Citizeo
Pathway

UK Innovator Founder Visa

United Kingdom Residency
Pathway overview

At a glance

The UK Innovator Founder visa is for founders setting up and running an innovative, viable, and scalable business in the UK. It generally requires endorsement by an approved endorsing body, English ability, support funds, and continued business progress.

Type
Entrepreneur residence
Business fit
Founders building a qualifying business in the United Kingdom
Core requirements
Business plan, funding, and official approval where required
What to know
Meeting the listed requirements does not guarantee approval; the authority retains discretion
Duration
Innovator Founder visa can be granted for up to 3 years.
Renewal / path
Can lead to settlement after 3 years if business-progress rules are met.

Summary

Innovator Founder is an endorsed route for an adult establishing and running an innovative, viable and scalable UK business. There is no fixed £50,000 initial investment threshold; for a new business, the endorsing body must instead be satisfied that the applicant has sufficient funding and can explain its source.

Pathway fit check

Eligibility

An approved endorsing body must issue a letter no more than three months before application. The applicant must be at least 18, have a central day-to-day role, meet B2 English and normally hold £1,270 for 28 days unless exempt after 12 months with UK permission. The venture must be genuinely original or meaningfully innovative, realistically deliverable and capable of structured growth. A repackaged ordinary local business is not enough.

Policy watch 2 developments we’re tracking
Innovator Founder settlement will require B2 English
Enacted — not yet in effect

Innovator Founder settlement will require B2 English

Current official stage: Immigration Rules laid with a deferred commencement date

An Innovator Founder applying for settlement from 26 March 2027 must meet B2 English unless exempt. Endorsement, business-achievement and residence requirements remain separate.

Timing: The B2 settlement requirement takes effect on 26 March 2027. Applications made before that date remain subject to the rules then in force; applicants planning to file on or after it should prepare for B2 unless an exemption applies.

Current pathway rules still apply.

Last checked UK Home Office — explanatory memorandum to HC 1691UK Home Office — Statement of Changes HC 1691
Read the full briefing
The three-year settlement route may be retained
Consultation — not currently law

The three-year settlement route may be retained

Current official stage: Consultation closed; government analyzing feedback

The consultation proposes a reduction intended to preserve three-year settlement for many Innovator Founder holders. The treatment of dependents and the final mandatory requirements remain subject to the government's response and later Immigration Rules.

Timing: The consultation ran from 20 November 2025 to 12 February 2026. GOV.UK currently says the government is analyzing feedback. No general implementation date has been announced, and current settlement rules remain in force unless and until Immigration Rules changes take effect.

Current pathway rules still apply.

Last checked UK Home Office — Earned settlement consultation and current statusUK Home Office — A Fairer Pathway to Settlement consultation paper
Read the full briefing

What This Route Allows

Permission lasts three years, with mandatory contact-point meetings around 12 and 24 months. Three-year extensions are unlimited if re-endorsed. The holder may operate one or more endorsed businesses and take outside work at RQF level 3 or above, but not work as a professional sportsperson. Eligible dependents can join and generally work. From 8 April 2026 the visa fee is £1,357 outside or £1,693 inside the UK, per person, plus IHS and endorsement charges.

Settlement is available after three years spent only as Innovator Founder or legacy Innovator, no more than 180 days outside in any 12 months, Life in the UK and a fresh endorsement. The main applicant already met B2 English for permission. The business must be active, trading, sustainable and meet at least two listed success measures, such as investment spent, customer growth, intellectual property, revenue/export or qualifying job creation. A dependent partner normally needs five years and, unless exempt, B1 speaking and listening before 26 March 2027 or B2 from that date. The earned-settlement proposal had not displaced these rules.

What This Route Is Not

An endorsement is not a guarantee of a visa, funding or settlement and can be withdrawn. Start-up time does not count toward the three-year settlement period. The route normally bars public funds and requires IHS.

Next Steps

  1. Verify the endorsing body on the current official list and its permitted applicant type.
  2. Prepare a testable innovation claim, market evidence, financial plan, funding source and founder-role records.
  3. Budget £1,000 for endorsement and £500 for each required contact meeting, plus visa and IHS charges.
  4. Track progress against at least two settlement measures from the start and retain Companies House, account, IP, customer and job evidence.
Compare your options

Similar entrepreneur / start-up pathways in other destinations.

Sources