Graduate Visas
International students have two visa options if they want to start a business in the UK after graduating.
Which visa scheme is best for you - Graduate or Innovator Founder?
Both schemes grant you the right to found a company or register as self-employed or work for someone else, but there are differences.
The main differences relate to the application process and what kind of businesses are best suited to each, as well as the financial requirements, the duration of the visa, and your progression to settled status.
You'll find more details further down the page, and we can help you to understand these when you are ready to consider your options. Equally, we're very happy to discuss your business plan and endorsement case with a particular Endorsing Body if you decide to go for the Innovator Founder Visa.
Right now though, the most important thing to remember is that you must wait until you have the right visa before formally starting a business. If you don't you will be in breach of the terms of your student visa and your degree will be at risk.
To review all of the work visa options available via the UK Home Office, click the button below.
UK Work Visas
The Graduate route
Application for the Graduate visa is made directly to the Home Office. If you are awarded a Graduate visa, you will be able to remain in the UK for two years. This time will not count towards your settlement status. If you want to remain in the UK when it expires, you'll need to switch to a different visa type, e.g. Work visa or Innovator Founder visa.
It is most suited to people who want to start freelancing or consulting, or to develop a more scaleable business idea while still working.
The Innovator Founder Route
This route involves an application for endorsement via a UK Endorsing Body. If you are successful, you will be awarded a visa for three years, and this time will count towards your right to remain.
You will need to produce a business plan that articulates a clear business case and scalable business model for a new business that is Innovative, Scaleable and Viable.
Innovator Founder Visa eligibility criteria
Tab Content: Is it New?
This relates specifically to whether the business already exists as a registered entity. You cannot be endorsed to take over an exising business and only once you have secured your visa will you have the right to found a new business, or register as self-employed.
The only exception is where you are switching from the Graduate Visa scheme. You can apply for an Innovator Founder Visa endorsement to continue to operate a business you started while on the Graduate scheme, but only if you are one of the original founders.
Tab Content: Is it Innovative?
This isn't necessarily about game-changing technological breakthroughs; rather, it's about your businesses's ability to create value for your customers in new ways that give them a better experience or outcome relative to what other businesses deliver. Naturally, this implies that it's not about you being the only player in the market. Competitors in a particular market are an indicator that there are customers willing to pay money for these goods and services and so this is a good form of market validation.
However, you will need to be able to demonstrate that you are genuinely bringing something new that isn't available via domestic suppliers. You are unlikely to secure an endorsement just by bringing something that could easily be delivered by an adjustment to what the incumbent players already offering.
Tab Content: Is it Scalable?
Your business plan needs to be able to demonstrate not only how you (and your founding team) will be able to earn a living, but how you will be able to create jobs for others. This can be in terms of the employees you'll need to take on as your business grows, but also in terms of your value chain. If you create business for other businesses, you are making a positive contribution to the ecosytem within which you are based.
You need to think big, but also think about sustainability. Inevitably, as your business grows, so will its social and environmental impact. Make sure your business model seeks to positively address or offset these costs; customers are increasingly making ethical purchasing decisions and this is becoming a key point of competition between organisations in the same marketplace.
Tab Content: Is it Viable?
There are two dimensions to consider here. Firstly, you need to demonstrate that you have identified a sustainable business model, whereby there is a clear financial business case (i.e. you've validated the potential for your income to exceed your outgoings within the timeframe of your business plan). If your business model depends on a million sales from day one, or you working without pay, it's probably not viable.
Secondly, you personally need to be able to make it happen. Start-up entrepreneurship is hugely challenging and so the more credible you are in terms of the skills, knowledge and experience you (and your team) can bring to the table, the less risk there is of the business failing. If you haven't already, please check out our page on Entrepreneurial Competencies and consider the skills you might need to develop to ensure you have what it takes.
Visa FAQs
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Why does Lancaster offer these schemes?
The University provides innovation and entrepreneurial learning and development opportunities that complement students’ degree education and equip them to develop new sustainable solutions that respond to commercial opportunities and tackle social and environmental challenges. We recognise the value our graduate entrepreneurs can add to regional, national and global economies as well as society more widely by applying these capabilities to new ventures. We are keen to ensure that all our graduates, wherever they are from, have the same opportunities to make a difference through their entrepreneurial intiatives.
All international graduates have the option to choose the Graduate visa, but Lancaster will support students preparing to apply for an Innovator Founder visa in order to ensure they have the widest set of options.
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Am I eligible to apply?
If you are a current or recent holder of a General Study Visa from Lancaster University, then you are eligible to apply for either visa after you have graduated. Applications for the Graduate Visa are made directly to the Home Office (UK Visas & Immigration). You can find the details of this process on the gov.uk Graduate visa page.
Innovator Founder visa endorsements are made via an approved Endorsing Body. Make sure you understand the general criteria for endorsement (Innovative, Scaleable, Viable), as well as any criteria relating to your personal circumstances by reading the information on the gov.uk Innovator Founder visa page.
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Can't I start a business as a student anyway?
Unfortunately not. It is also very important not to get caught out here as it could lead to your student via being withdrawn.
The guidelines around what you can and cannot do as a Study Visa holder will have been provided to you when your visa was issued, but to recap, these expressly prohibit you from registering as self-employed, registering a company, or undertaking 'business activity'. We understand this can be extremely frustrating, particularly for international students who are already thinking about start-up ideas long before their degree is coming to an end. If you have any doubt, we strongly advise you to please contact us and we will help you to take constructive steps without putting your right to study at risk.
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What support can I access?
Regardless of which scheme you are considering, if you want self-employment to be among your post-graduate work options, we strongly advise you to get in touch as we can support you in weighing up the pros and cons as well as understanding the implications of your decision.
Equally, we can support you to develop and validate your business plan and underpinning business case. While a business plan is required to secure an endorsement for the Innovator Founder visa, we strongly recommmend you take this approach to derisking your idea if you are considering it on the Graduate visa too.
And of course, your support needs will evolve over time. Even the best plans rarely survive contact with reality so once you've started a business, you will suddenly discover there are lots of other things you want to learn more about, whether it's employment contracts, import/export considerations, becoming VAT registered, or prototyping new products and services.
The key thing to remember is that you will always be an alumn of Lancaster University and can come back at any time and talk to us; if we can help you, we will!
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Should I wait until I've graduated to think about this?
Like most things in life, thinking ahead tends to be sensible practice. The same is true of your post-graduate career options. If you would like self-employment in some form or another to be one of these options, even if it's only temporary or on a part-time basis, it's definitely worth understanding the visa options and their application processes and timelines ahead of time. If you do want to apply for the Innovator Founder visa, it could take some time for you to produce a business plan that merits endorsement, and you will only have a limited amount of time once you've graduated before your study visa expires.
You can of course leave the UK and apply from your home country, but you should bear in mind that a) this is likely to be more expensive, and b) it won't be as easy for you to access support in preparing your business plan remotely.
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Can I switch between visas?
You can apply to switch from the Graduate visa to the Innovator Founder visa at any point before your Graduate visa expires. You may be able to do this from within the UK without having to first leave the UK and apply from your home country. However, you should clarify this with the UKVI as the issuing body as your circumstances may trigger specific conditions.
The main thing to consider in all of this is that if you start a company or register as self-employed while on the Graduate visa, you will no longer be able to apply for an Innovator Founder visa to continue working on it.
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What will happen to my business when my Graduate visa expires?
If you've started a business on the Graduate visa, then after the two years are up, you would need to close that business and return to your home country. Alternatively, you could start the process of applying for an Innovator Founder visa for a new business idea. You would not be granted an endorsement to continue working on your original business as it would not be 'new'.
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Is there are financial criterion for the Innovator Founder visa?
Every case is taken on its own merit and part of the endorsement preparation process will be about ensuring you have accurately projected your start-up costs and can meet the financial requirements you have identified.