If you want to bring your business idea to the UK, you’ll need one of the 2 entrepreneurial visas. The Home Office offers the UK Startup Visa and Innovator Visa.
Although they cover the same area, they each have their own requirements to be eligible. Life on each of these visas will be different as well, so you want to make sure you’re applying to the right one.
The big difference
When it comes to eligibility, there is one major difference between the Startup Visa and the Innovator Visa. Applicants for the Innovator Visa must have at least £50000 in funding already secured for their business.
Multiple leaders can apply for their own Innovator Visa with the same business, but must each apply separately. This means there needs to be a different £50000 for each leader. So 2 founders would need £100000 and so on.
If you don’t have this funding available or are unlikely to be able to raise it, the Innovator route is probably not the one for you. The Startup Visa has no minimum funding requirements, so would be accessible.
Whether you choose to try and raise those funds now or apply to the Startup Visa will depend on what you want out of your visa. Living on either visa is different, so the option that best suits your needs will answer this question.
Living on the visa
Either scheme will allow you to live and work in the UK while you work on your new business. They both allow you to bring your family with you as well.
The main differences are renewability and freedom to work while on the visa. The Startup Visa offers more freedom, but fewer opportunities afterwards. Meanwhile, the Innovator Visa is somewhat more restrictive, but allows you more routes at the end.
The Startup Visa
While you do have to work on starting your business, the Startup Visa allows you to hold additional employment as well. So long as your endorsing body remains happy that you’re giving your business enough attention, you can have a second job to support yourself.
The Startup Visa’s limitation is that it’s not a renewable visa. This means that when its 2 year period is over, you cannot get another Startup Visa and must move onto another one. The Startup Visa is also not a route to settlement, so you will have to move to a different temporary visa.
The Innovator Visa
While living on the Innovator Visa, you may not hold any employment other than in the business you are starting. This means you can’t also work to support yourself.
The Innovator Visa is, however, a renewable visa and a route to settlement. At the end of its 3 year period, you can move to another visa, extend this visa or apply for leave to remain indefinitely.
If your business has grown enough and created enough value for the UK, you may be eligible to stay in the UK permanently. If you haven’t reached that point yet, you don’t have to change visas to get the chance to do so.
How to apply
To apply for either of the visas, you use the official government website. However, before you can apply, you need the support of an endorsing body.
Endorsing bodies are successful UK companies that the Home Office trusts to check that applicants and their business plans are eligible for a visa. They will check that your plan and documents are in order before your full application.
Conditions
If you’re applying for the Innovator Visa, your endorsing body will check that you have the £50000 required. They will also check that your business meets the conditions set by the Home Office and that you are eligible.
To be used in an application, a business must be innovative, scalable and viable.
- Innovative – innovative businesses are brand new to the UK. They can’t be the same as any business already trading in the country.
- Scalable – your business has to have the potential to grow and create value for the UK. Part of this is the capacity to create jobs for local workers.
- Viable – your business has to be able to succeed in the UK. You have to show that you have the skills and plan to make a successful business thrive.
You also have to be able to support yourself with funds that separate to the £50000 for your business if on the Innovator Visa. You will have to show a satisfactory level of English and pass certain health checks depending on country of origin.
Boardroom Advisor’s Startup Visa and Innovator Visa Ebook goes into more depth about what you have to prepare to apply for either visa. They also act as an endorsing body that gives you more than the bare minimum.
Once you know which visa route is the one for you, you can apply to your endorsing body and start your Startup or Innovator Visa journey to the UK.
John Courtney is Founder and Chief Executive of BoardroomAdvisors.co which provides part-time Executive Directors (Commercial/Operations/
John is a serial entrepreneur, having founded 7 different businesses over a 40 year period, including a digital marketing agency, corporate finance and management consultancy. He has trained and worked as a strategy consultant, raised funding through Angels, VCs and crowd funding, and exited businesses via MBO, MBI and trade sale. He has been ranked #30 in CityAM’s list of UK Entrepreneurs.