Scale-up Sponsor Licence

A business may be considered a Scale-up or high-growth business when it has experienced a period of considerable growth. This growth needs to be tangible, reaching an annual rate of at least 20% in terms of employed staff or turnover. A qualifying business will need to have sustained this growth for at least 3 financial years leading up to the application. Additionally, a business must have had at least 10 employees at the start of this period.

While a Scale-up business might still be a comparatively young company, it is by no means in its infancy. Beyond needing to have a history with HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) covering at least 37 months, qualifying businesses will have had time to develop their business model and establish a profitable product or service. As such, they will also need to prove solvency, which will be checked either on the Companies House records, if registered, or on insolvency registers.

Page Contents

• What Is a Scale-up Business?
• Why Should I Apply for a Scale-up Sponsor Licence for My Business?
• Requirements for Scale-up Sponsors
• Documents and Information
• Cost of a Scale-up Sponsor Licence
• Applying for Your Scale-up Sponsor Licence
• Timeline for Scale-up Licences
• Duties and Compliance
• Sponsoring a Scale-up Worker
• What Happens after 6 Months of Scale-up Sponsorship?
• What Happens after 2 Years of Scale-up Sponsorship?
• How Can Total Law Help?
• FAQ

Many overseas workers will require special permission to come and work for your business in the UK. If you are planning to hire talent from the international pool, you will need to take on partial responsibility for their immigration and sponsor them.

The Scale-up sponsor licence offers a way to support a foreign worker’s immigration that limits the duration for which your company will be responsible. Sponsorship is only required for the initial 6 months, after which the worker will be permitted to continue working for you and even change position.

Additionally, the Scale-up sponsor path will allow you to forgo paying the Immigration Skills Charge, which would otherwise be payable yearly.

Since this pathway offers affectional benefits to overseas workers, such as the ability to work towards permanent settlement in the UK and bringing family with them, you will also find that Scale-up sponsorship might make your job offer more attractive for workers with the skills that your business needs.

When applying for a Scale-up licence, you will be asked to provide details that will allow your business to be assessed.

These details include:

• Your Unique Taxpayer reference number or Companies House reference number (if registered)
• Your VAT registration number
• The PAYE reference numbers through which your employees pay income tax and national insurance

Usually, there is no need to submit additional documentation when applying under the standard pathway as the provided information allows your company to be assessed automatically. If your company is subject to investigation by a regulatory body in order to operate in the UK you might need to submit additional evidence.

Applications filed under the endorsing body pathway will need to provide the relevant information for your business, as well as your letter of endorsement. Any other evidence or documentation that is not accessible online might also need to be included.

When applying for a Scale-up sponsor licence, the application fee you will need to pay depends on the size of your business. Small sponsors will need to pay £536, while larger sponsors pay £1,476. If you need priority processing, you will need to pay another £500.

As the Scale-up route for migrant workers is considered a Temporary Worker route, the Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) for your prospective employee will cost you £25 (from October 2023). You may choose to take on additional costs for your employee, such as visa fees or healthcare charges.

When you have understood the eligibility requirements and sponsor duties that come with becoming a Scale-up sponsor, you may begin your application online. You will be able to access the application form from the Home Office website by navigating from ‘Employing people’ to ‘Recruiting and hiring’, and selecting ‘Apply for a sponsor licence’. Here, you will be able to start your application.

The first step is to register online with the UK Visa and Immigration (UKVI), using your name and e-mail address. This will give you access to your unique user ID. Make sure to take note of this you will not be able to return to your application without it.

Follow the steps of the application process. You will need to provide the required information about your business and pay the application fee. The information you enter must be accurate, as failure to do so will lead to delays, rejection, or even a ban from applying in the future.

It might take up to 8 weeks for your application to be assessed unless you have paid extra for priority processing.

Should you be successful, you will be given a licence rating and will be able to provide Certificates of Sponsorship for suitable employees.

Your Scale-up sponsor licence will be valid for 4 years unless it is revoked or surrendered beforehand. As the Scale-up programme aims to support businesses at a particular growth stage, Scale-up licences cannot be renewed beyond those 4 years. If you wish to continue sponsoring international talent after that, you will need to apply for a different licence.

Taking on the role of a sponsor for a migrant worker includes taking on the associated responsibilities. You should show your understanding of these sponsorship duties when applying.

In general, you will need to make sure that your business and your sponsored employees continue to fulfil all conditions to be legally operating and working in the UK. You will also need to ensure that any sponsored employee has the required skills and qualifications and that their position meets the conditions for the Scale-up scheme.

As a sponsor, your duties include:

• Reporting any changes to your business/trading activity, status of your employees, unlawful activities, or other relevant factors
• Keeping records of any relevant employment details. You will need a HR system that keeps track of your worker’s legal status in the UK, attendance and qualifications, contact details, as well as documentation about their employment and immigration status
• Ensuring compliance with immigration laws. You will need to make sure that any overseas workers maintain legal permission to be employed by you
• Ensuring general compliance with UK law
• Preventing an environment that is not conducive to the public good or interest

You will need to inform the Home Office of the date your Scale-up worker officially starts working for you, or if their employment status changes for any reason. Reporting will be done through the sponsorship management system (SMS).

Failing to maintain your duties may result in your existing sponsor licence being revoked or even legal actions against you and your business, so it is important that you fully understand your responsibilities. If you have any concerns about your current duties or want to find out more about what to expect, you can call Total Law at 0333 305 9375 for further information. One of our immigration law specialists will be happy to help you understand anything you are unsure about.

After the initial 6 months of employment have passed, sponsorship will no longer be necessary. The worker will now have the option to continue working for you. They may also decide to change their job, position, or employer without requiring new sponsorship.

Working permissions under the Scale-up model are issued with an initial 2-year validity. Once these 2 years have passed, the worker will be able to apply for an extension of 3 years. They will now be able to apply without sponsorship. After this period, workers will not be able to renew their Scale-up permission. Instead, they will be able to apply for settled status in the UK based on 5 years of residence. If their status is granted, they will no longer need special permission to work for you.