Innovator Visa

The Innovator visa is for non-EEA nationals who are experienced businesspersons seeking to establish a business in the UK.

In most cases applicant will need to have access to at least £50,000 to invest in their business or have already invested £50,000 in your business, but certain exceptions apply. Applicant will also need to have an innovative, viable and scalable business idea which is approved and supported by an endorsing body.

Main eligibility requirements for an Innovator visa:

• Applicant is at least 18 years old
• Applicant’s endorsement letter was issued not more than 3 months before the date of their Innovator visa application
• Applicant is competent in the English language to at least CEFR Level B2, equivalent to IELTS 5.5 in reading, writing, listening and speaking
• Applicant has at least £50,000 available to invest in their UK business or have already invested £50,000 in your UK business
• Applicant has been endorsed by an approved UK endorsing body that has assessed their business idea for innovation, viability and scalability
• Applicant is capable of undertaking, any work or business activity in the UK stated in their application
• Applicant has at least£945 available to support themselves and £630 for each dependant without relying on public funds

Obtain Endorsement Letter from Approved Endorsement Body

In order to apply for a Start-up visa, applicant will need to be endorsed by an approved UK endorsing body, Venture Capital Firms via submitting business plan with relevant idea, which are innovative, viable and scalable.

Please find full list of endorsement bodies HERE

Our immigration advisers can assist applicants to identify an appropriate endorsing body and then prepare a strong application for endorsement which demonstrates their business idea is innovative, viable and scalable.

Apply for Visa –Entry Clearance from outside of the UK or switch from relevant visas in the UK

After obtaining endorsement letter, applications for Innovator visas can be made from outside the UK, however it is possible to switch into the Innovator visa category from within the UK, if applicant was last granted leave to remain as:

• Start-up Visa
• Tier 1 Graduate Entrepreneur
• Tier 1 Entrepreneur
• Tier 2 General
• Tier 2 ICT Skilled Worker
• Standard Visitor visa -if applicant came to the UK to get funding and had a supporting letter from an endorsing body

After applicant has completed 2 years as a Start-up visa holder, they will be able to apply for further leave to remain in the Innovator category in order to continue developing your business. The Innovator category can lead to settlement in the UK after a further 3 years.

Applicant’s partner and any children under the age of 18 may accompany or join they as dependents.

Applicant can be sole founder of their business and they can be a member of an innovator team. Each applicant must receive their own individual endorsement from an approved endorsing body, in order to satisfy the investment funds requirement for a new business endorsement each applicant must has at least £50,000 investment funds each.

Initial Innovator visa will be granted for 3 years, it will be possible to extend an Innovator visa for periods of 3 years at a time. Applicant will be able to apply for indefinite leave to remain after spending 3 years in the Innovator visa category.

Applicant will need to stay in contact with your endorsing body with checkpoints at 6, 12 and 24 months after their application is successful. The endorsing body will need to be satisfied that applicant is continuing to work on your business venture and has demonstrated reasonable progress in relation to either their original or a new business idea that is innovative, scalable and viable.

Obtain British Passport via innovator Visa

Main eligibility requirements for Indefinite Leave to Remain as an Innovator

Applicant will need to satisfy UK Visas & Immigration that:

• Applicant has been endorsed by an approved UK endorsing body that is satisfied that applicant has shown significant achievements judged against the business plan assessed in their previous endorsement
• Applicant has registered with Companies House as a Director or Member of their business, business is trading and appears sustainable for at least the following 12 months
• Applicant has had an active key role in the day-to-day management and development of the business, and they will spend their entire working time in the UK on developing business ventures
• Applicant satisfy at least two of the following:
  – At least £50,000 has been invested into the business
  – The business has created the equivalent of at least 5 full-time jobs for resident workers, which have an average salary of at least £25,000 a year
  – The business has created the equivalent of at least 10 full-time jobs for resident workers with no average salary requirement
  – The number of customers has at least doubled within the most recent 3 years and is currently higher than the mean number of customers for other UK businesses offering comparable main products or services
  – The business has engaged in significant research and development activity and has applied for intellectual property protection in the UK
  – The business has generated a minimum annual gross revenue of £1 million in the last full year covered by its account. The business has generated a minimum annual gross revenue of £500,000 in the last full year covered by its accounts, with at least £100,000 from exporting overseas
• Applicant has spent not more than 180 days outside the UK in any rolling 12-monthperiod during the 3 years prior to the date of application
• Applicant is competent in the English language to at least CEFR Level B2, equivalent to IELTS 5.5 in reading, writing, listening and speaking
• Applicant has passed Life in the UK test

How Mann’s Solutions work

1. Conversation with Our Immigration Consultant

Our aim with this session is to make your case optimally strong, show all your strong points as visa applicant.

2. Receiving legal agreement from us

We will send you our Customer Care Letter (CCL) which states all legal information about how we work as an Immigration Law Firm.

3. Payment

You will receive our automated email with invoice attached. Payment of 50% of the invoice value needs to be done before we start your application process. Remaining 50% needs to be paid 3 days before submission of your case to Home Office.

4. Working on your case

We will send you a ’tailored’ list of documents which you need to provide for your application, Our adviser will consult you and fully assist on arranging all documents, prepare case strategy and fully comply with UK immigration law for your application form, then prepare professional and detailed Representation letter to support your case in Home Office.

5. Submitting application to Home Office

Our adviser will submit all necessary forms online and arrange an appointment date for YOU to attend UK Visa Centre in your city to bring all original documents.

6. Obtaining results from Home Office

The Home Office will send your documents and the result of your application to our office within 6 months of submitting your application, but in some cases this period can be longer.

7. Guiding you for Next Steps in the UK

Our Immigration adviser will guide you with next steps regarding immigration law and compliance of the Visa extension, ILR and British Passport.

Mann’s Solutions Services included:

• Taking full instructions of your circumstances
• Providing you with a full list of documents required for you to provide
• Completion of the Home Office online application form
• Full Document check
• Once all the documents are satisfactory, we will begin to prepare our legal representation letter for your application to accompany your application to the Home Office
• Your application will be thoroughly revised by our immigration advisor

UK Visas & Immigration