The Entrepreneur Visa (Tier 1) was available until 2019. Now the UK has introduced two new visas for business aspirants. If overseas nationals wish to start a business, they can apply for an Innovator Visa. This category gives you the option of settling permanently in the UK. To apply for settling permanently or the Indefinite Leave to Remain, an Innovator must achieve significant success in the field of entrepreneurship. The applicant must also have lived 3 years in the UK. The endorsing body which issued an endorsement approving your business idea must confirm the success of your business.

Confirmation from Endorsement Body

The confirmation must contain:

Information about the development of your business during the period you have been a CEO or one of the partners,

Plans to continue your business activities in the future

Statement that the last verification identified the significant success of your company

Statement that you meet at least TWO of the following requirements:

  • You have spent at least £50,000 on the development of the company. This must be according to the business plan endorsed by the endorsing body.
  • Considerable increase in customer base over the years (more than 2 times from the initial values). The total number of your clients now exceeds the average of the client base of competitors that provide similar services/goods in the market.
  • Research and development that became the cause for patent applications and patents registration in the UK.
  • Gross revenue of more than £1,000,000 for the past year.
  • If the gross revenue for the year was a smaller amount, that is, £500,000, then £100,000 must have been received from export operations.
  • Your company must have created 10 full-time jobs for citizens and resident workers of the country or their equivalent such as 20 part-time jobs.
  • Only 5 full-time employees were hired and the annual salary of each employee was at least £25,000 before taxes.

Other Eligibility Criteria

  • Applicant must be staying in the UK – You cannot leave the UK for more than 180 days in any 12-month period from the arrival on the first visa up to the application for settlement.
  • All adult applicants must also pass an English language test (Level B1)
  •  Applicants must pass Life in the UK test.
  • Clean criminal and immigration records

Citizenship and Passport

After two years of Indefinite Leave to Remain and five years of permanent residence in the country since the first entry on the Innovator visa entrepreneurs are naturalized and are eligible to receive a British passport.

Requirements:

Stay in the UK -You cannot spend more than 450 days outside the UK in the 5 years prior to the application. In the year preceding the application for naturalization, you cannot leave the UK for more than 90 days.

Records – Applicants should not have any criminal records/charges

Language – Knowledge of the English language at Level B1 or higher. If you have a UK bachelor’s degree or master’s degree, you need not take the test. You also need to pass the Life in the UK test.

If an applicant fulfills the above criteria, they can receive the naturalization certificate in a month and a half. Your immigration lawyer can submit your British Passport application after that. Contact us and experience the service of our expert legal team.