Revenue and export criteria for Innovator Founder settlement

For founders whose businesses sell well, the revenue criteria can look like the most straightforward route to settlement. The numbers are clear and accountants already produce them. But two details in the wording catch people out: the test is measured on the "last full year" of accounts, and the export test is a share of revenue, not a separate pot.

This article covers criteria (iv) and (v) from the settlement section of the Home Office caseworker guidance "Innovator Founder" version 11.0 (4 August 2026). It explains what each requires, the timing problems around year ends, and how these criteria fit with the rest of your settlement case.

The two criteria side by side

Both sit within the list of seven, of which your settlement endorsement letter must confirm at least two.

"Last full year of accounts" is the key phrase

These criteria do not look at your trailing twelve months, your forecast or your best quarter. They look at a completed year of accounts. That has practical consequences.

A hypothetical example. A founder plans to apply for settlement in month 37. The business crossed £1 million in annualised revenue in month 30, but its accounting year runs to month 24 and then month 36. If the full year ending in month 36 shows £1 million or more, the criterion may be met. If the founder applies before those accounts are prepared, the last full year on record may be the one ending in month 24, when revenue was far lower.

The lesson is simple: map your accounting year ends against your three-year settlement date early, and talk to your accountant about when full-year figures will be available. The endorsing body must be satisfied, and the settlement letter must be no more than three months old when you apply, so the accounts, the letter and your application date all need to line up. See the three-month endorsement letter window.

Gross revenue, not profit

Both criteria use gross revenue. That is the top line of your income, not what is left after costs. A business can meet the £1 million threshold while being loss-making.

That does not mean profitability is irrelevant to settlement. The settlement letter separately has to confirm that the business is sustainable for at least the next 12 months, based on its assets and expected income weighed against current and planned expenses. High revenue with heavy losses may meet criterion (iv) and still make the sustainability confirmation harder. See the 12-month sustainability test.

The export element of criterion (v)

Criterion (v) has a lower revenue threshold, £500,000, but adds that at least £100,000 of revenue must come from exporting overseas. Read it as a share of the £500,000, not an additional amount on top.

Questions to settle with your accountant and endorsing body before you rely on it:

• What counts as export revenue in your business? Sales of goods shipped abroad are the obvious case. Services sold to overseas customers may also be relevant, but confirm how your endorsing body reads "exporting overseas" for your model.
• Can you show it from your records? Invoices by customer location, and a breakdown of revenue by territory, make the figure checkable.
• Is it in the same full year? Both the £500,000 and the £100,000 relate to the last full year.

Pairing revenue with a second criterion

You need two criteria, and the guidance says the same criterion cannot count twice. The guidance's own example is that £100,000 invested is still one criterion. Whether £1 million revenue including £100,000 of exports could be presented as both (iv) and (v) is not something to assume. Raise it with your endorsing body, and plan as if you will need a criterion of a different kind.

Each of these has its own detail: investment, customers and jobs.

Teams and shared revenue

If you and a co-founder are both on the route, the guidance says team members applying for settlement cannot share the same means. Its example is jobs: two applicants relying on 10 jobs need 20. Ask your endorsing body how it applies that principle to revenue before you both plan around the same turnover. Our article on Innovator Founder teams covers the wider picture.

What the letter must still confirm

Meeting a revenue threshold is not the whole settlement case. The endorsement letter must also confirm significant achievements against the business plan in your previous endorsement, Companies House registration with you as a director or member, active trading, sustainability for the next 12 months, and your active key role in day-to-day management. Work through the full settlement checklist alongside this one.

Sources and further reading

• GOV.UK — Innovator Founder caseworker guidance
• GOV.UK — Indefinite leave to remain: Innovator Founder visa
• GOV.UK — Immigration Rules Appendix Innovator Founder

Key takeaways

• Criterion (iv): at least £1 million gross revenue in the last full year of accounts.
• Criterion (v): at least £500,000 gross revenue in the last full year, with at least £100,000 from exporting overseas.
• "Last full year" means a completed accounting year, so plan your year end against your settlement date.
• Gross revenue is not profit, and the separate 12-month sustainability confirmation still applies.
• Plan to pair a revenue criterion with a different type rather than counting the same turnover twice.

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