🇬🇧 United Kingdom · Work Visas

Scale-up Worker Visa

For skilled workers hired by a fast-growing UK business. You work for your sponsor for the first 6 months, then you are free to work elsewhere.

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Screening A few questions about your work, your family and your plans.
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Updated 10 August 2026

At a glance

What is the UK Scale-up Worker visa?

The Scale-up Worker visa lets a fast-growing UK business sponsor a skilled worker. You must work in the sponsored job for the first 6 months, and after that the sponsorship ends and you are free to work for anyone. A first grant runs for 2 years and the route leads to settlement.

Who the Scale-up Worker visa is for

It is for a skilled worker recruited by a UK business that the Home Office has licensed as a Scale-up sponsor. You need a job offer from that business at the published salary level, and you must be 18 or over on the day you apply. The route opened on 22 August 2022 and it leads to settlement.

The 6-month sponsored period, and what happens after it

This is what separates the route from Skilled Worker. You must work in your sponsored job for the first 6 months of your permission. You can take other work at the same time, as long as you keep doing the sponsored job. After 6 months the sponsorship ends automatically. Your sponsor's duties fall away, and you can stay with them or leave.

Changing employer inside those first 6 months is possible, but you must apply to update your visa first. You need a new certificate of sponsorship for the new job, and you should not start it until the new permission is granted. Moving to a different eligible job with the same employer needs no update at all.

Switching to this visa from inside the UK

You can switch from most UK permissions, but not from all of them. You cannot switch if your current or last permission was as a visitor, a short-term student, a parent of a child student, a seasonal worker or a domestic worker in a private household. You also cannot switch from permission that was granted outside the immigration rules.

Students are a special case. If your last permission was as a student, you must have completed the course your studies confirmation was assigned for. Your certificate of sponsorship can instead start on or after the course completion date. On a course leading to a PhD you can switch once you have been studying for 24 months.

Requirements

Your ageYou must be 18 or over on the date you apply.
A licensed Scale-up sponsorYour employer must hold a valid Scale-up sponsor licence, must be authorised by the Home Office to sponsor the job under this route, and must be listed as A-rated on the Home Office register of licensed sponsors.
How a business qualifies as a Scale-upA business qualifies on the main route if, over the 3 years before it was approved, it grew by an average of 20% a year in employment or turnover and had at least 10 employees at the start of that period. A business that has traded for less than that can instead be endorsed by an endorsing body, if it can show it will reach that standard within 4 years.
What an endorsed business has to showAn endorsing body must be satisfied the business has at least 10 employees paid through PAYE, is VAT registered, is solvent and trading in the UK, has an HMRC footprint of less than 4 years, holds a UK registered corporate bank account, and can fund appropriate salaries for roles at degree level or above.
A certificate of sponsorshipYour sponsor assigns you a certificate of sponsorship. It must have been issued no more than 3 months before you apply, must give your name, the job, the salary and the PAYE details, must show a start date no more than 3 months after you apply, and must confirm you are expected to work for the sponsor for at least your first 6 months. It must also say you are sponsored as a Scale-up Worker, confirm whether the Academic Technology Approval Scheme applies, and must not already have been used in an application that was granted or refused, or been withdrawn or cancelled.
A job at the right skill levelThe job must sit in an occupation code that appears in the eligible tables of the published skilled occupations rules. Your sponsor must choose the most appropriate code for the work you will actually do.
SalaryThe pay for the sponsored job must be at least £39,100 a year and at least the going rate for its occupation code, so the higher of the two applies. Only guaranteed basic gross pay counts. Overtime, bonuses, shift pay, allowances, benefits in kind and one-off payments are left out.
How your hours affect the salary testGoing rates are set for a 37.5-hour week and are scaled to the weekly hours your sponsor states. If you are sponsored to work more than 48 hours a week, only the pay for the first 48 hours counts towards the £39,100 floor. Healthcare and teaching roles use national pay scales instead of the published going-rate table. Doctors' rates are set for a 40-hour week. Your full hours always count when your pay is checked against the going rate, even above 48 a week.
The unsponsored applicationOnce you have worked at least 6 months for your sponsor, your next application is unsponsored and needs no certificate of sponsorship. You show instead that your UK PAYE pay reached at least £39,100 a year for at least half of your most recent Scale-up permission. Lower figures apply if that permission came from a certificate assigned before 22 July 2025: £36,300 if the certificate was assigned between 4 April 2024 and 21 July 2025, £34,600 between 12 April 2023 and 3 April 2024, and £33,000 on or before 11 April 2023.
Knowledge of EnglishYou must show English at CEFR level B2 in reading, writing, speaking and listening, unless an exemption applies. Level B1 is enough if your most recent Scale-up permission was granted under the earlier B1 requirement.
Money to support yourselfYou need funds of at least £1,270 held for 28 days, with day 28 falling within 31 days of your application. Your A-rated sponsor can instead certify on the certificate of sponsorship that it will maintain and accommodate you to that amount up to the end of your first month of employment. If you are applying to stay and have already been in the UK with permission for 12 months or more, you do not need to show funds.
Where you must be when you applyYou must get entry clearance before you travel to the UK. To apply from inside the UK you must be here on the date you apply.
Statuses you cannot switch fromYou cannot switch into this route if your current or last permission was as a visitor, a short-term student, a parent of a child student, a seasonal worker, a domestic worker in a private household, or was granted outside the immigration rules.
Switching from a student visaIf your last permission was as a student, you must have completed the course your studies confirmation was assigned for, or your certificate of sponsorship must start no earlier than the course completion date. On a course leading to a PhD you can instead switch once you have been studying for 24 months.
A genuine jobYou must genuinely intend, and be able, to do the job you are sponsored for. The job must exist, must not be a sham, and must not have been created mainly so that you can apply. It must also comply with the national minimum wage and working time rules.
SuitabilityYour application must not fall for refusal on suitability grounds. If you are applying to stay you must also not be in breach of immigration laws or on immigration bail.

Documents typically needed

Passport or other travel documentIt must establish your identity and nationality.
Your certificate of sponsorship reference numberYour sponsor assigns the certificate through the sponsor management system and gives you the reference number. It is needed only for a sponsored application.
Your job title, annual salary and occupation codeYour employer or your certificate of sponsorship gives you the occupation code.
Your employer's name and sponsor licence numberBoth are on your certificate of sponsorship.
Proof of your knowledge of EnglishEvidence of CEFR level B2 in reading, writing, speaking and listening, in one of the forms the published English language rules accept.
Proof of your fundsEvidence that you held at least £1,270 for 28 days, for example bank statements, unless your sponsor certifies your maintenance or you have been in the UK with permission for 12 months or more.
Evidence of your UK PAYE earningsFor an unsponsored application, records showing your monthly PAYE pay across your most recent Scale-up permission. That means payslips, P45s, P60s, bank statements for the account you were paid into, and your employer's PAYE reference for each job.
An ATAS certificateOnly where the Academic Technology Approval Scheme applies to your job or to a course you plan to study.
Tuberculosis test resultsIf you have lived for 6 months or more in a country where the test is required.
Certified translationsFor any document that is not in English or Welsh. The translation must confirm it is accurate and give the translator's name, signature, date and contact details.
Written consent from a scholarship agencyIf a government or international scholarship agency has covered your fees and living costs for study in the UK in the last 12 months.

How to apply

Work out which application you need

If you have already been employed as a Scale-up Worker by a sponsor for at least 6 months, and you hold or recently held that permission, you must apply as an unsponsored applicant. Otherwise you apply as a sponsored one.

Get your certificate of sponsorship

For a sponsored application your employer assigns the certificate and gives you the reference number. Apply within 3 months of the date it was issued, and check that the job start date on it is no more than 3 months after your application.

Gather your evidence

Collect your passport, your English language evidence, proof of your funds, and for an unsponsored application your PAYE earnings records, before you start the online form.

Apply online

Use the Scale-up visa form from outside the UK, or the Scale-up form from inside it. You must be outside the UK to apply for entry clearance, and inside the UK to apply to stay.

Give your biometric information

You provide your fingerprints and photograph when you are asked to. A successful entry clearance application is issued as an eVisa, which you view through a UKVI account.

Fees & costs

Home Office application fee: £937
Healthcare surcharge, per year of stay: Usually £1,035
Money you must show to support yourself: £1,270
Settlement application, per person: £3,226

Fees are set by the Home Office and can change. Each family member pays their own application fee and healthcare surcharge. Source: GOV.UK, https://www.gov.uk/scale-up-worker-visa/how-much-it-costs

Processing times

Apply from outside the UK: Usually 3 weeks
Apply from inside the UK: Usually 8 weeks
Settlement application: Usually 6 months
Settlement priority service: £500, 5 working days
Settlement super priority service: £1,000, 2 working days

Standard Home Office service times. A decision can take longer if your documents need to be verified or because of your circumstances. Super priority gives a settlement decision by the end of the next working day where the biometrics appointment is on a weekday, or 2 working days where it is at the weekend. Source: GOV.UK, https://www.gov.uk/indefinite-leave-to-remain-scale-up-worker-visa

What you can and can't do

Permitted

Work in the job on your certificate of sponsorship for the first 6 months of your permission
Take other work alongside the sponsored job during those first 6 months, as long as you keep doing the sponsored job
Work for any employer, or for yourself, once the 6-month sponsored period ends
Do voluntary work
Study, subject to the Academic Technology Approval Scheme where it applies
Bring a partner aged 18 or over and dependent children with you
Apply to settle after a continuous period of 5 years in the UK

Not permitted

Claim public funds
Work as a professional sportsperson, including as a sports coach. Amateur sport is allowed
Apply as a sponsored applicant once you have completed 6 months of sponsored Scale-up work and still hold that permission
Change employer during the first 6 months without applying to update your visa first
Switch into this route from a visit, short-term study, parent of a child student, seasonal worker or domestic worker permission
Be hired out to a third party to fill a position with them, or do ongoing routine contract work for a third party, in place of your sponsored job

How long it lasts

A sponsored grant runs for 2 years. Once you have completed at least 6 months of sponsored work, your next application is normally an unsponsored one, provided you still hold that permission or held it recently. An unsponsored grant runs for 3 years. It is judged on what you earned through PAYE during your last Scale-up permission, not on a new job offer.

Settlement and what next

You can apply to settle after a continuous period of 5 years in the UK. Time on Scale-up, Skilled Worker, Global Talent, Innovator, T2 Minister of Religion, International Sportsperson, Representative of an Overseas Business and Tier 1 routes other than Tier 1 (Graduate Entrepreneur) can be combined to reach the 5 years, but only time you held in your own right, not as someone's dependant.

You must also meet the Life in the UK requirement. You also need to be in UK employment paid through PAYE at £39,100 a year or more on the day you apply, to have earned at that level for at least 24 of the 36 months before you apply, and to have spent no more than 180 days outside the UK in any 12 months. From 26 March 2027, settlement applications also need English at level B2 in speaking and listening.

If the application is refused

An application is refused if the published suitability or eligibility requirements are not met. If your application is refused you can ask for an administrative review under the published process. You are sent the decision by email or letter, and it explains what you need to do next. A refused application carries no right of appeal, whether you applied from outside or inside the UK. Our solicitor can review a refusal with you and advise on what to do next.

Common questions

What makes the Scale-up visa different from the Skilled Worker visa?

The sponsorship lasts 6 months rather than the whole visa. You must work in the sponsored job for the first 6 months, and you can take other work alongside it during that time. After 6 months the sponsorship ends automatically, your sponsor's duties fall away, and you are free to work for anyone for the rest of your permission.

How much do you have to earn on a Scale-up visa?

A sponsored job must pay at least £39,100 a year and at least the going rate for its occupation code, so the higher of the two applies. Only guaranteed basic gross pay counts. Overtime, bonuses, shift pay, allowances and benefits in kind are left out. Going rates are set for a 37.5-hour week and are scaled to the hours your sponsor states.

How long is a Scale-up visa granted for?

A sponsored grant runs for 2 years. An unsponsored grant, which you can apply for once you have been employed as a Scale-up Worker by a sponsor for at least 6 months, runs for 3 years.

What is an unsponsored Scale-up application?

It is the application you must make once you have worked at least 6 months for a Scale-up sponsor and you hold, or recently held, Scale-up permission. There is no certificate of sponsorship and no job offer to show. You show instead that your UK PAYE pay reached at least £39,100 a year for at least half of your most recent Scale-up permission, and the grant runs for 3 years.

Does the Scale-up visa lead to settlement?

Yes. You can apply after a continuous period of 5 years in the UK. Time on Scale-up, Skilled Worker, Global Talent, Innovator, T2 Minister of Religion, International Sportsperson, Representative of an Overseas Business and Tier 1 routes other than Tier 1 (Graduate Entrepreneur) can be combined to reach the 5 years, but only time you held in your own right, not as someone's dependant. You also need to meet the Life in the UK requirement, and to be in UK employment paid through PAYE at £39,100 a year or more, or the lower figure that applies if your most recent permission came from a certificate assigned before 22 July 2025. You must have earned at that level for at least 24 of the 36 months before you apply, and have spent no more than 180 days outside the UK in any 12 months.

Can my partner and children come with me?

Yes. A partner aged 18 or over and dependent children can apply. A partner's permission normally ends on the same date as yours, and a child's ends when the first of their parents' permissions ends. Extra funds are needed if they apply for entry clearance, or if they apply from inside the UK having been here less than 12 months: at least £285 for a partner, £315 for the first child and £200 for each further child, unless your A-rated sponsor certifies support. That certification only works if the application is made at least one month before your first 6 sponsored months end.

What English language level does the Scale-up visa need?

CEFR level B2 in reading, writing, speaking and listening, unless an exemption applies. Level B1 is enough if your most recent Scale-up permission was granted under the earlier B1 requirement.

Which businesses can sponsor a Scale-up Worker?

A UK business that holds a valid Scale-up sponsor licence and is listed as A-rated. The main route asks for growth of 20% a year on average in employment or turnover over the 3 years before the business was approved, with at least 10 employees at the start of that period. A business that has traded for less than that can be endorsed by an endorsing body instead, if it has at least 10 employees paid through PAYE, is VAT registered, is solvent and trading, and can show it will meet the growth standard within 4 years.

For the employer

The employer's role

You sponsor the worker on this route.

You sponsor a Scale-up Worker for the first 6 months only. After that the sponsorship relationship ends automatically, your sponsor duties fall away, and the worker is free to stay with you or leave.

Employer duties

Hold a Scale-up sponsor licenceThe licence must cover this route, and your organisation must be listed as A-rated on the Home Office register of licensed sponsors.
Qualify as a Scale-up businessThe main route asks for growth of 20% a year on average in employment or turnover over the 3 years before you are approved, with at least 10 employees at the start of that period. A business that has traded for less than that can be endorsed by an endorsing body instead, if it can show it will reach that standard within 4 years. The endorsement route is intended for businesses that have traded for less than 3 years.
Meet the mandatory endorsement conditionsAn endorsing body must be satisfied you have at least 10 employees paid through PAYE, are VAT registered, are solvent and trading in the UK, have an HMRC footprint of less than 4 years, hold a UK registered corporate bank account, and can fund appropriate salaries for roles at degree level or above.
If you are endorsed, meet three of the five additional criteriaOn top of the mandatory conditions, an endorsing body must be satisfied you meet at least three of the five criteria below.
Additional criterion: growthMore than 20% growth in turnover or employment per year over a two-year period.
Additional criterion: a government programme or government fundingTaking part in a recognised scale-up programme such as Innovate UK EDGE or DCMS Creative Scale-up, receiving an Innovate UK loan or grant, or taking part in the Small Business Research Initiative.
Additional criterion: financeRaising at least £1 million in equity finance in a single round in the 12 months before the date you apply to the endorsing body.
Additional criterion: international reachGlobal offices or operations, and at least 10% of turnover generated from exports.
Additional criterion: research and development spendingSpending on research, development or innovation of 10% of your overall operating costs a year for 3 years, or 15% in one of the last 3 years.
Use your endorsement in timeAn endorsement stays valid for 3 months after it is issued and must be used to make the sponsor licence application inside that window. A reference number cannot be reused. If the application fails, the same endorsement can be used again while the 3 months are still running.
Know how long the licence lastsA Scale-up sponsor licence granted on the endorsement route runs for a maximum of 4 years, can be granted only once, and cannot be extended.
Assign a valid certificate of sponsorshipIt must name the worker, give the job, the salary and the PAYE details, show a start date no more than 3 months after the date of application, and confirm the worker is expected to work for you for at least their first 6 months.
Pay at least the published salary floorAt least £39,100 a year and at least the going rate for the occupation code, whichever is higher. Only guaranteed basic gross pay counts towards it, and going rates are scaled from a 37.5-hour week to the hours you state.
Keep responsibility for the jobYou must have full responsibility for the duties, functions and outputs of the job. The worker must not be hired out to a third party to fill a position there, or put on ongoing routine contract work for a third party, in place of the job you sponsor.

Employer fees

Certificate of sponsorship, Scale-up route: £55
Scale-up endorsement, paid to the endorsing body, excluding VAT: £1,500

Costs your organisation bears, on top of the sponsor licence fee itself. Source: GOV.UK, https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/visa-regulations-revised-table/home-office-immigration-and-nationality-fees-8-april-2026

Employer questions

How long do our sponsor duties last?

Six months. The published guidance says the worker must work in the sponsored job for the first 6 months of their permission, and that the sponsorship relationship ends automatically after that. Your duties fall away at the same point, whether or not the worker stays with you.

Do we pay the Immigration Skills Charge?

No. The caseworker guidance states that a Scale-up sponsor is not required to pay the Immigration Skills Charge.

Can the worker do other work while we sponsor them?

Yes. During the 6-month sponsored period they can take other employment, including self-employment and voluntary work, as long as they keep doing the job you sponsor them for. Work as a professional sportsperson or sports coach is the exception.

What happens if the worker leaves before the 6 months are up?

They cannot then apply as an unsponsored applicant, because that application needs at least 6 months of sponsored Scale-up work. The published guidance allows a further sponsored application where those 6 months were not completed. If they want to move to another sponsor inside the 6 months they must apply to update their visa with a new certificate of sponsorship, and should not start the new job until it is granted.

Can we place the worker with a client?

Only within limits. The published rules say the job must not amount to hiring the worker to a third party to fill a position with them, or to contract work providing an ongoing routine role or service for a third party. Your organisation must keep full responsibility for the duties, functions and outputs of the job.

Talk it through with one of our solicitors.

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