Costs
What the Innovator Founder visa really costs
People budget for the visa fee and are surprised by everything around it. Published fees change, so I am not going to quote figures that will be stale in a month — instead, here is the complete list of what you need money for, so nothing lands as a surprise.
Updated · 3 min read
The costs that are published
Look these up on the official pages on the day you plan, because they are revised regularly:
- Endorsing body assessment and endorsement fees — set by each body, not by the Home Office
- The visa application fee, per person including dependants
- The immigration health surcharge, per person, for the full length of the visa
- Biometrics and, if you use it, priority processing
- Any contact-point review fees your endorsing body charges later
Maintenance funds
You need to show you can maintain yourself and any dependants, held for the required period, unless you are exempt. This is not an investment figure — it is living money, and it must genuinely sit there rather than appear the week before you apply.
The cost nobody budgets: runway
The endorsing body assesses viability. If your plan describes a business that needs funding you do not have and cannot demonstrate a route to, the plan is not viable regardless of how modest the visa fees are. Budget for the first twelve to eighteen months of the business you described, not just the paperwork that gets you here.
Add UK setup costs while you are at it: company formation, an accountant, insurance, software, and the first hire if your milestones include one.
Professional help
There are two different services and people conflate them. A regulated immigration adviser or solicitor handles the legal application. Business-side preparation — route fit, positioning, plan, financials, interview readiness — is separate work. Some founders need both, some only one. Anyone quoting you a single fee that covers legal advice and a business plan is worth a second look.
How to sequence the spend
Cheapest possible order: confirm the route fits before you pay for anything else, fix the innovation angle before the plan is written, and only approach an endorsing body once the numbers hold. Every reordering of that list costs more than doing it properly.