The Innovator Founder visa: the fee is £1,357, the real bill starts at £3,357
The Innovator Founder visa costs £1,357 to apply from outside the UK. But you cannot apply at all without an endorsement, and endorsement costs £1,000 plus £500 for each of at least two mandatory meetings — £2,000 before you touch the visa fee, and before the healthcare surcharge.
This route is for people setting up an innovative business in the UK. It is not a general work visa and it is not a route for buying into something that already exists — the Home Office is explicit that you cannot join a business that is already trading.
The endorsement is the real gate
You cannot apply without backing from an approved endorsing body. That body decides whether your idea qualifies, and it charges for the privilege: £1,000 for the endorsement, then £500 for each contact-point meeting, of which at least two are required.
The advertised fee is less than half the story. Most write-ups quote £1,357 and stop. Add the endorsement and its two mandatory meetings and you are at £3,357 before the healthcare surcharge, which is charged per person per year and is not small. Budget from that number, not the headline.
Four tests your idea has to pass
The endorsing body assesses the business against four requirements, and all four have to hold:
- New. You cannot join a business that is already trading.
- Innovative. An original idea, different from anything else on the market.
- Viable, with realistic potential for growth.
- Scalable. Evidence of planning that includes creating jobs and growing into national and international markets.
"Scalable" is where most plans fail. A profitable one-person consultancy is a fine business and a weak application, because it does not create jobs.
What it costs
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Endorsement | £1,000 |
| Contact-point meetings (minimum two) | £500 each |
| Visa application, from outside the UK | £1,357 per person |
| Visa application, extending or switching inside the UK | £1,693 per person |
| Healthcare surcharge | Additional, per person per year |
What else you need
You must be at least 18, meet the English language requirement, and hold at least £1,270 in your account for 28 consecutive days before you apply. That 28-day rule catches people out: money that arrived last week does not count, however much of it there is.
There is no fixed minimum investment for this route. You have to satisfy your endorsing body that the business is adequately funded, but the Home Office does not publish a set sum.
How long it lasts, and how long it takes
The visa grants three years, extendable by a further three, with no stated cap on extensions. Decisions normally take three weeks if you apply from outside the UK and eight weeks from inside it.
What you can and cannot do
You can set up more than one business, work for your own company as a director or partner, bring dependants, and travel in and out of the UK. You cannot claim most benefits, and you cannot work as a professional sportsperson.
This has nothing to do with an ETA. An ETA is short-stay travel permission and cannot be used to start a business or work in the UK. If the Innovator Founder route is what you need, you need this visa — we file ETAs and do not handle business immigration, so speak to a regulated UK immigration adviser before you spend anything.
Checked against the official sources below on 9 September 2026.