What is the success rate of the innovator visa?

What are the requirements for an Innovator visa? 

The new Innovator visa category replaced the Tier 1 Entrepreneur visa and was designed for experienced business people who wanted to bring a new and innovative business idea to the UK market. To qualify, the applicant must have £50,000 of capital to invest in the business either from the applicant themselves, from an endorsing body or from another external source. 

The business idea must also meet these criteria: 

• Innovative – it must be new and unlike anything currently on the market
• Scalable – the business must be able to grow into new national and international markets and have the potential to offer new jobs
• Viable – do you as the applicant have the skills and resources to take your idea forward to make it succeed 

If more than one individual is applying for the visa as a team of founders, they cannot share the £50,000 of investment funds. Each applicant must be able to show evidence of their own capital, or that the funds have already been invested into the business.

How many Innovator visas were granted in 2020?

In the first year of the new visa route being operational, from March 2019 – March 2020, a total of 159 visas were granted. In the most recent statistics released for 2020 in February 2021, there were a total of 1669 Tier 1 “High Value” visas granted. This also includes Entrepreneur and Investor visa routes, so shows how few Innovator visas were actually granted. The Home Office states on their statistics that these falls were in large part due to the pandemic, and also due to changes to the immigration system from 1st January 2021 onwards. 

What are some of the problems with the Innovator visa route? 

It seems that, at least in its first couple of years, the Innovator visa has not been the resounding success the government had hoped for. Post-Brexit, the UK Home Office had been focusing on the new points-based immigration system’s design bringing in the “brightest and best” on the basis of merit, rather than the country they are travelling from. But what is stopping these entrepreneurs applying to come to the UK? 

Endorsing bodies list

Before you even begin your application, you must receive endorsement for your business idea from an endorsing body on the government’s pre-approved list. Without an endorsement, you cannot apply for the visa in the first place. On the surface, it appears there are numerous organisations that you could approach. 

However, on closer inspection, it turns out many of the bodies listed actually require a stake in the applicant’s business in return for their endorsement. In other words, an investor would own a proportion of the company. Also, many bodies only support those who are already on an incubator or accelerator program with the organisation, rather than supporting an entirely new person. These programs are often selective and “invite only”. Further, for experienced entrepreneurs that the Innovator visa is supposed to attract to the UK, these programs might not be suitable. 

Therefore, it appears that entrepreneurs of such a high calibre are not as willing to give up a stake in their business when an endorsing body could potentially pull their support at any time, threatening the applicant’s leave to remain in the UK. This is a risky situation for entrepreneurs, seemingly without adequate reward.

Extending the visa and settling in the UK 

If you are able to receive an Innovator visa, you will receive three years leave to remain in the UK. For people to come to the UK to build a business, they will need to know they are able to potentially stay longer than three years to continue to develop and grow their company. High calibre and talented entrepreneurs could be looking for places that not only support their business, but offer great options for themselves and their families long-term. However for applicants, the criteria could prove quite difficult to meet.

To extend the visa, the applicant needs to show that: 

• Significant achievements have been made within their business plan
• The business is active and trading 
• The business appears to be sustainable for at least the next 12 months 
• The endorsing body must be satisfied that the applicant has only worked on their business venture and will continue to do so 
• The business must still be the same as the idea included in the original proposal 

Settling in the UK on the Innovator visa can also be achieved in some cases after three years, by applying for Indefinite Leave to Remain. However again to do so, these criteria are very restrictive and hard to reach, such as: 

• The number of business customers must have doubled within the last three years and be higher than average for other business offering similar products or services 
• A minimum gross annual revenue of £1 million in the last year
• Created at least 10 full time jobs for resident workers, five of which must have salaries of over £25,000

Therefore, only a very small number of entrepreneurs will be able to fulfill these criteria.

How the Immigration Advice Service can help you 

For any business person, thinking long-term is critical. However, with these incredibly high standards to reach, it appears most are unwilling or unable to risk their leave coming to an end after just three years and having to move to their home country or elsewhere, and potentially start from scratch. 

If you are an experienced business person with investment and an innovative idea you want to bring to the UK, hiring an immigration lawyer will give you the best chance of your application for an Innovator visa succeeding. Contact our team for advice today on 0333 305 9375.