder and Scale-up visas endorsing bodies, checked November 2026.
- Immigration Rules, Appendix Innovator Founder, checked November 2026.
Work out the cost for your own family with the residence cost calculator. Start from the residence by investment hub for the full programme set. For the programme page, read UK Innovator Founder Visa.
Compare the wider options in AIA’s residence programme hub, then review the UK founder route and partner process. Unlike passive residence investments, this route depends on an active qualifying business.
