Immigration - Innovator Founder Visa
Table of content
- Amendments
- Overview
- Benefits – Innovator Founder Visa UK
- Eligibility requirements
- UK Innovator Founder Visa endorsement
- Documents required for a UK Innovator Founder Visa
- Knowledge of English requirement
- Other requirements
- How to apply
- How to apply from outside the UK?
- Join an existing business
- Maintenance funds requirements
- Proving identity
- Bring your dependants
Amendments
Amendments introduced in the UK Innovator Founder Visa:
- The new UK Innovator Founder Visa aims to make the eligibility criteria more flexible so that those with a genuine proposal for an innovative business and who have sufficient funds to deliver it, are more readily available to enter the UK and establish their business.
- The new Innovator Founder Visa NO longer has the £50,000 funds requirement
Applicants will NO longer have to demonstrate that they have a funding amount worth £50,000 in their bank account - Applicants will be permitted to extend their visa under the UK Innovator Founder Visa
Settlement in the UK might be possible after spending 3 continuous years residing in the UK under the Innovator Founder Visa
Overview
Overview of the UK Innovator Founder Visa
- As suggested by the name, this visa category aims to facilitate innovators, in any given industry, to establish a business in the UK – which is generally something that’s different from anything else on the market
- The business or business idea must be endorsed by an endorsing body that is on the Home Office list and the applicants must meet other eligibility criteria
- There can be more than one innovator in a team and everyone can be eligible to apply for this visa
The business or business idea must be innovative, scalable, and viable - This visa offers a pathway to accelerated settlement after 3 years
Applicants can be joined by their dependents (spouse and children below the age of 18 years)
To know the Innovator Founder Visa properly and help you make a right decision, you need to understand the following:
Benefits – Innovator Founder Visa UK
What are the benefits of having an Innovator Founder Visa UK?
UK Innovator Founder Visa is a great option for obtaining UK citizenship if you have a unique innovative business or business idea that is innovative, viable, and scalable. Key benefits include:
- Less investment
- Pathway to accelerated settlement
- Opportunity to set up and grow a business with support from an endorsing body
- Can have more than 2 members in the innovator entrepreneurial team
- Quick processing time
- Allows dependents to join main applicant
Eligibility requirements
What are the eligibility requirements for the UK Innovator Founder Visa?
To be eligible to apply for UK Innovator Founder Visa the applicant will:
- Require endorsement of the business or business idea from a UK endorsing body on the Home Office list
- Meet the English language requirement
- Have enough personal savings to support your stay in the UK – known as ‘maintenance funds requirement’
UK Innovator Founder Visa endorsement
What is the UK Innovator Founder Visa endorsement?
Under the UK Innovator Founder Visa, an endorsement is a written approval given by a Home Office authorized body who is satisfied that you have a viable, innovative and scalable idea and the business experience and funds to support the same. Every endorsement has a unique reference number and details of the applicant along with the brief of the business venture they intend to do.
Documents required for a UK Innovator Founder Visa
What are the documents required for a UK Innovator Founder Visa while applying?
Typically, applicants applying for this visa will be required to provide documents evidencing:
- Valid passport confirming the applicant’s identity and nationality.
- Endorsement letter from an endorsing body from the Home Office list
- Meeting English language requirements
- Availability of investment funds
- Meeting maintenance funds requirement e.g. Bank statement
- TB test result (where this is a requirement)
Additional documents may be required depending on the specific circumstances.
Knowledge of English requirement
What is the ‘Knowledge of English Requirement’ for a UK Innovator Founder Visa?
Applicants who are required to meet the English language requirement must prove that they can read, write, speak and understand English to a level B2 on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) scale. This requirement can be met by:
- passing Secure English Language Test (SELT) from an approved provider
- have an academic qualification from the UK, e.g. Bachelor degree or higher
- have studied in UK school below the age of 18 for GCSE, A level, Scottish National Qualification level 4 or 5, Scottish Higher or Advanced Higher in English
- having a degree-level academic qualification that was taught in English from outside the UK and having confirmation through UK NARIC that the qualification is equivalent to a UK bachelor’s degree, master’s degree or PhD
Other requirements
Despite this being a fairly new category of visa, we have studied the complete requirements, the basic of which are that:
What is the ‘Knowledge of English Requirement’ for a UK Innovator Founder Visa?
- The founder/innovator applying under this category be from outside the EEA and Switzerland (the purpose must be to set up a business in the UK)
- The founder/innovator meets the other eligibility requirements as specified for this category.
- You may also be able to form an innovator team with other innovators
Applying for a UK visa under the Innovator category is a two stage process.
- Obtaining an endorsement from ‘Endorsing bodies’
- Applying for entry clearance as an innovator
How to apply
An applicant would require an endorsement from the Home Office authorised endorsing body. Once the applicant is granted an endorsement letter, he can thereafter apply for an entry clearance application.
Applying for a UK visa under the Innovator category is a two stage process.
- Obtaining an endorsement from ‘Endorsing bodies’
- Applying for entry clearance as an innovator
How to apply from outside the UK?
How to apply for an Innovator Founder Visa UK from outside the UK?
The applicant would be required to complete an online application form post receiving an endorsement letter from an authorized endorsing body and submit the same at the local VFS centre along with their biometrics and supporting documents.
Join an existing business
How to join an existing business as an Innovator Founder Visa UK holder?
An applicant can establish a new business in the UK. An innovative visa holder cannot join any existing business in the UK and in fact would require his own business idea to set up his own venture in the UK.
An applicant can continue their same business if they have been last granted permission to stay in the UK on the old/now closed down visa categories – Innovator Visa or Start-up Visa or Tier 1 Graduate Entrepreneur Visa and the applicant has been endorsed based on a business that was assessed by an endorsing body either for their previous endorsement or at a contact point meeting during their last period of permission.
Maintenance funds requirements
How much maintenance funds are required for an Innovator Founder Visa UK?
- Applicants need to show £1,270 in savings in their bank account for 28 consecutive days before applying for the visa – this is the maintenance funds required to support your stay in the UK
- There are additional maintenance funds required to bring your dependent partner & children to the UK along with you
- You, your partner, or your child will require the following in addition to the £1,270
- for your partner, £285
- for one child, £315
- £200 for every extra child
Proving identity
How to prove your identity for a UK Innovator Founder Visa?
Applicants will require a valid Passport to confirm their identity and nationality.
Bring your dependants
How to bring your partner & children with you as your ‘dependants’ on an Innovator Founder Visa UK?
The Innovator Founder Visa allows partners and children until the age of 18 to accompany the main applicant under the said visa category. The dependents would have to establish their relationship with the main applicant, along with demonstrating they have adequate maintenance funds to support them in the UK without recourse to public funds.
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