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Scale-up Worker visa

Visa allowing workers to come to the UK to do an eligible job for a fast-growing business.

A Sale-up Worker visa allows a worker to come to the UK to do an eligible job for a fast-growing business, sometimes known as a scale-up business.

UK employers must meet specific eligibility criteria to sponsor scale-up workers.

Eligibility

For applicants

To qualify for a Scale-up Worker visa, the applicant must:

have a confirmed job offer to work for an approved scale-up business for at least 6 months
have a ‘certificate of sponsorship’ from the employer with information about the role they’ve been offered in the UK
have a job offer to do a job that’s on the list of eligible occupations
be paid a minimum salary in your new job
be able to speak, read, write and understand English

For employers

To employ someone through a Scale-up Worker visa all of the following requirements must be met:

the job offer is at the required skill-level (graduate level or above) and eligible for this visa
your UK scale-up business has been approved by the Home Office
the applicant meets the salary requirements
the applicant will be working in the sponsored job for at least 6 months
the applicant must be able to speak, understand, read and write English to the required standard

Who needs to be sponsored with a Scale-up Visa?

You will need to sponsor any overseas national you wish to employ if they are not a ‘settled worker’, are not eligible to make an unsponsored application, or do not otherwise have immigration permission to work for you in the UK. This includes most EU, EEA and Swiss nationals who arrived in the UK after 31 December 2020.

Who doesn't need sponsored?

You do not have to sponsor certain categories of worker, including:

Irish citizens
EU, EEA and Swiss citizens (and their eligible family members) who have been granted status under the EU Settlement Scheme
people with indefinite leave to enter or remain in the UK (also known as ‘settlement’)
Scale-up Workers who are eligible to make an ‘unsponsored application’

This is not a complete list - see full details .

Sponsorship requirements for the Scale-up Visa

If you wish to sponsor a Scale-up Worker, you must:

hold a valid sponsor licence for the Scale-up route
understand the general requirements for sponsoring a worker
satisfy yourself the worker can meet the immigration requirements for this route
only sponsor workers in genuine employment which meets the skill-level and salary requirements of this route
assign a valid Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) to the worker you wish to sponsor and pay the CoS fee
keep records for each worker you sponsor, including information on how you recruited the worker
have eligible Key Personnel in place to manage your licence and assign or apply for CoS
understand your sponsorship responsibilities for each worker you sponsor
otherwise understand and comply with all of your sponsor duties

For full details see .

How to apply for a Scale-up sponsor licence

Approved employers are also known as sponsors. If you are not already an approved sponsor you can .

If you already hold a valid licence to sponsor workers, you can apply to add the Scale-up route to that licence - see .

Costs

There are a number of costs that an applicant must meet for the Scale-up Worker visa including the application fee, a healthcare surcharge and proof that they have enough money to 91�㽶��ɫ��Ƶ themselves. If the employer can 91�㽶��ɫ��Ƶ the applicant instead this will need to be completed on the certificate of sponsorship.

How long can the applicant stay?

The worker can stay in the UK with a Scale-up Worker visa for 2 years. The visa will need to be extended when it expires. The visa can be extended as many times as you like by 3 years as long as the eligibility requirements as still met. After 5 years the worker may be able to apply to settle permanently in the UK.