Innovator Founder Visa ILR: Top 8 FAQ's Answered
In This Article
1. What Is the Innovator Founder Visa Route and How Does It Lead to ILR?
2. What Are the Key Requirements for Innovator Founder Visa ILR?
3. Do I Need a New Endorsement Letter for Innovator Founder Visa ILR?
4. What Counts as Job Creation for Innovator Founder ILR Applications?
5. Can I Use the Same Endorsing Body for Innovator Founder Visa ILR?
6. What Is Continuous Residence for Innovator Founder Visa ILR?
7. Can Multiple Innovator Founders Apply for ILR from the Same Business?
8. What Are My Options if I Cannot Meet the ILR Requirements?
9. Contact Our Immigration Barristers
10. Glossary
1. What Is the Innovator Founder Visa Route and How Does It Lead to ILR?
The Innovator Founder Visa route provides a pathway to Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) for individuals seeking to establish an innovative, viable, and scalable business in the UK. To qualify for this visa, applicants must receive endorsement from a Home Office-approved endorsing body.
In this article, we answer some of the most frequently asked questions about settlement (ILR) after spending three years in the UK on the Innovator Founder Visa route.
2. What Are the Key Requirements for Innovator Founder Visa ILR?
To be eligible for Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR), you will need to meet the following requirements:
- Your most recent permission is as an Innovator Founder;
- You must be in the UK;
- You have an endorsement letter confirming that you meet the business criteria;
- You meet the suitability requirements and are not in breach of the immigration law;
- You have have continuously resided in the UK for at least 3 years prior to the date of application;
- You have passed the Knowledge of Life in the UK test;
3. Do I Need a New Endorsement Letter for Innovator Founder Visa ILR?
Endorsing bodies
In the application for ILR, you will need to obtain an endorsement letter issued from an endorsing body or legacy endorsing body approved by the Home Office. The current endorsing bodies are:
- UK Endorsing Services;
- Innovator International
- Envestors Limited
- The Global Entrepreneurs Programme (GEP)
Discover the full list of the legacy innovator endorsing bodies. Please note that these legacy endorsing bodies can no longer accept new applications but are permitted to continue to maintain and monitor migrants who have been endorsed by them. We set out the guidance in our article Innovator Founder Visa Endorsement Guidance.
Endorsement letter
To support your application for ILR, your endorsement letter must confirm information such as you have shown significant achievements, your business is registered with Companies House and you are listed as a director and the business is active and trading. The letter should also confirm that the business appears to be sustainable for at least the following 12 months and that you have played a key role in the day-to-day management and development of the business.
The letter also needs to confirm that your business venture has met at least two of the requirements:
- at least £50,000 has been invested in the business and actively spent furthering it;
- The number of customers has at least doubled within the last 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 UK intellectual property protection;
- The business has generated a minimum annual gross revenue of £1 million in the last full year covered by its accounts;
- 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.
- The business has created the equivalent of at least 5 full-time jobs for settled 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 settled workers;
4. What Counts as Job Creation for Innovator Founder ILR Applications?
To satisfy the job creation criteria, each job must have existed for 12 or more months and comply with UK legislation, such as meeting the national minimum wage and working time. Each job must also involve an average of at least 30 hours of paid work per week. One full time job may be combined by two or more part time jobs that add up to 30 hours and may be held by different employees, provided each job has existed for at least 12 months.
The worker will need to meet the definition of a settled worker in the rules in force at the time when they started the job and remain employed for the whole claimed 12 month period, even if they are no longer a settled worker at a later date.
5. Can I Use the Same Endorsing Body for Innovator Founder Visa ILR?
You can provide an endorsement letter from a new endorsing body or a legacy endorsing body. Legacy endorsing bodies are endorsing bodies who were previously approved by the Home Office. It is noted that an endorsement letter from a Legacy Endorsing Body will only be accepted if this is the same endorsing body that supported your last grant of permission.
6. What Is Continuous Residence for Innovator Founder Visa ILR?
One of the requirements for settlement (ILR) on the Innovator Founder visa route is that you must have continuously resided in the UK for at least 3 years immediately prior to application. It means that you must not have been outside the UK for more than 180 days in any 12 month period. You must also be in the UK when you apply.
To qualify, these 3 years must be spent in the UK with permission as an Innovator Founder. To understand how to calculate the absences, you may wish to seek legal advice to ensure that your absences are within the limit.
7. Can Multiple Innovator Founders Apply for ILR from the Same Business?
If your business has more than one team member who is also applying for indefinite leave to remain or has been granted indefinite leave to remain (ILR) as an Innovative Founder, it is important to know that you cannot rely on the same means of meeting the business criteria. An example given by the Home Office guidance:
“for example, if 2 applicants are relying on the requirement to have created 10 jobs, 20 jobs must have been created in total”
8. What Are My Options if I Cannot Meet the ILR Requirements?
Innovator Founder Visa Extension
If you are not able to meet the requirements for ILR, you may be able to extend your Innovator Founder visa.
A summary of the extension requirements for applicants currently on the Innovator Founder route and relying on the same business:
- If the business was previously assessed by an endorsing body, you must demonstrate that you have attended at least 2 contact point meetings with the endorsing body at regular intervals during period of permission and confirm that you will have at least 2 contact points meetings with the endorsing body at regular intervals during the period of permission;
- The endorsing body must be satisfied that:
- Your business is registered with Companies House and you are listed as a director or member of the business;
- Your business must be active, trading and sustainable and you have made significant progress;
- You are involved in the day-to-day management and development of the business;
- You must meet the English language and financial requirements;
Skilled Worker Visa
You may wish to look at the Self-sponsorship Skilled Worker Visa if you are considering being sponsored by your own company. There have been changes to this route since 09 April 2025 and our article Skilled Worker Sponsor Licence: New Rules on Pay and Fees discusses the new rules affecting any investment by the sponsored workers and the payment of sponsor-related fees. We also discussed the sponsorship costs for the Skilled Worker route in our article Skilled Worker Route Sponsorship Costs: A Comprehensive Guide for UK Companies.
9. Contact Our Immigration Barristers
For expert legal advice on applying for ILR as an Innovator Founder visa holder, contact our experienced immigration barristers at 0203 617 9173 or complete our enquiry form below.
