The scale-up visa is a points-based route for migrant workers recruited by a UK scale-up sponsor with the skills necessary to enable the sponsor’s business to continue growing.
Foreign citizens can obtain a scale-up worker visa to enter the United Kingdom for at least six months to work for a rapidly expanding British company (also known as a “scale-up business”). Launching on August 22, 2022, the scale-up visa is designed to streamline the process of rapidly expanding UK businesses recruiting top talent from around the world. Uniquely, the laws allow scale-up visa holders to leave their sponsored employment after 6 months and transition to an unsponsored role.
Your UK employer must meet specific eligibility criteria to sponsor scale-up workers. An approved sponsor or employer must produce a Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) and extend a job offer to candidates for them to be considered for a UK scale-up visa. The sponsoring company should also be rapidly expanding and in the scale-up phase.
The scale-up worker will be able to bring dependent family members to the UK, as in other work routes, including a dependent partner and dependent children. The primary visa-holder and any qualifying family members may also be able to apply for indefinite leave to remain in the UK eventually, provided they meet the eligibility requirements for settlement.
To qualify for a Scale-up Visa Application, you will need to satisfy that:
In either case, your requirements may vary depending on your circumstances.
To qualify for a scale-up visa on the first try, the applicant must earn 70 points. This includes 50 points for sponsorship and a work offer at the right skill and income level, plus 10 points for meeting the English language and financial standards.
A Certificate of Sponsorship for the position being sought is required to submit a Sponsored Application for a Scale-up Visa. An employer approved by the Home Office to sponsor a Scale-up Worker must give your Certificate of Sponsorship.
To become a Scale-up Sponsor, your company can follow either the traditional or endorsing body routes.
The Home Office will automatically evaluate your company’s employment and/or revenue growth under the normal pathway based on data they have provided to HMRC.
Your employer will need to have had an annualised growth of at least 20% during the prior 3-year period in terms of turnover or staffing. They’ll also need to have at least 10 workers on board to begin those three years.
Organisations that do not meet the requirements for the standard route but can provide clear evidence of promise and ability to meet those requirements within the next four years can seek endorsement from an endorsing organisation.
Under the endorsing body pathway, an approved endorsing body will confirm your employer’s eligibility to apply for a Scale-up sponsor licence.
Your employer must satisfy the endorsing body that they meet various requirements.
Whichever pathway your sponsor registered via, your sponsor must be listed as A-rated on the Home Office’s register of licensed sponsors.
Once a Scale-up Sponsor has an A-rated licence, they can issue a CoS and sponsor you for 6 months in an occupation skilled to at least RQF level 6, with a salary that is equal to or exceeds £34,600 per year and the going rate for the occupation code.
Your Certificate of Sponsorship must have been issued not more than 3 months before the date of your Scale-up Visa Sponsored Application.
Your Certificate of Sponsorship must include certain mandatory information, including:
If a sponsored scale-up worker applies for a visa through the scale-up method and is approved, they can work in the UK for two years. The worker will only be supported for the first six months, though.
After 6 months, the worker’s first company will no longer sponsor them, even if they still have work for them. At this point, the worker doesn’t need to be sponsored to keep working for their original company. But they will also be able to switch jobs or even employers without getting new sponsorships if they keep meeting the standards for the scale-up route.
This can be expensive for the original sponsor, who probably spent a lot of time and money applying for a scale-up sponsor licence to hire a migrant worker from another country. Because of this, it is often in the employer’s best interest to give the worker a reason to stay on. This is the worst thing that can happen when sponsors try to hire scale-up people.
On the bright side, if workers stay with their current jobs, they will no longer have to sponsor them. So, you will only have to follow through with your reporting tasks during the first six months. For example, you will need to let UKVI know if the worker needs to complete work with your permission or if there are significant changes to their job, salary, or business.
After the initial 2-year scale-up route visa expires, the foreign worker can apply for an unsponsored extension of 3 more years.
There is also no restriction on the number of times they can request to extend their stay. The overseas worker can apply for permanent residency in the UK (indefinite permission to remain) after 5 years of lawful continuous presence in the country by the scale-up path or in addition to another suitable route or routes.
When you apply for a Scale-up Worker visa, you’ll need to have enough money to:
You’ll be told how much you need to pay when you apply.
You’ll also have to pay the healthcare surcharge for each year of your stay – this is usually £624 per year. Check how much you’ll have to pay before you apply.
You must have at least £1,270 in your bank account to show you can support yourself in the UK.
You will need to have had the money available for at least 28 days. Day 28 must be within 31 days of applying for this visa.
You’ll usually need to show proof of this when you apply, unless either:
Your partner and children will also need to prove they can support themselves while they’re in the UK. Check how much they’ll need.
Please read the guidance on financial evidence for more information about the money you need and how to prove it.
Your certificate of sponsorship must confirm this. Your employer must complete your certificate’s ‘sponsor certifies maintenance’ section.
