The Scale-up Visa is a UK work route for skilled workers who have an eligible job offer from an approved fast-growing UK business.
Officially called the Scale-up Worker visa, the route starts with employer sponsorship. After you have worked in your sponsored job for at least six months, you gain greater flexibility to change jobs, take additional work or become self-employed.
This guide explains how the Scale-up Visa works, who qualifies, the sponsorship and salary requirements, how to apply, and what to consider if you want to extend your stay or eventually settle in the UK.
The Scale-up Visa starts as a sponsored UK work route.
For an initial application, you generally need:
Your initial Scale-up Worker visa lasts for two years. After the first six months of sponsored employment, you have greater freedom over where and how you work.
When your visa expires, you may be able to extend it without new sponsorship if you meet the relevant earnings requirements.
The Scale-up Worker visa allows eligible skilled workers to come to the UK to work for an approved fast-growing business.
You cannot qualify simply because you have a job offer from a company that is growing quickly. Your initial employer must be approved by the Home Office for the Scale-up route.
Your job must also be eligible, meet the applicable salary requirements and be sponsored for at least six months.
The route is unusual because sponsorship is particularly important at the beginning. Once you complete the initial six-month sponsored period, you have considerably more freedom over where and how you work.
The Scale-up Visa is specifically a work route. If your main reason for coming to the UK is an eligible English-language course rather than employment, the Short-Term Study Visa is a separate immigration pathway.
To qualify for an initial Scale-up Visa, you generally need:
Your employer must also make sure the job meets minimum wage requirements and follows UK rules on working hours.
Having an eligible occupation is therefore only one part of the application. Your employer, salary, sponsorship and personal eligibility must also meet the rules.
For your initial application, your employer must be approved to sponsor workers through the Scale-up route.
An organisation being able to sponsor workers under another immigration route does not automatically mean it can sponsor Scale-up Workers. When checking whether an employer can sponsor you for a UK visa, “Scale-up Worker” should appear as an approved route for that organisation.
If your employer is eligible, it will assign you a Certificate of Sponsorship containing information about the role you have been offered.
A Certificate of Sponsorship is an electronic record rather than a physical certificate. You will need its reference number when you apply.
For an initial Scale-up Visa application, you must currently be paid whichever is higher:
Each eligible occupation code has its own annual going rate. If the going rate for your particular job is higher than £39,100, meeting the general threshold alone is not enough.
For example, if your salary is £39,400 but the going rate for your occupation is £40,000, you would not meet the salary requirement.
Applicants should therefore confirm the correct occupation code, going rate and proposed salary before applying.
Scale-up Worker applicants generally need to demonstrate English ability at CEFR level B2 in reading, writing, speaking and listening.
Depending on your circumstances, you may be able to meet the requirement through a UK school qualification, a degree taught in English or an approved Secure English Language Test.
You may not need to prove your English knowledge if you are a national of one of the exempt countries or have already demonstrated your English in a previous successful application.
If you had a Scale-up Worker visa before 8 January 2026 and are extending it, a transitional B1 requirement can apply.
If you need to meet the financial requirement yourself, you will usually need at least £1,270 available to support yourself in the UK.
The money normally needs to have been held for at least 28 consecutive days, with day 28 falling within 31 days before you apply.
You may not need to show these funds if:
If your employer is covering this requirement, it must be confirmed on your Certificate of Sponsorship.
The documents required depend on your circumstances, but applicants generally need to provide:
Depending on your circumstances, additional documents may be necessary, including evidence relating to dependants, tuberculosis testing or an ATAS certificate.
Documents that are not in English or Welsh generally need a certified translation.
Once you have an eligible job and sponsorship in place, the application process generally involves several steps.
You first need an eligible job with an approved Scale-up sponsor.
Confirm the occupation code, salary and employer’s sponsorship position before preparing the rest of your application.
Your employer assigns your Certificate of Sponsorship.
Check the information about your role, salary and employer carefully before applying.
Gather your identity documents, English-language evidence, financial evidence where required and any additional documents relevant to your circumstances.
Your application is completed online.
The process differs depending on whether you are applying from outside the UK, extending existing Scale-up permission or switching from another eligible immigration route.
You will be told how to prove your identity as part of the application process. Depending on your circumstances, this may involve an identity-checking app or an appointment to provide biometric information.
UK Visas and Immigration will assess whether you and the proposed employment satisfy the requirements of the route.
The current Scale-up Worker visa application fee is £937.
Applicants also normally need to pay the Immigration Health Surcharge, which is usually £1,035 for each year of permission. You will also usually need £1,270 to support yourself when you arrive unless an exemption applies.
You should therefore budget for:
It is useful to check current visa fees before applying because the headline application fee is not necessarily the full cost of the immigration process.
Applicants applying from outside the UK usually receive a decision within three weeks once they have applied online, proved their identity and provided the required documents.
Applications made inside the UK to extend a Scale-up Worker visa usually have a standard processing time of eight weeks.
Processing can take longer if documents need to be verified or additional checks are required.
Applicants should therefore allow enough time rather than making important travel or employment arrangements around the standard processing period alone.
The first six months are the sponsored stage of the Scale-up route.
Your initial job offer must cover at least this period. After you have completed the required sponsored employment, the route provides considerably greater employment flexibility.
You can potentially:
This flexibility is one of the main features that distinguishes the Scale-up route from other sponsored work visas.
However, greater freedom over your employment does not mean that your earnings stop being relevant. If you later want to extend your visa or apply for settlement, your PAYE earnings can become particularly important.
Both routes allow eligible overseas workers to take employment in the UK, but their sponsorship structures differ.
| Scale-up Visa | Skilled Worker Visa | |
|---|---|---|
| Initial sponsorship | Required | Required |
| Employer | Approved Scale-up sponsor | Approved Skilled Worker sponsor |
| Initial sponsored employment | At least 6 months | Sponsorship remains connected to the sponsored role |
| Changing employer | Greater flexibility after 6 months | A new sponsored role generally requires the relevant visa requirements to be met |
| Self-employment | Permitted after the initial sponsored period | Different restrictions apply |
| Settlement | Potential route to settlement | Potential route to settlement |
If you are deciding between sponsored employment routes, our Skilled Worker Visa guide explains how that pathway works in more detail.
If your goal is not to work for a Scale-up employer but to build and run your own innovative business in the UK, the Innovator Founder Visa follows a different pathway for eligible founders.
The appropriate route depends on what you intend to do in the UK, the eligibility requirements you can meet and your longer-term plans.
Yes.
The initial Scale-up Worker visa lasts for two years. If you remain eligible, an extension gives you another three years.
For an unsponsored extension, your UK PAYE earnings become particularly important.
If you have already extended your visa or your most recent Certificate of Sponsorship was issued on or after 22 July 2025, you must currently have earned a monthly salary equivalent to at least £39,100 per year during at least half of your most recent Scale-up stay.
For example, if you are extending after two years, you would normally need qualifying earnings for at least 12 months.
Transitional thresholds apply to some applicants whose relevant Certificate of Sponsorship was issued earlier.
Self-employed income does not count towards this earnings requirement. This is important because being permitted to become self-employed does not mean those earnings will help you qualify for an unsponsored extension.
Yes. The Scale-up route can potentially lead to indefinite leave to remain after five years if you meet the relevant requirements.
Your earnings history is particularly important.
If you have already extended your Scale-up Visa, or your most recent permission was based on a Certificate of Sponsorship issued on or after 22 July 2025, you must currently earn at least £39,100 per year when you apply for settlement.
You must also have earned a monthly PAYE salary equivalent to at least £39,100 per year for at least two of the three years immediately before your application. Transitional thresholds apply to some earlier Scale-up grants.
Self-employed earnings do not count towards this minimum earnings requirement.
You must also meet the applicable continuous residence and other settlement requirements.
Eligible partners and children can apply to accompany or join a Scale-up Worker as dependants.
Where they need to meet the financial requirement, additional funds are required for each dependant.
Family members need their own applications, and their immigration permission does not automatically extend simply because the main Scale-up Worker extends their visa.
If you plan to move to the UK with family members, their applications and financial requirements should therefore form part of your preparation from the beginning.
Imagine you receive an eligible job offer from a UK technology company approved to sponsor Scale-up Workers.
You receive a Certificate of Sponsorship, meet the salary and other requirements and obtain a two-year Scale-up Visa.
For the first six months, your immigration position is closely connected to that sponsored employment.
After the initial period, you may decide to remain with the company, move to another employer or become self-employed.
However, that flexibility does not mean your future immigration requirements disappear.
If you intend to extend your Scale-up Visa or eventually settle in the UK, your PAYE earnings become important. Self-employed income, for example, does not count towards the relevant minimum earnings tests.
A change that is permitted under your current visa can therefore still affect your future immigration plans.
A successful or rapidly expanding company is not automatically an approved Scale-up sponsor.
Confirm that the employer can sponsor you specifically through the Scale-up route before relying on the job offer.
The £39,100 threshold is not the only figure that matters for an initial application.
Your salary must also meet the going rate for your occupation, and you need whichever amount is higher.
Your initial sponsored job must last for at least six months.
The greater employment flexibility associated with the Scale-up route applies after this initial sponsored stage.
You can become self-employed, but self-employed income does not count towards the earnings requirement for an unsponsored Scale-up extension.
Changing jobs or becoming self-employed may be permitted, but your earnings history can later affect an extension or settlement application.
Consider those requirements before making significant changes to how you work.
If you are considering your options for coming to the UK, these guides can help you compare other visa routes and understand the requirements that may affect your next steps:
The Scale-up Worker visa is a UK work route for eligible skilled workers recruited by an approved fast-growing UK business. It begins with sponsored employment and provides greater employment flexibility after the initial six-month period.
An initial Scale-up Worker visa lasts for two years. Eligible applicants can then extend their stay for three years at a time.
You need an approved Scale-up sponsor for your initial application. Later unsponsored applications can be made without a new Certificate of Sponsorship if you meet the applicable requirements
Yes. After completing the initial six-month sponsored period, the Scale-up route gives you considerably greater freedom to change employment.
Yes. However, self-employed income does not count towards the minimum earnings requirements for an unsponsored extension or settlement.
Potentially. The Scale-up route can lead to indefinite leave to remain after five years if you meet the applicable residence, earnings and other settlement requirements.
The Scale-up Visa combines an initial period of employer sponsorship with greater freedom over how you work after the first six months.
Before applying, make sure your employer is approved for the Scale-up route, your occupation is eligible and your salary meets the applicable requirements. It is also important to look beyond the initial application because your later PAYE earnings can affect whether you qualify for an extension or settlement.
Planning these stages together can help you understand whether the Scale-up route suits both your immediate job opportunity and your longer-term plans in the UK.
If you are considering a Scale-up Visa and want help assessing your eligibility and preparing your application, book a consultation with UKGIC. Our immigration advisers can review your job offer, sponsorship arrangements and circumstances and help you prepare the appropriate UK visa application.
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