Innovator Founder Visa
UK visas and Immigration made some major changes have been introduced to the Immigration rules following the publication of the statement of changes earlier this year.
The most significant change was the introduction of the Innovator Founder Visa, which came into effect on the 13th of April 2023.
Key changes:
The new Innovator Founder visa has replaced the Innovator and Start-Up Visa routes. The aim of the Home Office is to make the route more inviting to genuinely innovative entrepreneurs who may not otherwise have £50,000 capital to invest in their innovative idea.
The following key changes have been made under the new Innovator Founder Visa:
| Requirements | Old Innovator Visa | New Innovator Founder Visa |
|---|---|---|
| Endorsing Letter | ||
| Investment funds of minimum of £50,000 (includes third party funding) | ||
| Secondary employment (outside running their business) NB : provided it’s a skilled employment. | ||
| Contact point meetings | ||
| Business plan | ||
| English Language (B2) | ||
| Financial Requirement |
Applicants would still need to be awarded 70 points in order to obtain entry clearance or permission to stay however, the 20 points previously allocated to the £50,000 minimum funds threshold will now be re-allocated to business plan requirement (which was previously 10 points under the old route and is now 30 points).
The Applicants will still require an Endorsing letter from an Endorsing Body (20 points); meet the English language requirements in all 4 components (namely, reading, writing, speaking and listening) of at least level B2 (10 points); and meet the financial maintenance requirement (10 points).
A key difference between the Innovator visa and the Innovator Founder visa is that entrepreneurs under the Innovator Founder visa can take up secondary employment outside their commitment and focus on building their innovative product or service. This is a major lifeline for Applicants who are otherwise in the research and development phase of their business idea launch, or are not generating any income from the development of their idea. As a legacy endorsing body, we have received feedback from a cohort of Innovator visa entrepreneurs who on reflection did not realise how heavily the cost of living in the UK would impact them. They had not anticipated the slow birth of their ventures and it not feasible for them to financially survive off their business when they can only come to the UK with an idea to develop. Seasoned entrepreneurs or not, developing or service or a product from scratch does not generally does not return a profit or income between years 1 – 3, and if it does generate income, once expenses are accounted, could an Innovator visa holder sustain living in today’s United Kingdom without dipping into their savings?
Does the Innovator Founder lead to ILR?
The Innovator Founder visa is valid for 3 years and can lead directly to indefinite leave to remain ‘settlement’ in the UK at the end of this period. It may seem all too appealing to be eligible for settlement at an accelerated rate of 3 years instead of the standard 5 years of residency, however, meeting requisite endorsement requirements under para INNF 17.1. of the Immigration Rules remains a tall order.
Although it is no longer an initial entry clearance requirement, it still remain one of the seven endorsement requirements for settlement to invest £50,000 which must be spent on furthering the business. This aside, in our opinion, it remains to one of the least onerous of the two requirements of the seven to be met for settlement.
We also found that there has been a slight requirement for intellectual property (IP) protection in the UK. The Immigration Rules have silent on the definitions of which IP can be protected, under the previous rules for the innovator visa and its accompanying caseworker guidance and guidance for Endorsement Bodies was silent on trademarks and Copyrights fulfilling the IP criteria. However, it is now explicitly clear from the Guidance on Innovator Founder that a Trademark on branding and Copyrighting cannot be used to fulfil the IP requirement. This indicates that a Patent or Design Right is the most secure option to meet the IP threshold, and it is vital that it is coupled with strong evidence of Research and Development having been carried out in the development of the product or service. We recommend entrepreneurs on our Endorsement Incubator to seek advice on HMRC Tax Reliefs. Should they be successful in receiving tax credit, this is a clear indication that a government department has deemed that a certain standard of qualifying research and development has been met. This may prove useful for Applicant’s relying on this requirement to obtain ILR but no consolation to those who have an innovative idea which is not patentable.
Who we are?
We are a Legacy Endorsing Body, and we will continue to run our Incubator and Mentoring programme for those currently endorsed by us. Applicants who were previously endorsed by us for the Innovator visa, Start Up Visa or Tier 1 (Graduate Entrepreneur) can still rely on our endorsement to switch to the Innovator Founder Visa.
New candidates who are seeking to apply for an Innovator Founder visa may still approach us to determine their eligibility on for the visa, as we are able to determine which businesses are innovative, scalable, and viable before approaching the current endorsing bodies.
Queensbury is also a SRA regulated law firm with highly experience immigration lawyers who can assist in all aspects of Immigration and naturalisation law.
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