I have been asked, if you are on the Start-up visa, do you switch into the ‘old’ Innovator route, or into the new Innovator Founder route? If you are on the start-up visa, you are either with a legacy endorsing body or you are with one of the new endorsing bodies.
Either way, you are going to switching into the Innovator Founder route. You cannot switch into the old Innovator route, as that was only available before 13th April 2023.
The guidance for legacy endorsing bodies refers to “switching from Start up to Innovator Founder”.
It confirms:
See also here:
And here:
This is also re-confirmed here:
There is an anomaly in the rules, namely, if you are switching from the Start-up visa to the Innovator Founder visa, then you must be “still pursuing the same business venture”. Oddly, you can be endorsed under EITHER the “new business” category OR the “same business” category. But in BOTH scenarios, you must be “still pursuing the same business venture”. So does this put you in a tricky position if your Start-up has not worked out.
NOT NECESSARILY. Although the guidance says what it says, the template for the “same business” Innovator Founder endorsement letter for legacy endorsing bodies states:
For the ‘new’ endorsing bodies the same element of the form appears:
So, if you are extending from the Start-up visa to the Innovator Founder visa, then you can be endorsed under either category (“same” business or “new” business). The guidance says that in EITHER case, you MUST be pursuing the “same business venture”. BUT the forms allow you, under the “same” business template, to say that you have “changed business venture”.
If you are on the Start-up visa and you are switching to the Innovator Founder visa, but you have had to change your business venture (because your original start-up idea did not work out), then you should speak with me. I would need to check whether you have gone through the right procedure for having the new business idea approved. You would likely need to switch under the “same” business criteria, notwithstanding that you have changed your business venture. The correct endorsement letter can then be produced, with the correct field. Likely you should submit a fresh business plan when you do the switch (i.e. in respect of the second business idea). That way you will be in a position to show significant achievements against THAT business plan when it comes to applying for settlement.
The answer depends on:
- whether you are applying to continue the same business as the one for which you were endorsed, or applying to start a different business than that; and
- whether you are with a ‘legacy’ endorsing body, or with one of the new endorsing bodies.
Let us start with whether you are going to continue the same business or apply to start a new one. The key point is, if you want to start a new business (and you have already been endorsed under the ‘old’ Innovator visa), then you do not need to make a fresh immigration application. When you are next going to be endorsed, the endorsement letter contains a section that looks like this for the ‘legacy’ endorsing bodies:
For the ‘new’ endorsing bodies the same element of the form appears:
Note that in both cases (whether it is a ‘legacy’ or ‘new’ endorsing body), when you switch businesses, you still need to apply under the ‘same’ business route. The ‘legacy’ endorsing bodies cannot endorse you under the ‘new’ business category anyway. The ‘new’ endorsing bodies can endorse you for a ‘new’ business, but there would be no point in doing so, given that you can switch businesses under the ‘same’ business route, using this procedure.
The important point, though, is that if you do switch businesses, then you will need an extension before applying for ILR. I would recommend that you submit the fresh business plan with your extension application. You will need to show significant achievements under the second business, rather than the first, in order to get ILR.
If you are on the ‘old’ Innovator visa category, and you extend, then you necessary are extending under the Innovator Founder visa. So you will in all cases become an Innovator Founder. This true whether you are in a ‘new’ endorsing body or in a ‘legacy’ endorsing body.
The ‘legacy’ endorsing body guidance says that extending (old) Innovator leave “will become Innovator Founder leave”:
The ‘new’ endorsing body guidance says that those who apply for “further Innovator leave”, “will be considered under the Innovator Founder rules”.
There are ‘pros’ and ‘cons’ to this situation. The ‘pro’ is that you can get a job in a qualifying skilled role once you extend. The ‘con’ is that if you choose to extend rather than apply for ILR straight away, then the guidance for the ‘new’ endorsing bodies is harsher on you for the ILR endorsement than the guidance for the ‘legacy’ endorsing bodies. It is easier to get ILR under the old rules than the new rules. That is not because the rules are materially different (they are not). It is because the guidance for each category of endorsing bodies differs in its interpretation of the rules.