UK Scale-up Visa: Apply from Canada
The scale-up visa allows talented and highly skilled foreign nationals recruited by a UK scale-up sponsor to travel and work in the UK for 2 or 3 years.
For advice and assistance with your visa application, contact Total Law today at +1 844 290 6312 or use the online contact form to get in touch.
Page Contents
- Scale-Up Visa
- Who Can Apply for the New Scale-Up Visa UK?
- Requirements for a Scale-up Visa – Sponsored Application
- Requirements for a Scale-up Visa – Unsponsored Application
- Scale-up Visa Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) Requirement for a Sponsored Application
- Scale-up Visa Job Skill Level Requirement for a Sponsored Application
- Scale-up Visa Salary Requirement for a Sponsored Application
- UK Earnings as a Scale-up Worker Requirement for an Unsponsored Application
- Scale-up Visa Financial Requirement for all Scale-up Applications
- Application Process
- Conditions of Stay on the Scale-up Visa Route
- How can Total Law help?
- Frequently Asked Questions
Scale-Up Visa
Scale-up visa is a UK worker visa that allows highly skilled foreign nationals to travel and work for UK scale-up businesses and to help them continue growing. The scale-up visa is one of the UK visa routes to settlement in the UK. The scale-up visa allows exempted from the immigration skill charge, and visa holders are allowed to travel with their dependant, i.e., spouse and dependent children.
Before applying for the scale-up visa, you must have qualified for a highly-skilled job offer that qualifies as a scale-up business at the required salary level. There are sponsored and unsponsored application options for the Scale-up Visa route. Applicants who have once been issued permission to work as a scale-up worker in the UK are the only ones who can apply for an unsponsored application.
Scale-up visa seems to be a smoother route for eligible employers and employees than the skilled worker visa, as it requires less time, expense and responsibility of obtaining a sponsor license and sponsoring someone on this immigration route. Unlike the skilled worker visa, the Scale-up route has been promoted by the UK government as a smoother, more flexible, fast-track route.
Scale-up workers may be eligible to apply for indefinite leave to remain in the UK. The continuous residence period can also include time spent in the Skilled Worker, Global Talent, innovator, T2 Minister of Religion, International Sportsperson, Representative of an Overseas Business, or Tier 1 categories (excluding Graduate Entrepreneur).
Who Can Apply for the New Scale-Up Visa UK?
A scale-Up visa work allows foreign nationals who are highly skilled to travel and work for a UK qualifying Scale-Up business. A valid Certificate of Sponsorship from the UK employer is required for the applicants. Although the full qualifying requirements for the Scale-Up visa for the UK have not yet been released, they will be in due time before the program’s official debut. The UK Scale-Up visa is anticipated to become available to persons who meet the following requirements:
- High levels of skills or exceptional academic standing
- An offer of a highly skilled position with a UK company that satisfies the requirements for a Scale-Up company
- A valid Certificate of Sponsorship from your employer
- An annual salary of at least £33,000
- Sufficient English language proficiency
Requirements for a Scale-up Visa – Sponsored Application
To be eligible for the scale-up visa, you must be able to convince the UK Visas and Immigration that you meet the following requirements through a Sponsored Application:
- You are 18 years and above.
- You have a valid Certificate of Sponsorship issued by your UK sponsor or employer for the job you intend to do.
- The job you are planning to do is genuine.
- The job you intend to do is at an appropriate skill level.
- Your salary will be equal to or exceed both £33,000 per year, £10.58 per hour, and the going rate for the position.
- You are proficient in the English language to at least CEFR Level B1, or IELTS 4.0.
- You have enough money to cover your living expenses in the UK without relying on public funds.
- You have provided a valid TB certificate if required.
Requirements for a Scale-up Visa – Unsponsored Application
To qualify for a Scale-up Visa through an Unsponsored Application, existing scale-up workers must meet certain eligibility requirements and must be able to satisfy UK Visas and Immigration that:
- You are 18 and above.
- You have previously been granted permission as a Scale-up Worker.
- You had monthly PAYE earnings in the UK equivalent to at least £33,000 per year during at least 50% of your most recent grant of permission as a Scale-up Worker.
- You are proficient in the English language test to at least CEFR Level B1 or ELTS 4.0.
- You have enough money to cover your living expenses in the UK without relying on public funds.
- You have provided a valid TB certificate if required.
- You must have medical and travel insurance.
It is important to note that there may be changes in the requirements to meet based on individual circumstances. Whatever the case, you must be able to meet the requirement for your condition to qualify for the visa.
Scale-up Visa Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) Requirement for a Sponsored Application
You need a valid Certificate of Sponsorship for the position you want to apply for to be eligible for a Scale-up Visa through a Sponsored Application. The Home Office must have authorized your employer to sponsor a Scale-up Worker for your Certificate of Sponsorship to have been issued.
Your employer must show that, during the past three years, either staffing levels or turnover increased by at least 20% annually to qualify as a Scale-up Sponsor. The company must have employed at least 10 people at the beginning of the three-year term. On the Home Office’s register of licensed sponsors, your sponsor must be classified as A-rated.
Your Scale-up Visa Sponsored Application must have been submitted no more than three months after issuing your Certificate of Sponsorship. However, your Certificate of Sponsorship must include the following information:
- Details of your name, job, and salary.
- Confirmation that you are expected to work for your Sponsor for at least six months.
- A start date that is no more than three months after the date of your Scale-up Worker Visa application.
- Verification that the sponsor hasn’t withdrawn the certificate of sponsorship or had the Home Office cancel it after using it in a prior application that was either approved or rejected.
Scale-up Visa Job Skill Level Requirement for a Sponsored Application
Your job must be eligible and be at or above a minimal skill level for you to be granted a Scale-up Visa through a Sponsored Application (at least RQF level 6).
The Home Office will publish a list of jobs that qualify for the Scale-up route once it becomes available for Scale-up Visas. The list includes the job title, type, and occupation code. However, your sponsor must choose the right occupation code.
The Home Office will examine factors like a genuine need for the job described, necessary skills, credentials, and experience to perform the job, and the sponsor’s track record of adhering to the immigration laws when determining whether your sponsor has selected the most appropriate occupation code.
Scale-up Visa Salary Requirement for a Sponsored Application
If you are applying for a Scale-up Visa through a Sponsored Application, your income for the position you are being sponsored for must meet or exceed both £33,000 per year, £10.58 per hour, and the “going rate” for the position as specified in the applicable occupation code.
Salary evaluations are based on guaranteed basic gross pay for work up to 48 hours per week; additional compensation or benefits are not included.
The Home Office will release a list of going rates for suitable Scale-up Visa occupation codes once the Scale-up Visa route is open. The indicated going rates will be based on a 37.5-hour work week and must be modified for various working schedules. However, the £10.58 per hour salary requirement must be calculated for your working pattern.
UK Earnings as a Scale-up Worker Requirement for an Unsponsored Application
You must have earned at least £33,000 per year in monthly PAYE income in the UK during at least half of the period you were on leave as a Scale-up Worker to be eligible for a Scale-up Visa through an Unsponsored Application. Your guaranteed minimum gross salary as reported by UK-based PAYE will be taken into account by the Home Office. Other sources of income, such as self-employment and earnings from outside the UK, will not be considered.
When you take statutory maternity, paternity, parental, shared parental, adoption, or sick leave from a job where your PAYE wages are at least £33,000 per year, those absences are counted as time spent working during which you were compensated at least £33,000 per year.
Scale-up Visa Financial Requirement for all Scale-up Applications
You must have sufficient cash funds totalling at least £1,270 to be eligible for a Scale-up Visa (via either a Sponsored or Unsponsored Application). Before submitting your Scale-up Visa application, you must have kept the funds for at least 28 days in a row, ending no more than 31 days earlier.
You will be excluded from the financial criterion if your sponsor agrees to cover your maintenance expenses until the end of the first month of your job of at least £1,270. This must be verified by your sponsor on your Certificate of Sponsorship. You won’t need to provide proof of money if you are seeking permission to stay in the UK and have had permission to be there for at least a year at the time of application.
Application Process
Before travelling to the UK, the applicant must apply for and receive entry clearance and have received 70points as stated by the UK visa and immigration. There are application processes and steps you need to follow when applying for a scale-up visa. However, you need to read the Home Office’s application guidelines before starting your application process to avoid mistakes that can lead to visa refusal. To apply for this visa, you need to follow these steps.
Step 1: Apply online through the Gov.uk website under the “Settle in the UK in various immigration categories: form SET(O)”.
Step 2: Submit all your supporting documents
Step 3: Fill in all the requested information, provide answers as instructed, and submit your application.
Conditions of Stay on the Scale-up Visa Route
If you apply for a scale-up visa through a sponsored application, you must work at the position for the first six months of the visa. Your immigration status will no longer be associated with the company that first sponsored you after the first six months. As a result, you’ll be allowed to pursue additional or alternative jobs without sponsorship, including jobs, side jobs, and volunteer work. Additionally, studying will be permitted, but you will not have access to public funds.
You won’t be dependent on a sponsoring employer if you are granted leave as a Scale-up Worker through the Unsponsored Application route because you will have a complete right to work from the beginning (including employment, self-employment, and volunteer work). You will be able to study, but you won’t be allowed to use public funds.
How can Total Law help?
Total Law’s excellent immigration lawyers are vastly experienced in dealing with the UK scale-up visa application and provide advice and support to make your application process smooth.
Our professional immigration lawyers will help you determine that you meet the eligibility criteria for a UK scale-up visa. They will advise you detailedly on which supporting documentation you should have. In addition, years of experience with this process have made us aware of the common mistakes that applicant make that causes application refusal.
Therefore, we will help you avoid these errors to ensure that your application is consistent and readily accepted. If you’ve had a previous refusal, Total Law can help you file an appeal or walk you through the re-application process to ensure you get accepted. So contact us today at +1 844 290 6312 to start your journey toward a successful UK visa application.
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Related pages for your continued reading.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. You can travel with your partner or spouse and dependent children under 18 years on a scale-up visa. However, they need to apply separately and provide their financial requirements to be eligible to join you in the UK.
If you are approved for a scale-up visa through the sponsored application process, you will be given entry clearance or permission to remain for two years. If you apply for a Scale-up Visa without a sponsor, you will be given entry clearance or permission to stay for three years.