The Innovator Founder route replaces the Innovator and Start-up categories, enabling experienced entrepreneurs from outside the UK (including the EEA/Switzerland) to establish a business in the UK. The applicant must secure an endorsement from a Home Office-approved endorsing body, verifying that their business is new, innovative, viable and scalable.

Key features

• Work: Innovator Founder migrants can set up businesses and work either as an employed director or in a self-employed capacity in the UK.
• Dependants: the spouses or partners and/or children of Innovator migrants are permitted to join or remain with the main applicant in the UK and undertake work and study (subject to certain restrictions).
• Switching: migrants will now be able to switch from within the UK into this route from most other UK immigration routes.
• Settlement: Innovator Founder migrants may apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) continuous residence in the UK.

Our team’s in-depth knowledge of the predecessor Tier 1 (Entrepreneur), Innovator and Start-up categories, as well as involvement in Home Office lobbying and policy direction, means we are well placed to advise on Innovator Founder applications. We manage the entire application process from obtaining the necessary endorsement through to advising on requirements for future applications to ensure clients remain compliant.

We work on a fixed fee basis. Our fees for individual Innovator Founder applications typically range between £10,000 – £15,000 plus VAT and disbursements depending upon whether the application is for initial leave, an extension or Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) in the UK as well as on the specific issues, urgencies and complexities involved.

Disbursements

You can expect the main disbursements to include:

• Home Office filing fees (click here for the government’s visa/entry clearance fee calculator and here for a list of all Home Office fees);
• Immigration Health Surcharge fees, if applicable;
• Optional premium service fees for in-country and out-of-country applications; and
• other ancillary disbursements such as UK National Academic Recognition Information Centre (NARIC) fees, biometric enrolment, translations, courier and postage charges, etc.

Dependants
For dependant application fees, please refer to our Dependants section. Dependants typically incur the same disbursements as main applicants.