UK Innovator Visa to Citizenship

Are You Looking to Launch a Company in the UK?

We have helped many skilled Nigerians in relocating and working in the UK through Innovator visas. Our team of experienced lawyers is well-equipped to assist you through the entire application process and they can also address all the questions you might have with regard to the route to British citizenship.

Contact Us

Nigerian Emigration

For Nigerian emigration matters, please call +44 (0) 3316300929 or +2342013438882

Other Immigration and Emigration Matters

For immigration/emigration to/from other countries, please call:

US –  +1 844 290 6312

Ireland –  (+353) 061 518 025

UK –  (+44) 333 4149244

How to Obtain a UK Innovator Visa

Introduction to The Endorsing Body

You may contact the endorsing body approved by the home office in this list to discuss your business in the UK. A recommendation from a recognized endorsing body is required of applicants.

Concept of Business in The UK Approval

You may present your idea and business strategy during the endorsing body’s first consultation. The endorsing body will invest time with you to thoroughly understand your business model, the cash flows, and any other criteria they consider essential to ensure that your idea has the greatest chance of getting endorsed if they decide it is fit to go ahead with the proposal.

The endorsing body will determine whether or not the business plan and necessary papers for a new venture fit the endorsement criteria of creativity, feasibility, and scalability and are true and credible. If so, the applicant will get a letter endorsing their submission to the Home Office.

Innovator Visa Application

You can complete your Innovator Founder Visa application, and you can submit it to the Home Office after completing the previous steps successfully and receiving an endorsement. The Immigration Rules include stringent standards for the supporting documentation needed to submit an application for an innovator founder visa.

IAS can help you prepare for the UK innovator Visa. Your Innovator Founder Visa application will be expertly prepared, technically sound, and accepted the first time. Call us on +2342013438882.

Approval

Once the Home Office has granted the Innovator Founder Visa, you will be permitted to visit the UK and begin using your investment cash and developing your business idea.

Requirements

You have to prove to UK Visas and Immigration that you are eligible for an innovator founder visa by providing the following evidence:

• You are above the age of 18;
• You possess a letter of recommendation from a recognized UK endorsing organisation attesting to the following: Your eligibility for endorsement under the Innovator Founder route;
• The source of any money invested in your company is unimportant to the endorsing body;
• The endorsing body has no grounds to suspect that you or your company may be the recipient of illegitimate or atypical wealth;
• You created or significantly contributed to the concepts in your business plan, and you have a business plan;
• You’ll play a daily part in executing the company strategy;
• At least two Contact point meetings will be held with the endorsing body on a regular basis;
• Either you and the founding team’s other members are the only founders; and
• You have a new, practical, and expandable company idea;
• You applied for your Innovator visa no more than three months ago, according to your endorsement letter;
• You have at least CEFR Level B2 English language proficiency, which is equal to an IELTS score of 5.5 in reading, writing, hearing, and speaking.
• You have a minimum of £1270 to support yourself, extra £285 for a dependant spouse, £315 for a first child, and £200 for each subsequent kid if you are outside the UK or have just been here for less than a year;
• Your application is not rejected based on a general basis for rejection;
• If necessary, you have given a TB test certificate.

Viable Business Idea for An Innovator

This requirement is often challenging for potential British business owners to satisfy.

Innovation

Here, everything is straightforward. A corporation that has been functioning in the nation already cannot accept investment from an innovator. Every service or item you provide must be wholly unique and unmatched in the UK market.

Viability

Businesses must have potential in the UK, both in terms of the idea’s inherent potential and the potential offered by your expertise, knowledge, and resources.

Scalability

Your company’s foundational concept enables it to expand, provide more employment opportunities, and offer more products and services both domestically and internationally.

The idea’s endorsement for your company is carried out by the endorsing organisation. A set of guidelines for innovator endorsing organisations with the authority to suggest business ideas and provide endorsements is available on the website of the British government.

IAS are aware of how challenging it may be to choose a UK-based company concept that will have the full support of the endorsing organisation. Our professionals are prepared to assist you in obtaining a letter of support. Call us on +2342013438882 or our UK Office +44333 305 9375.

Conditions of Stay in the UK with UK Innovator Visa

You must comply with a number of residency requirements if you have an innovator founder visa.

You will be required to put in effort for the company or companies you have founded. Providing that any such additional employment is in a skilled function (i.e., skilled to at least RQF Level 3), you may work outside the operations of your firm.

Switching to UK Innovator Visa

Innovator Founder visa applications may be submitted from Nigeria, but it is also possible to change your status from within the country as long as you do not currently have permission to enter the country as a visitor, seasonal worker, short-term student, parent of a child student, domestic worker in a private household, or otherwise outside the immigration rules.

The Innovator Visa Extension

You may extend your immigration status for an additional three years prior to the expiration of your main visa if:

• You still fulfil all conditions set out by the UK Visas and Immigration;
• Your firm is backed by the endorsing body;
• You are still operating your business or are prepared to start a new one and invest in its growth.

Children who are under 18 and financially dependent adults over 18 who achieved the age of majority within the first visa’s validity term may renew their visas with you, your wife, or your husband. The total number of extensions for the Innovator visa is not in any way limited by British regulations.

Benefits of UK Innovator Visa

The benefits of having an innovator visa:

• To qualify for the UK Innovator visa, you would need to invest in the business, but this is not the most important requirement. You do however need an endorsement.
• You may start a business on your own or with partners. In this scenario, each team member will contribute at least £50,000 toward the creation of a new company. But yourself and all partners would require an endorsement.
• For individuals who currently operate a company overseas and want to establish a representative office in the UK, having the status of an innovator is fantastic. However, you may also become an innovator if all you have is a fresh company concept and the resources to make it happen.
• In the immigration application, the investor may include their family members, including their spouse, civil partner, and minor children.
• In three years, you will be able to apply for a permanent residency visa, and in another two years, you will be able to apply for British citizenship if your business does well in the fiercely competitive British market.

ILR and British Citizenship for UK Innovator Visa Holders

Overview

If you hold an innovator visa, you may be eligible for indefinite permission to stay.

You settle in the UK by obtaining indefinite permission to reside. It grants you the freedom to stay in this country as long as you wish, work here, study here, and, if you qualify, ask for benefits. You can use the innovator visa for British citizenship.

Before applying for ILR, you must get an approval from the endorsing body. The endorsing body that gave its approval to your company concept serves as proof of your success.

Proof Of Success

The updated confirmation must attest that you comply with at least two of the following requirements. You can include information about your company’s growth when you were its CEO or a partner, how you intend to carry on your current activities into the future, and other pertinent information:

• The business owner invested at least £50,000 in the growth of the organisation and did so entirely in line with the business plan approved by the endorsing authority;
• Over the years, the company’s customer base has grown significantly (more than double from the beginning values), and the total number of its customers currently surpasses the average for corporate rivals that provide comparable products or services on the market;
• Research and development conducted as part of your company activities led to the filing of patent applications and the registration of patents in the UK;
• Over £1,000,000 was made in gross income last year;
• Despite the year’s lower-than-expected gross income of £500,000, which included £100,000 from export activities;
• 10 full-time employment, or their equivalent (for instance, 20 part-time jobs), were generated for nation residents and citizens throughout the execution of your business plan;
• There were only 5 full-time staff employed, but each received an annual salary of at least £25,000 before taxes.
• Please be aware that your endorsement letter must attest to the fulfilment of at least two of the aforementioned conditions in order for you to be eligible to apply for the status of a British permanent residence.

Eligibility

You must possess:

• resided in the UK for three years on an Innovator visa; time spent in the UK on any other visa is not admissible.
• a fresh certification demonstrating that you’ve fulfilled the conditions for expanding your company

Knowledge of British culture

You have to pass the Life in the UK Test if you are 18 to 64 years old.

Outside of the UK

In any 12-month period, you may not have travelled outside of the UK for more than 180 days.

When to apply

28 days before you are qualified, you may apply. If you submit your application early, it can be rejected.

Do not wait till the expiration of your present visa. You must first renew your visa if it expires before you may submit an application for indefinite permission to stay.

How Can IAS Help?

If you want to bring your business concept to life in one of the world’s financial centres, the seasoned consultants working for our firm would be pleased to assist you in obtaining the premium immigration status of an Innovator and organising the transfer of your whole family to the United Kingdom.

The highly qualified attorneys at IAS  have an abundance of expertise and have observed that the greatest results can only be achieved via an individualised strategy that takes into consideration the client’s preferences together with all of the relevant facts and circumstances.

Because the variety of problems that may be remedied by our consultants does not consist only of immigration difficulties, IAS provides businesses with bundled service packages. In addition, our professionals will assist a new British businessman of Nigeria with complete information and guidance.

For a successful businessman, obtaining indefinite leave to remain and eventually British citizenship may be accomplished in a timely and cost-effective manner with the Innovator visa.

You may become a permanent resident of the United Kingdom with the assistance of IAS within three years of migrating to the country if you have competent legal representation throughout that time.

IAS consultants are prepared to assist you in resolving any problem you may be experiencing in relation to the acquisition of a British Innovator visa or any other kind of visa for relocating to the UK. Call us on +2342013438882 or our UK Office +44 (0) 3316300929 or you can contact us online.