The New Innovator Founder Visa Route – Everything you need to know!

Our immigration and visa partner, Kingsley Napley, share their latest insight on the UK's new Innovator Founder Visa Route. Read it below or visit their blog for this and other issue updates.

The new Innovator Founder visa route will commence from 13 April 2023, which will also see the end of the Start-Up visa scheme.

The Innovator Founder route will replace the previous Innovator route and there will now only be three Home Office approved Endorsing bodies. Going forward, new applicants (who do not have an endorsement letter prior to 13 April 2023) will need to seek an endorsement with one of the three new Endorsing Bodies approved for the Innovator Founder route.

The previous Endorsing bodies (now known as ‘Legacy Endorsing bodies’) will continue to maintain applicants who entered the Innovator visa scheme before 13 April 2023. They will be able to continue endorsing applicants which they have previously issued endorsement letters for but only for the same business idea used in a previous application.

The requirement to show the business proposal is innovative, viable and scalable is still a key feature under the Innovator Founder route. You can apply with a new business concept. Alternatively, you can apply under the same business category, provided that you have previously obtained permission as a Innovator Founder, Innovator, Start-up or Tier 1 (Graduate Entrepreneur) and was assessed in a previous application using the same business concept. While the new route is vastly similar to the previous scheme, the new route does offer some welcome changes here

No £50,000 GBP minimum investment requirement

Previously, applicants were required to show at least £50,000 GBP available to invest in the new business but this requirement has been scrapped under the Innovator Founder route, which should offer greater flexibility for entrepreneurs. Businesses that do not need a large amount of capital to kick start the business will see great benefit to this. However, if your business idea requires significant cash injection to start the business, then the new Endorsing bodies may still want you to demonstrate you have the necessary funds available so that you can start your business in the UK, usually for at least the next 12 months.

Minimum two contact points

Legacy Endorsing bodies were previously required to stay in contact with Innovator applicants at checkpoints of 6, 12 and 24 months. The new rules now only require a minimum of two contact points which may present more flexibility as to when new applicants ought to meet with their Endorsing body. Different industries and businesses will have different timelines in how they develop their business so moving away from set 6, 12 and 24 month checkpoints will help ease the pressure for some entrepreneur innovators to develop their business under less rigid timescales.

Secondary employment allowed

Previously, it was a condition that Innovators could only work for the business the Innovator has established in the UK. Now, Innovator Founders can take up secondary employment provided that the role is at a skill level not less than RQF level 3, which is equivalent to A-levels or high school leavers. This is a welcome change as it is not uncommon for entrepreneurs to start their new business venture while being in employment for other businesses. This reflects the reality for genuine entrepreneurs who are multifaceted. It would also help those to earn and maintain their life in the UK until their business is at a stage where the applicant no longer requires earning from their secondary employment.

Can I use an endorsement letter issued by a Legacy Endorsing body under the new scheme?

If you are applying on the basis of a new business, you can use the endorsement letter issued by the Legacy Endorsing body if the letter is dated before 13 April 2023. Alternatively, if the Legacy Endorsing body previously endorsed you as a Start-up applicant, then the same Legacy Endorsing body can endorse you to apply for the Innovator Founder route.

If you are applying under the same business category, you can only rely on the endorsement from a Legacy Endorsing body if you previously obtained your first endorsement letter with that same Legacy Endorsing body before 13 April 2023 and subsequently applied on the Innovator Founder visa route post 13 April 2023.

With the upcoming changes, applicants will now need to check a number things before they apply. Please contact Kingsley Napley for a checklist for Innovator Founder applicants.

GTC welcome Kingsley Napley as its immigration and visa partner

Global Tech Connect is pleased to announce the addition of Kingsley Napley to its supporting partner network. The London based law-firm joins as our immigration and visa advisors.

Whether relocating your startup to the UK, or hiring skilled tech professionals from overseas, immigration and visa issues can be a bureaucratic barrier for foreign-founders. Getting the right advice matters.

As a recognised leader and one of the largest teams of immigration lawyers in the UK, Kingsley Napley have an established reputation for delivering exceptional client service combined with clear strategic immigration advice.

Read more about Kingsley Napley and their services on our UK Visas resource page.

What Tech Nation’s closure means for the Global Talent visa and tech migration

Elli Graves, Senior Immigration Advisor at the law firm Kingsley Napley, writes about the future of the Global Talent visa following the news that Tech Nation and Tech Nation Visa are closing at the end of March:

Tech Nation, the organisation that helped bring thousands of talented tech workers to the UK, has announced that it will cease operations on 31 March 2023 after the government pulled key funding, awarding it instead, somewhat controversially, to Barclays’ tech incubator Eagle Labs. Without the government funding, Tech Nation, which operates as a non-profit, cannot fund its accelerators, reports or visa programme.

It has been confirmed that Eagle Labs will not take over Tech Nation’s role as the endorsing body administering the tech arm of the UK’s Global Talent visa. Tech Nation has confirmed that it has notified the Home Office that its visa scheme will stop.

There is currently very little information available about what the future of the Digital Technology Global Talent category, often referred to as the “Tech Nation visa”, is going to look like. At present it looks like Tech Nation will continue to accept applications up until they cease operations, confirming that the visa programme will continue in the “immediate term”. However, given that assessors have normally been allowed up to eight weeks to decide applications, it is not clear whether an earlier cut-off date will be introduced to allow Tech Nation assessors sufficient time to decide pending applications prior to 31st March.

This announcement has been met with dismay in both the tech and immigration communities. Tech Nation, which launched in 2011, ran a variety of accelerator programmes designed to help UK start-ups and scaleups grow and expand internationally, and alumni include many of the UK’s most successful startup including Monzo, Revolut, Depop, Darktrace, Ocado, Skyscanner and Deliveroo. The importance of an accessible, flexible (and stable) immigration category ensuring that the UK can access and attract top tech talent remains fundamentally important to the strength of the UK tech sector and the wider economy. The Home Office says it is working closely with Tech Nation and looking at options to “ensure the continuity” of the Global Talent tech visa in the short term, whilst they explore the long-term changes necessary in light of Tech Nation’s planned closure. they have also stated “We will also take every available step to ensure that applicants already part of the Global Talent route are not disadvantaged by the closure, so the UK can continue to benefit from the brightest and best living and working here.”

Given that the removal of Tech Nation’s funding has been planned for some time now, it feels extremely short sighted that the Home Office have allowed us to reach this stage without even the vaguest of plans for the continuity of the visa programme or a successor to Tech Nation being announced. As the pound has hit an all-time low and the economy is wobbling, and the UK is comparatively painfully short on tech talent, now is not the time to be giving founders or investors reason to question the government’s commitment to such an economically important sector.

In recent years, the UK tech sector has grown by around 7% a year, faster than the UK economy as a whole, and it is now estimated to support around three million jobs. Last year the UK Government published its Digital Strategy 2022, with a mission to strengthen the country’s position as a “Global Science and Tech Superpower”, and to encourage investment and innovation so that the UK can continue to compete on a global stage. Foreign investment is a catalyst for digital economy development.

With competition increasing as countries announce various attractive visa policies, and in a shrinking global economy, competition for both talent and investment will be fiercer than ever. With the stakes being so high, founders and investors will be examining more closely each decision they make, both as to where they should choose to locate their start-ups and their investments. It is clear that any immigration policy that makes it more onerous and expensive to access the necessary talent will be a major turn-off to both founders and potential investors, so we would urge the Home Office to move quickly in establishing an accessible, flexible and affordable successor to the Tech Nation visa to ensure that the UK tech sector does not lose out!

https://www.kingsleynapley.co.uk/insights/blogs/immigration-law-blog/what-tech-nations-closure-means-for-the-global-talent-visa-and-tech-migration

Republished with the permission of Kingsley Napley.