Scale-up visa

What makes the Scale-up visa different

A Scale-up Worker visa lets you come to the UK to do an eligible job for a fast-growing UK business. Sponsorship is only needed for the first 6 months.

Eligibility requirements

You must meet all of these requirements to apply for a Scale-up Worker visa.

• Job offer for at least 6 months

  A confirmed job offer to work for an approved scale-up business for at least 6 months.

• Certificate of sponsorship

  An electronic CoS from your employer describing the role. Apply within 3 months of it being assigned, and up to 3 months before your start date.

• Eligible occupation

  Your job's 4-digit occupation code must be on the table of eligible occupations for this visa. The route covers graduate-level roles.

• Salary

  At least £39,100 a year or the going rate for your occupation code, whichever is higher.

• Knowledge of English

  Read, write, speak and understand English to at least level B2 (CEFR). B1 applies if you held the visa before 8 January 2026 and are extending.

• Money to support yourself

  £1,270 held for 28 consecutive days, unless you have been in the UK on a valid visa for 12 months or your sponsor certifies maintenance on your CoS.

• Minimum wage and hours

  Your employer must pay at least the minimum wage and follow UK working-hours rules. GOV.UK states your application will be refused if they do not.

GOV.UK gives this example: a salary of £39,400 where the going rate for the job is £40,000 does not meet the requirement, because you would earn less than the going rate.

Scale-up company requirements

The sponsoring company must be approved by the Home Office to sponsor scale-up workers.

Knowledge of English

• A UK school qualification you began under 18: a GCSE, an A level, a Scottish National Qualification at level 4 or 5, or a Scottish Higher or Advanced Higher in English.
• A degree-level qualification taught in English and awarded by a UK institution.
• A degree taught in English from an institution outside the UK, confirmed by Ecctis as equivalent to a UK bachelor's degree or higher.
• A Secure English Language Test (SELT) from an approved provider at level B2 or above in all four components.

If you held a Scale-up Worker visa before 8 January 2026 and are extending it, you only need level B1 and do not need to prove it again. Switching from another visa requires B2. Nationals of Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, the British overseas territories, Canada, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Malta, New Zealand, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago and the USA do not need to prove English.

Visa duration and extensions

Understanding your visa timeline.

Initial visa duration

2 years

Length of each extension

3 years

Number of extensions

No limit while you meet the requirements

Indefinite Leave to Remain

May be available after 5 years

Your first Scale-up Worker visa is granted for 2 years. You can extend as many times as you like by 3 years each time, as long as you still meet the eligibility and earnings requirements, and after 5 years you may be able to apply to settle permanently.

The 6-month threshold: what changes

What GOV.UK says you can and cannot do before and after 6 months in your sponsored job.

During the first 6 months:

• You must work in the job on your certificate of sponsorship.
• You cannot change employer unless you apply to update your visa with a new certificate of sponsorship.
• You can move to a different eligible job with the same employer without updating your visa.

After 6 months:

• You can continue in your job, or change or stop it without telling the Home Office.
• You can be self-employed and take on additional work.
• You do not need to update your visa.
• You can extend without a new sponsor, but must meet the earnings requirement: a PAYE salary equivalent to at least £39,100 a year for at least half of your stay. Self-employed earnings do not count.

On any Scale-up Worker visa you can also study, do voluntary work, travel abroad and return, and bring eligible dependants. You cannot claim most benefits (public funds) or work as a professional sportsperson, for example a sports coach.

Fees and costs

What you, and each dependant, will pay. The fee is the same wherever you apply from.

Application fee, per person

£937

Immigration Health Surcharge

Usually £1,035 per person per year

Money to support yourself

£1,270 held for 28 consecutive days

Funds for a dependant partner

£285

Funds for your first child

£315

Funds for each additional child

£200

Biometrics (fingerprints and photo)

No fee

Faster decision (priority services)

Extra fee; availability shown when you apply

Your day 28 of holding the £1,270 must fall within 31 days of the date you apply. You do not need to show it if you have been in the UK on a valid visa for at least 12 months, or if your employer completes the 'sponsor certifies maintenance' section of your certificate of sponsorship to cover your first month, up to £1,270. Figures as published on GOV.UK, last updated 4 June 2026.

Processing times

Standard service standards published by UK Visas and Immigration.

Applying from outside the UK

3 weeks

Extending, updating or switching inside the UK

8 weeks

Dependants applying from outside the UK

3 weeks

Dependants extending or switching inside the UK

8 weeks

Priority or super priority service

May be offered for an extra fee; you are told when you apply

The clock starts once you have applied online, proved your identity and provided your documents. You can apply up to 3 months before the start date on your certificate of sponsorship. You will be contacted if your application will take longer, for example because documents need verifying, you need an interview or you have a criminal conviction. Times published on GOV.UK: applications outside the UK, 26 June 2026; applications inside the UK, 21 July 2025.

Documents you'll need

• Your certificate of sponsorship reference number, given to you by your employer.
• Proof of your knowledge of English.
• A valid passport or other document showing your identity and nationality.
• Your job title and annual salary.
• Your job's occupation code.
• Your employer's name and sponsor licence number, as shown on your certificate of sponsorship.

Depending on your circumstances you might also be asked for:

• Evidence of personal savings, such as bank statements, unless your CoS shows your employer can support you.
• Proof of your relationship with your partner or children if they are applying with you.
• Your tuberculosis test results if you are from a listed country.
• A valid ATAS certificate if your employer tells you your job involves researching a sensitive subject at PhD level or higher.
• A certified translation of any document not in English or Welsh.
• When extending: payslips, P45s or P60s, bank statements for the account you were paid into (including joint accounts), and your employer's PAYE reference for each job, to prove you met the earnings requirement.

Application process

Step-by-step guide to applying for your Scale-up visa.

Your partner and children

Dependants apply separately, and their visas usually end on the same date as yours.

A dependant is your husband, wife, civil partner or unmarried partner; your child under 18, including one born in the UK during your stay; or your child over 18 who already has permission to be in the UK as your dependant. If a child's parents have visas with different expiry dates, the child's visa ends on the earlier date.

• Partners must prove a marriage or civil partnership recognised in the UK, or that you have lived together in a relationship for at least 2 years, or an ongoing commitment where you cannot live together.
• Children must live with you (unless away in full-time education) and not be married or in a civil partnership. Evidence of address includes a bank statement, credit card bills, a driving licence, an NHS registration document or a letter from their school or college.
• Each dependant pays the £937 fee and the healthcare surcharge, and needs £285 (partner), £315 (first child) and £200 (each further child) held for 28 days, unless you have all been in the UK for 12 months or your sponsor certifies maintenance for your family.
• Dependants outside the UK apply before travelling and quote your application number (GWF or UAN). Dependants in the UK can extend or switch at the same time as you or before their current visa expires, including children who have turned 18.
• Dependants inside the UK cannot switch if they are here as a visitor, short-term student, Parent of a Child Student, seasonal worker, domestic worker in a private household, on immigration bail or with permission granted outside the rules. A Student-visa dependant must have completed their course or studied a PhD for at least 24 months.
• Dependants can work (except as a sportsperson or coach), study, travel abroad and return, and apply to settle after 5 years. They cannot claim most benefits or the State Pension.
• A child born in the UK does not automatically become British. Apply for their dependant visa before they turn 18, with a full UK birth certificate naming both parents.

Extending, updating and switching

What GOV.UK requires for each kind of in-country application.

You can usually extend if both of the following are true:

• You worked in the job on your certificate of sponsorship for at least 6 months.
• You met the earnings requirement during at least half of your stay with your most recent visa.

You do not need a new certificate of sponsorship. The earnings requirement depends on when your last certificate of sponsorship was issued and whether you have extended before. You can include salaries from more than one job if each met the threshold; if you had two jobs at once, only the higher salary counts. Self-employed earnings cannot be counted because they are not paid through PAYE.

Extended before, or last CoS on or after 22 July 2025

Monthly salary equivalent to at least £39,100 a year

Last CoS 4 April 2024 to 21 July 2025

Monthly salary equivalent to at least £36,300 a year

Last CoS 12 April 2023 to 3 April 2024

Monthly salary equivalent to at least £34,600 a year

Last CoS on or before 11 April 2023

Monthly salary equivalent to at least £33,000 a year

For a 2-year visa this means at least 12 months at the required level. Prove it with payslips, P45s or P60s, bank statements for the account you were paid into, and your employer's PAYE reference for each job.

Update your visa if you change employer in the first 6 months:

• Your new job must be on the table of eligible occupations and you need a new certificate of sponsorship.
• You can apply up to 3 months before your new start date and keep working in your current job while you wait, but should not start the new job until your new permission is confirmed.
• You do not need to update if you take a different job with your current employer, or if you have already worked in the job on your CoS for 6 months or more.

Switch from another visa if:

• Your job meets the eligibility requirements and you meet the English requirement at level B2.
• If you are on a Student visa: you have completed your course, your job starts after your course ends, or you have studied a full-time PhD for at least 24 months.
• You are not in the UK as a visitor, short-term student, Parent of a Child Student, seasonal worker, domestic worker in a private household, on immigration bail or with permission granted outside the rules. In those cases you must leave and apply from abroad.
• If you have been in the UK for less than a year you must still prove you have £1,270 to support yourself.

Scale-up compared with Skilled Worker

Key differences between the two work visa routes, using GOV.UK figures.

Common refusal reasons

Each mandatory requirement of the route is a ground for refusal if it is not met or not evidenced. Applications are refused when:

• The sponsor is not approved for the Scale-up Worker route, or the certificate of sponsorship details do not match the job, salary or occupation code claimed, or the CoS was assigned more than 3 months before the application.
• The job offer is for less than 6 months.
• The occupation code is not on the table of eligible occupations for this visa.
• The salary is below £39,100 or below the going rate for the occupation code.
• The job does not pay at least the minimum wage or does not follow UK working-hours rules. GOV.UK states the application will be refused in this case.
• English is not evidenced at level B2: the test is not from an approved SELT provider, or an overseas degree is relied on without an Ecctis confirmation.
• Funds of £1,270 (plus dependant amounts) are not held for 28 consecutive days with day 28 within 31 days of applying, and the CoS does not certify maintenance.
• On extension, the applicant did not work in the sponsored job for 6 months, or cannot show PAYE earnings at the required level for at least half of the stay, or relies on self-employed income.
• A tuberculosis test certificate is missing where the applicant is from a listed country, or an ATAS certificate is missing where required.
• The applicant is switching from an ineligible category, or documents are false, incomplete or not accompanied by a certified translation, or there are previous immigration breaches.

Ready to join a high-growth company?

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Information sourced from GOV.UK (Scale-up Worker visa), last updated 4 June 2026, and the GOV.UK visa processing times guidance (applications outside the UK, 26 June 2026; applications inside the UK, 21 July 2025), reproduced under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Rules change; we verify requirements at the point of instruction.