Indefinite leave to remain if you have an Innovator Founder or Innovator visa
Getting endorsed
Before you can apply, you must show an approved body that you鈥檝e grown your business.
If you meet the criteria, the body will give you an endorsement letter to show that you鈥檙e eligible for indefinite leave to remain.
Once you鈥檝e got your letter, you must apply for indefinite leave to remain within 3 months.
You do not need to use the same body that endorsed you for your Innovator Founder or Innovator visa.
Endorsement requirements
You must be able to demonstrate you have an active key role in the day-to-day management and development of your business.
Your business must be:
- registered with Companies House, and you鈥檙e either the director or a member
- currently trading, and be able to continue for at least the next 12 months
Your business must have done at least 2 of the following:
- had 拢50,000 of investment, which you鈥檝e spent on developing the business
- doubled the number of customers in the last 3 years - and this number is higher than the average for similar businesses
- applied for intellectual property protection in the UK
- made 拢1 million revenue in the last full year covered by accounts
- made 拢500,000 revenue in the last full year covered by accounts, with 拢100,000 of this from exporting overseas
- created the equivalent of 10 full-time jobs that have existed for 12 months
- created the equivalent of 5 full-time jobs that have existed for 12 months, with an average salary of 拢25,000 a year
You may have already met some of these criteria when you applied for your visa.
If you鈥檝e created jobs
The jobs you鈥檝e created must be for 鈥榮ettled workers鈥�. A settled worker is someone who was one of the following when they started working for you:
- a British citizen
- an EEA citizen who was living in the UK and working for you by 31 December 2020
- a Commonwealth citizen with a UK Ancestry visa
- someone with indefinite leave to remain or settled status