A Guide for Entrepreneurs on Innovator visa Extension Applications or Settling in the UK

2019 seems a very long time ago, before the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and the cost-of-living crisis. For some entrepreneurs, 2019 marked their arrival in the UK on an innovator visa. Initial visas were granted for 3 years so innovator visa holders are now starting to need help with their visa and settlement options. In this guide, our immigration solicitors look at your best options if you are in the UK and your innovator visa is nearing expiry.

UK Online and London-Based Immigration Solicitors 

For advice on your immigration options call the expert London immigration lawyers at OTS Solicitors on 0203 959 9123 or contact us online.

The innovator visa

On 29th March 2019, the innovator visa replaced the Tier 1 entrepreneur visa category with the government‘s stated intention being to encourage the brightest and best to come to the UK with experienced entrepreneurs able to set up viable, innovative, and scalable new businesses in the UK on innovator visas to help grow the economy. 3 years is a long time in politics and economics and some of the first innovator visa holders are now nearing the end of their innovator visas and asking what their best visa and UK settlement options are.

There are 4 main immigration options:

1. Apply to extend your innovator visa
2. Switch visa to a new visa category from within the UK
3. Apply for indefinite leave to remain so you can settle in the UK
4. Leave the UK and apply for a new visa from outside the UK – you should not take option 4 without first speaking to a specialist immigration solicitor as once you have left the UK your visa options may be more restricted

Even if business life is pressurised, it is crucial that you act before your innovator visa expires. If you let your innovator visa expire you will be classed by the Home Office as an overstayer. That status will affect your immigration record and limit your future immigration options. Overstaying can make what should have been a relatively straightforward visa extension application or indefinite leave to remain application unnecessarily complicated and stressful.

If you came to the UK with your family and they gained entry clearance on dependant visas then you also need to consider their circumstances when looking at your visa options.

Applying to extend an innovator visa

The initial innovator visa is granted for 3 years but it can be extended for an additional 3 years. The immigration rules currently do not impose a limit on the number of times you can apply to extend an innovator visa.

The obvious thing to do may be to extend your innovator visa if you and your family want to remain in the UK and you are nearing the end of your current business visa. However, immigration solicitors recommend checking out the alternative of applying for indefinite leave to remain in the UK if your intention is to remain in the UK on a long-term basis.

If you do decide that an extension application is the best option for you then you will still need to get an endorsement from an endorsing body so business immigration solicitors say that an innovator visa extension should not be chosen over a settlement application just because you think there will be less paperwork involved.

The advantages of indefinite leave to remain rather than an innovator visa extension

If you enter the UK on an innovator visa you can apply for accelerated settlement. In other words, you can apply for indefinite leave to remain after 3 years of living in the UK instead of the usual 5 years. The advantages of indefinite leave to remain over limited leave to remain status are:

• With indefinite leave to remain your permission to remain in the UK is not time limited. You will not need to apply for another visa unless you leave the UK for more than 2 years, in which case you may require a returning resident visa
• After you have held indefinite leave to remain status for a year you can apply for British citizenship. If you do not want to lose your citizenship of birth, and your birth country allows it, you can apply for dual citizenship. If you do not want British citizenship you can remain in the UK with indefinite leave to remain on an indefinite basis
• Indefinite leave to remain means you are no longer subject to immigration control and that you have a right to live and work in the UK. For example, if you chose to retire from your business, you could do so and take up paid employment. You would not need a skilled worker visa and your employer would not need a sponsor licence. Freedom from immigration control gives you greater flexibility so you can choose when to exit your business and sell up without having to leave the UK because you no longer meet the innovator visa criteria
• If you remain in the UK through applying for innovator visa extensions you and your business will need to continue to meet the eligibility criteria for an innovator visa and make an application every 3 years. That may be easy if your business is thriving and is both innovative and scalable but you run the risk that next time you need to apply for an innovator visa extension you or your business no longer meet the eligibility criteria put in place by the Home Office
• Having to continue to meet the innovator visa eligibility criteria for your business can mean that you focus on achieving the innovator visa extension requirements rather than following your entrepreneurial spirit
• Repeat applications for innovator visas and dependant visas means continued visa application fees and the hassle of finding the right supporting paperwork to successfully secure new visas
• Whilst you and your family may meet the eligibility criteria for indefinite leave to remain now there are no guarantees that you will all do so if you apply for an innovator visa extension this time around because you assume you can apply for indefinite leave to remain when your next innovator visa expires. The government could change the indefinite leave to remain eligibility criteria or your personal or business circumstances could change

Moving from an innovator visa to indefinite leave to remain

To move from the innovator visa to indefinite leave to remain status you need to meet 3 key eligibility criteria:

• Your business needs to be endorsed again by an endorsing body – the endorsing body must be able to say that your business has scaled up in accordance with the immigration rules

• You need to have been continuously and lawfully resident in the UK for 3 years to meet the residence requirement – extended absences from the UK may mean you do not meet the ILR residence requirement and that your ILR application should be deferred until you do so. To meet the residence requirement, you must not have spent more than 180 days in any 12-month period outside the UK
•  Unless you are exempt from sitting the test because you are over 65, you need to pass the life in the UK test

Scale-up endorsement criteria to move from innovator visa to indefinite leave to remain

Whilst you may know that your business is both innovative and viable and has lots of scope for further growth you need an endorsing body to confirm this and to specify that your business has met the rigid immigration rules to move from an innovator visa to indefinite leave to remain. The requirement for endorsement should not put you off from applying for indefinite leave to remain as you will need fresh endorsement each time you apply to extend your investor visa.

Whilst you do not need your business to be endorsed by the same body that endorsed your initial innovator visa application you do require endorsement from an approved body.

The endorsement body needs to be able to say that:

• Your business is a registered company, you are a director or member of the company, and you play an active role in the management and development of the business
• The business is trading and active and is sustainable for at least the next 12 months. To confirm this the endorsing body will look at your projected turnover and net profit and your company assets
• Your business has made progress measured against the business plan used to support your initial innovator visa application

• Your business meets 2 of the following criteria:

1. The business has generated a minimum annual revenue of £1 million gross in the last full accounting year
2. The business has generated a minimum annual revenue of £500,000 gross in the last complete accounting year with at least £100,000 of it from overseas exports
3. The business has created at least 10 full-time jobs for settled employees
4. The business has created at least 5 or more full-time jobs for settled employees and the employees each receive a minimum salary of £25,000 gross per year
5. £50,000 has been invested in your business and spent on it
6. Customer numbers have doubled within the previous 3 years and customer numbers are more than the average number of customers for comparable UK businesses
7. The business has participated in significant research and development activity and has applied to protect it through intellectual property protection

Whilst the immigration rules on moving from innovator visa status to indefinite leave to remain may appear exacting and complicated, indefinite leave to remain lawyers can guide you through the application process and help you identify the supporting documents you will need to convert from limited leave to remain to UK settlement.

UK Online and London-Based Immigration and Indefinite Leave to Remain Solicitors 

For advice on innovator visas, visa extensions, and indefinite leave to remain applications call the specialist immigration lawyers at OTS Solicitors on 0203 959 9123 or contact us online.

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