02 Feb Innovator visa – Obtaining an endorsement is no longer a mystery!
The Innovator visa category was first introduced back in March 2019 to replace the arguably flawed Tier 1 Entrepreneur Scheme. With the launch of the new visa category, the UK Visas and Immigration aimed to transfer the burden of assessing the eligibility of business ideas to a list of approved institutions known as Endorsing Bodies. These institutions mostly consist of companies which are already providing services in their capacity of business advisors/mentors or angels.
Initially, most endorsing bodies were reluctant to be involved in such process. This was regrettably compounded by the fact there was very little guidance from the Home Office in relation to the application process. As a result, only 159 applicants had their visa approved in the first year worldwide comparing to almost 2500 grants of Tier 1 Entrepreneur in the year before.
However, after the initial teething period, it has been noted that more and more endorsing bodies are now happy to be involved with the endorsement of innovator visa applications as part of their services. This article provides some tips of how to apply for an endorsement.
1. Shortlisting/Screening
There are 48 endorsing bodies for Innovator visa at the time of writing. Some institutions are only interested in certain industries whilst the others have a geographic preference. For example, Zinc can only endorse design and technology businesses that are or will be set up in London. Few endorsing bodies have also set to deadlines to apply.
Therefore, an applicant will need to go through all of them to shortlist specific institutions that are able to offer an endorsement to his/her business.
2. The innovator’s journey
Once an applicant is endorsed, he/she will be working with the endorsing body for the duration of the visa. Although a degree of flexibility is allowed during this journey, an applicant must research what the specific institution can offer to the business and any limitations.
3. Procedures
An applicant should be able to identify at least one institution, which they are keen to apply to. Once this is done, It is time to review their application procedures. Most endorsing bodies require applicants to fill an online form or provide a summary of the business idea to start with. If they are interested, they will ask for a detailed business plan. However, there are also institutions which will require the business plan to be received first with financial forecast.
If the endorsing body believes that the business plan meets the requirements of innovation, scalability and viability, they will invite the applicant to join their existing program and issue the endorsement letter. Please note that there will be a fee charged as the institution will need to review the business at the checkpoints required by the Home Office. Upon joining the programs, the applicant will also have access to other services offered by the endorsing bodies such as mentoring.
We hope that this article has given you an insight into how to apply for an endorsement under the Innovator visa category. It is important to note that applicants have to conduct plenty of research before making the application to ensure that they follow the right path.
Migra & Co can certainly assist you from the very start and guide you throughout the journey.
Should you require any assistance on or interested in applying for an Innovator Visa, please do not hesitate to contact us on 020 3384 3075 or [email protected] .
