All new Innovator Founder visas are now eVisas

If you were granted an Innovator Founder Visa recently, there is no sticker in your passport and no plastic card in the post. Your visa is an eVisa — a digital immigration status you access through an online account and prove with a share code. This is not a cosmetic change; it alters how you demonstrate your right to work, rent, bank and access services in the UK. Set it up correctly and you never risk losing a physical document again. Set it up carelessly and you can find yourself unable to prove a status you legitimately hold.

What an eVisa actually is

An eVisa is a digital record of your immigration status. There is no separate physical object that "is" your visa. Instead, your status lives in a UKVI online account, linked to the passport or travel document you registered. When someone needs to verify your status — an employer running a right-to-work check, a landlord doing a right-to-rent check, a bank opening an account — you do not hand them a card. You generate a share code and they use it to look up your current status online.

This is part of the UK's broader move to a fully digital border and immigration system, replacing decades of physical documents:

For new Innovator Founder grants, the eVisa is now the authoritative record — not a card, not a sticker.

Setting up your UKVI account

The practical first step for any newly granted founder is to create and secure a UKVI account through the GOV.UK eVisa service. At a high level, the process involves:

1. Create the UKVI account using the GOV.UK eVisa service.
2. Link your identity document — the passport or travel document your visa is tied to.
3. Verify and access your eVisa, so your granted status appears in the account.
4. Confirm your details are correct — name, date of birth, document number — because share-code checks rely on them matching.

Once set up, you can log in at any time to view your status and generate share codes on demand. The exact steps and verification methods evolve, so follow the live gov.uk instructions rather than a static walkthrough.

How to prove your status day to day

The share code is the mechanism that replaces showing a document. When a third party needs to confirm your status:

• You log into your UKVI account and generate a share code for the relevant purpose (right to work, right to rent, or general status).
• You give them the code, and they enter it — along with your date of birth — on the GOV.UK "view and prove" service.
• They see your confirmed current status, without you ever handing over a physical document.

This is genuinely convenient once you are set up: you can prove your status remotely, share codes expire for security, and there is no card to lose, damage or leave in a drawer in another country. For founders dealing with banks, HMRC, landlords and prospective employees, the share code becomes a routine part of onboarding.

The pitfalls that catch people out

The digital system is robust, but it introduces new failure modes that are worth guarding against deliberately.

Beyond those two, a few practical habits reduce friction:

• Keep your UKVI account recovery details up to date — the email and phone linked to it are how you regain access if you are locked out.
• Generate share codes fresh rather than reusing an old one, since they are time-limited by design.
• Update your passport in the account immediately on renewal, and before any international travel on the new document.
• Don't assume a checker knows the system — some employers and landlords are still adjusting to digital-only proof. Being able to walk them to the GOV.UK "view and prove" page smooths the process.

Why this matters for founders specifically

As an Innovator Founder, you are likely to prove your status more often than most migrants: opening business bank accounts, contracting with suppliers, hiring your first UK employees (whose own right-to-work checks you will need to run), and dealing with HMRC as you set up payroll and file returns. A well-maintained UKVI account turns each of those into a quick share-code step. A neglected one turns them into obstacles at exactly the moments your business can least afford delay.

The eVisa also complements the route's other recent modernisations. Graduates who switch to Innovator Founder in-country receive their status digitally from the outset, and founders planning toward the protected three-year route to settlement will manage that entire journey — including their eventual ILR status — through the same digital account. For the cost side of that journey, see the April 2026 fee changes.

External context

The authoritative starting point is the GOV.UK eVisa service, which covers creating a UKVI account and accessing your status. The gov.uk "prove your immigration status" guidance explains the share-code process for right-to-work, right-to-rent and other checks. Firm commentary such as DavidsonMorris on the Innovator Founder Visa tracks how the digital transition applies to the route. Because the system is still being rolled out and refined, always follow the live gov.uk process.

Key takeaways

• New Innovator Founder grants are issued as digital eVisas, not BRP cards or vignette stickers, from late 2025 onward.
• Your status lives in a UKVI online account linked to your passport; there is no physical document to carry.
• You prove your status by generating a share code, which checkers verify on the GOV.UK "view and prove" service.
• The two biggest pitfalls are relying on an outdated BRP and failing to update your passport details in your UKVI account after renewal.
• A well-maintained UKVI account is operationally important for founders, who prove status frequently when banking, contracting and hiring.

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