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Start-Up Visa Solicitors
The Start-up route was previously intended for entrepreneurs looking to develop an innovative, viable and scalable business in the UK. New Start-up endorsements effectively came to an end in 2023 and the route subsequently closed to all new applications. It is therefore important not to prepare an application using historic Start-up visa requirements that still appear on older websites.
Garth Coates Solicitors advises entrepreneurs, founders and business owners on current UK immigration options. We can review your circumstances, your proposed business activity and your existing immigration status to help identify the route that may be appropriate for you.
For many entrepreneurs, this will mean considering the Innovator Founder visa. The current route requires an eligible business or business idea to receive endorsement from an approved endorsing body before the immigration application is made.
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New applicants are no longer eligible for this route. Those who currently possess entry clearance or leave to enter or remain under this category can switch to the Innovator Founder Visa or seek indefinite leave to remain if they are eligible.
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Immigration advice for entrepreneurs after the closure of the Start-up visa
The closure of the Start-up route does not mean that entrepreneurs can no longer come to the UK to establish businesses. It does mean that the eligibility requirements and immigration strategy need to be considered under the routes that exist today.
The Innovator Founder route is aimed at founders with an innovative, viable and scalable business proposition who intend to play an active role in developing that business. Depending on your background and plans, a different work or talent route may sometimes be more appropriate.
Garth Coates Solicitors was established in 2008 by Garth Coates, who previously worked within the Home Office as an immigration officer. The firm focuses on UK immigration matters for individuals and businesses and is authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority.
You can find out more about Garth Coates Solicitors and the firm's approach to UK immigration advice.
Planning your next UK immigration step
If you currently hold, or previously held, permission under the Start-up route, your next application should be considered in the context of your immigration history and your current business.
If you are a new applicant who has simply found the phrase “Start up visa UK” while researching ways to establish a business in Britain, you should not submit an application under the closed route. Instead, your eligibility for the Innovator Founder visa or another current immigration category should be considered.
Garth Coates Solicitors can advise on the immigration application, the evidence required and how the proposed route fits with your longer term plans in the UK.
If you need advice on your circumstances, contact Garth Coates Solicitors to discuss the options available to you.
FAQs
Is the Start up visa UK still available in 2026?
No. The Start up visa UK is no longer open to new main applicants. The route was progressively closed during 2023 and has been replaced for most prospective innovative entrepreneurs by the Innovator Founder visa. Anyone researching a new UK entrepreneur application should therefore work from the current Innovator Founder requirements rather than historic Start-up rules.
This distinction matters because a large amount of information about the former Start-up route remains online.
Historic guidance may refer to the old endorsement process, a two year grant of permission and requirements that applied when new Start-up applications were still being accepted. Those rules should not be treated as instructions for making a new application today.
The current GOV.UK guidance expressly states that you can no longer apply for a Start-up visa and directs people who want to establish a UK business towards the Innovator Founder route.
There are limited reasons why the Start-up category can still be relevant. For example, official guidance continues to make provision for eligible dependants of someone who already has Start-up permission. A person whose immigration history includes the Start-up route may also need advice about moving into another category.
Garth Coates Solicitors can review your present immigration position and explain which current route should be considered instead of relying on an obsolete Start-up application process.
What replaced the Start up visa UK for entrepreneurs?
For entrepreneurs with innovative business proposals, the Innovator Founder visa is now the principal route to consider instead of the Start up visa UK. It combines business endorsement with a Home Office immigration application and can potentially provide a route to indefinite leave to remain after three qualifying years if all settlement requirements are met.
The Innovator Founder route focuses on founders who have generated, or significantly contributed to, the ideas in their business plan and who will play an active role in putting that plan into practice.
For a new business, the endorsing body will consider whether the proposal meets the required tests of innovation, viability and scalability.
In practical terms, this means considering questions such as:
Is there a genuine and original business proposition?
Does the proposition address a market need or provide a meaningful competitive advantage?
Is the business plan realistic given the resources available?
Does the founder have the skills, knowledge, experience and market awareness required?
Is there credible potential for business growth and job creation?
Receiving endorsement is separate from receiving the visa. You must also satisfy the Home Office requirements applying to the immigration application.
Garth Coates Solicitors can advise you on the legal and immigration requirements and how the endorsement stage relates to the subsequent visa application.
Can Garth Coates Solicitors help me switch from a Start up visa UK to an Innovator Founder visa?
Yes. If you still hold valid Start-up permission and want to continue developing your business in the UK, Garth Coates Solicitors can assess whether switching to the Innovator Founder route is available to you. You will need to satisfy the current Innovator Founder requirements rather than simply extending your previous Start-up visa.
The former Start-up route was not designed as an indefinitely renewable visa. A founder wishing to remain in the UK therefore needs to consider what immigration permission should follow it.
The Innovator Founder route may be relevant where you intend to continue operating or developing an eligible business. Your business or business idea will need to be assessed under the applicable endorsement requirements.
The Home Office also considers your personal immigration eligibility. This can include your existing permission, suitability requirements, English language ability and financial requirement where applicable.
Switching should therefore be approached as a new immigration application rather than an automatic conversion of the old visa.
We can review your immigration history alongside the current position of your business and explain the evidence required for an Innovator Founder application. Where another route appears more relevant to your circumstances, that option can also be considered before an application is made.
What are the current requirements if I was searching for a Start up visa UK?
If you are a new entrepreneur searching for a Start up visa UK, you will normally need to examine the Innovator Founder requirements instead. These include obtaining endorsement for an eligible business, being at least 18, meeting the English language requirement and satisfying the applicable financial and immigration suitability requirements.
Endorsement is central to the process.
For someone proposing a new business, the endorsing body will need to be satisfied that the business is innovative, viable and scalable. The founder must also have generated or made a significant contribution to the business idea and intend to have a day to day role in implementing the plan.
The immigration application is then made separately to the Home Office.
Applicants who need to satisfy the personal maintenance requirement currently generally need to demonstrate at least £1,270 held for the required period. Different rules can apply where someone has already been lawfully living in the UK for the specified period before applying.
The exact documents required will depend upon the applicant and the application being made. Previous immigration history, English language evidence, financial documents and endorsement documentation can all be relevant.
Garth Coates Solicitors can assess these requirements against your individual circumstances rather than relying on a generic document checklist.
Do I need £50,000 if I was planning to apply for a Start up visa UK?
No fixed £50,000 investment requirement applies simply because you want to apply under the Innovator Founder route that prospective Start-up visa applicants would now consider. For a new business, however, you will need to demonstrate to the endorsing body that you have sufficient funding for the business plan and explain where that funding comes from.
This is an important distinction between having a fixed minimum investment figure and demonstrating that a business is realistically funded.
The endorsing body needs to consider viability. If a proposed business would realistically require significant capital to develop its product, recruit staff or enter the market, a plan that does not explain how those costs will be funded may raise obvious questions.
Equally, an applicant should not assume that simply having a large amount of capital will make a proposal eligible. Innovation, viability and scalability remain separate considerations.
The figure of £50,000 can still appear in information about the Innovator Founder route because investment of at least that amount into the business and actively spending it on furthering the venture is one of several possible business achievement criteria that can be relevant when an Innovator Founder later seeks settlement. It is not a universal minimum investment requirement for obtaining the initial visa.
Can my family still join me if I hold a Start up visa UK?
Potentially, yes. Although new main applicants cannot apply for the Start-up route, current GOV.UK guidance still allows an eligible partner and children to apply as dependants of someone who holds Start-up permission. Their eligibility, relationship evidence, financial requirements and current immigration position need to be considered before an application is made.
A dependant can generally include a qualifying spouse, civil partner or unmarried partner and eligible children.
There are additional rules for older dependant children, and applicants need to provide appropriate evidence of the qualifying family relationship.
Financial requirements can also apply. The amount required depends on which family members are applying and whether an exemption based on the length of lawful residence in the UK applies.
If the main visa holder moves to another immigration route, dependants do not necessarily change immigration categories automatically. Their existing visas generally continue until their own expiry dates, and separate applications may be required to align the family’s immigration status with the main applicant’s new route.
This is one reason to look at the family’s applications together rather than considering only the founder’s immigration permission.
Garth Coates Solicitors can advise on applications involving partners and children as part of the family’s wider UK immigration planning.
Does time spent on a Start up visa UK count towards Innovator Founder settlement?
The appropriate alternative depends on what you intend to do in the UK. Innovator Founder may suit some entrepreneurs, while other applicants may need to consider a sponsored work route, Global Talent or another immigration category. Garth Coates Solicitors can review your circumstances before you commit to a particular route.
For example, someone with an innovative business proposition may first consider Innovator Founder.
Someone intending to work in an eligible role for a licensed UK sponsor may instead need to examine the Skilled Worker visa.
People with qualifying achievements or potential in eligible fields may wish to investigate the Global Talent visa.
The correct route depends on much more than whether you want to work in or operate a business in the UK. Relevant considerations can include your professional background, the role you intend to perform, business ownership, endorsement eligibility, sponsorship arrangements, your existing immigration permission and your longer term plans.
Trying to force a business proposal into a route simply because it appears to be the closest replacement for the old Start-up visa can create unnecessary difficulties.
Garth Coates Solicitors can assess the immigration routes currently available and advise on the option that reflects your actual circumstances and objectives.
What other UK immigration routes can Garth Coates Solicitors advise on if the Start up visa UK is no longer suitable?
No. Time spent under the Start up visa UK route does not count towards the specific three year qualifying period for settlement as an Innovator Founder. The settlement rules require the relevant qualifying period to have been spent with permission under the Innovator Founder or qualifying Innovator route.
This can be particularly important for someone moving from the former Start-up route.
The Start-up category itself was not a direct settlement route. Its purpose was to allow qualifying entrepreneurs to establish and develop their business before moving into another immigration category where appropriate.
Under the current Innovator Founder route, an eligible founder may potentially apply for indefinite leave to remain after three qualifying years.
Completing three years alone is not enough.
For settlement, the applicant needs a further endorsement confirming matters including significant achievements against the business plan, an active and trading business, continuing sustainability and the founder’s active role in the business.
The business must also satisfy at least two of the specified success criteria contained in the Immigration Rules. Continuous residence and the Life in the UK requirement must also be met.
Founders considering settlement should therefore plan around both immigration residence and measurable business progress rather than assuming that holding the visa for three years automatically results in indefinite leave to remain.
Garth Coates
Principal Partner
A Message from Our Principal
At Garth Coates Solicitors, we provide expert legal advice and unwavering support across the full spectrum of UK immigration matters. Before qualifying as a solicitor, I worked within the UK Home Office (UKVI) as an Immigration Officer — a role that gave me valuable insight into the inner workings of the immigration system. Since then, I have gone on to represent clients at several of the UK’s most prominent immigration law firms, and later established this firm to deliver a more focused and client-centred approach.
Together with my senior legal team, we bring over 30 years of combined experience in the UK immigration sector. This depth of expertise enables us to successfully handle even the most complex and challenging cases — from visa refusals and judicial review proceedings to corporate sponsorships, family reunifications, and permanent settlement applications.
We are proud of our high success rate, earned through strategic thinking, meticulous preparation, and a commitment to delivering results. Our multilingual team of solicitors, caseworkers, and support professionals is well-equipped to serve a global clientele with care, professionalism, and cultural understanding.
At Garth Coates Solicitors, we fight for our clients’ rights and treat each case with the attention and seriousness it deserves. Whether you’re applying for the first time, facing an appeal, or unsure of your options, we are here to guide you with clarity and confidence.
Warm regards,
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