UK Scale up Visa: All you need to know & How to Apply

The UK government recently announced the scale-up visa, which enables skilled workers to come to the UK and work for fast-growing companies in the UK.

With the UK scaleup visa, you can:

Come and work with your sponsorship employer which must be a fast-growing company in the UK for a minimum of 6 months
Bring your family to come and live in the UK with you
Chose to work with another company in the UK after the expiration of 6 months with your sponsored employer
Stay in the UK for up to 2 years and renew your stay after 2 years
Become eligible for UK permanent remain after 5 years in the UK

Please note that the scale-up visa is different from the tier-2 visa sponsorship.

See: 10 companies that offer tier 2 visa sponsorship to the UK.

This article will cover:

What is a UK scaleup business?
Requirements for scaleup visa
Cost of scale-up visa application
Eligible professions for scale-up visa
Companies that are hiring for scale-up visa

What is a UK scaleup business?

A scale up business, sometimes called a UK scale-up company is any organization in the UK that has seen a 20% growth in revenue or number of employed staff for the past 3 years.

Requirements for Scale-up visa to the UK

To be eligible for the UK scale-up visa, you must meet the requirements below:

You must have a confirmed job offer to work for an approved UK scale-up business or company for at least 6 months
You must have a ‘certificate of sponsorship’ from your employer with information about the role you’ve been offered in the UK
Your job must be in the list of eligible occupations
You must be paid a minimum salary of £10 or £11 per hour or £33,000 per year in your new job
Have proof of English proficiency.

Note that: having a degree that was taught in English – is enough proof of English proficiency but a UK body known as ECCTIS needs to confirm if your academic qualification was provided in English.

Cost of Scaleup visa application

The main applicant, their partner and dependants will need to pay the sum of

£715 application fee each
£470 NHS charges each
prove you have enough personal savings (£1278 for 28 days in your account for the principal applicant. Add an additional £285 pounds for your partner & £313 for one child and £200 for another child

See: Eligible Professions & salaries for UK scale-up visa