Scale-up Worker Visa
The Scale-up Worker route starts with a sponsored job from a licensed Scale-up sponsor. You must work in that sponsored role during the initial sponsored period, but the route later allows greater flexibility and contains a separate unsponsored permission framework based on qualifying UK PAYE earnings.
On this page
In brief
- The Scale-up Worker route starts with a sponsored job from a licensed Scale-up sponsor.
- You must work in that role during the initial sponsored period (the first six months).
- It later allows greater flexibility, with a separate unsponsored framework based on qualifying UK PAYE earnings.
- The guide explains the two distinct Scale-up frameworks.
Is the Scale-up Worker route the right one to review?
Scale-up is a sponsored work route for qualifying jobs with businesses that hold the required Scale-up sponsor permission.
Its distinguishing feature is that the sponsorship restriction applies only during the initial sponsored period. After that stage, the worker has significantly greater employment flexibility.
You have a Skilled Worker sponsor
If the role is sponsored under the Skilled Worker framework rather than Scale-up, review Skilled Worker.
Skilled Worker →You recently completed UK study
If your main basis is qualifying UK study rather than a sponsored Scale-up role, review Graduate.
Graduate →Your basis is professional achievement
If your case is based on endorsement, recognised talent or a prestigious prize rather than employment sponsorship, review Global Talent.
Global Talent →Two distinct Scale-up frameworks
Sponsored Scale-up permission
The initial route is based on a qualifying Scale-up sponsor, Certificate of Sponsorship, eligible job and salary framework.
Unsponsored Scale-up permission
Further Scale-up permission can be assessed under a separate unsponsored framework based principally on qualifying UK PAYE earnings during previous Scale-up permission.
Do not describe Scale-up as wholly sponsored or wholly unsponsored. The route changes character after the initial sponsored stage.
Starting on the Scale-up route
For a sponsored Scale-up application, you need a valid Certificate of Sponsorship from a licensed Scale-up sponsor. The sponsor must hold the appropriate Scale-up sponsor licence and be A-rated.
Licensed Scale-up sponsor
The employer must hold the correct Scale-up sponsor permission.
Valid Certificate of Sponsorship
The sponsored application must be supported by a valid CoS containing the required role information.
Eligible sponsored role
The job must satisfy the Scale-up skill, salary and genuineness framework.
Not every business with a general sponsor licence can sponsor under Scale-up. The employer side — Scale-up sponsor eligibility and sponsor duties — is covered separately. See the Sponsor Licence & employer services hub.
The sponsored job must meet the route requirements
The role must genuinely exist
The job must not be a sham or have been created mainly so that the applicant can obtain immigration permission.
Eligible occupation
The role must fall within an occupation permitted for the Scale-up route under the current Appendix Skilled Occupations.
General threshold and going rate
The salary must satisfy the current Scale-up general threshold and the applicable occupation going rate, with pro-rating where required.
Salary thresholds and going rates change — confirm the current figures on GOV.UK before applying. The Home Office may also consider whether you genuinely intend and are capable of undertaking the sponsored role. A complex genuine-vacancy or misrepresentation issue falls outside a straightforward application — see immigration help.
The initial six-month sponsored period
During the first six months of sponsored Scale-up permission, you must remain employed in the job recorded on your Certificate of Sponsorship.
Other work can also be permitted
You may undertake additional employment, self-employment or voluntary work during the sponsored period, provided you continue to undertake the sponsored Scale-up job.
Greater flexibility
Once the initial sponsored period has ended, the sponsor duties fall away and you may remain with the employer or leave that employment.
Do not assume that you can leave the sponsoring employer immediately after the visa is granted — the sponsored-job condition applies for the initial period.
Further Scale-up permission without sponsorship
The route contains a separate unsponsored permission framework. This is not automatic and does not simply arise because you completed six months with the sponsor. The unsponsored stage is based on previous Scale-up permission and qualifying UK PAYE earnings.
Evidence areas to review:
- previous Scale-up permission;
- PAYE employment history;
- qualifying monthly earnings;
- months meeting the applicable earnings requirement;
- payslips and PAYE records;
- bank statements where relevant;
- statutory leave periods;
- multiple-job earnings where relevant.
The earnings test is not simply an annual-average calculation. Months below the applicable level cannot automatically be offset by higher-paid months. The relevant test focuses on qualifying UK PAYE earnings — other income such as general self-employment income, dividends or investment income should not be assumed to count.
Earnings from more than one job can be relevant in some circumstances, but overlapping months are not simply counted twice. Certain periods of statutory maternity, paternity, parental, neonatal, shared parental, adoption and sick leave receive specific treatment within the earnings framework.
English and financial requirements
B2 English
Scale-up requires English-language ability at B2 in reading, writing, speaking and listening.
English requirement →Financial requirement
A financial requirement applies. Whether you need to show funds depends on your immigration circumstances and the period already spent in the UK with permission.
Maintenance amounts can change and, in some cases, the sponsor can certify maintenance. Confirm the current financial requirement on GOV.UK before applying.
Switching to the Scale-up route
Some people already in the UK can switch into Scale-up, but not from every immigration category. Excluded categories include Visitor, Short-term Student, Parent of a Child Student, Seasonal Worker, a Domestic Worker in a Private Household, and permission held outside the Immigration Rules.
If you have or last had Student permission, an additional study-completion condition may apply before you can switch. A TB certificate may also be required for some applicants applying for entry clearance.
How long Scale-up permission lasts and what conditions apply
2 years
The current guidance provides a two-year grant where the sponsored application requirements are met.
3 years
The current guidance provides a three-year grant where the unsponsored application requirements are met.
Employment and self-employment
Work, including self-employment and voluntary work, is permitted subject to the sponsored-stage condition and professional-sport restriction.
Study permitted subject to ATAS
Study is permitted, subject to ATAS where relevant.
No professional sport
Professional sport, including professional coaching, is prohibited.
Unsponsored permission is not the same as indefinite leave — it is still time-limited permission granted under the Scale-up route.
Family members and settlement
Partner and children
A partner and children may be able to apply as dependants, subject to the separate dependant requirements.
Scale-up can lead to settlement
Scale-up is a route to settlement, but the settlement stage has its own residence, KoLL, employment and PAYE earnings requirements.
Scale-up Worker Settlement →Settlement salary thresholds, historic earnings thresholds, settlement PAYE calculations and detailed continuous-residence criteria belong to the separate settlement framework, not to this route page.
Which Scale-up framework should you review?
Answer a few questions and this guide points you to the framework, issues and evidence areas to review. It is a guide only — it does not decide eligibility or predict a decision.
Guide only: this tool identifies immigration frameworks, issues and evidence areas that may need review. It does not determine eligibility, give a score or probability, predict a Home Office decision or assess an appeal.
Planning a UK work-visa application? Get a fixed-fee quote and an honest view of your eligibility.
Get a fixed-fee quoteOur regulatory scope. ENS Immigration Advice is regulated by the Immigration Advice Authority at Level 1. We can advise and assist with straightforward Scale-up Worker applications within our authorised competence. Where a matter involves a refusal, sponsor licence problem, disputed genuine vacancy, deception allegation, complex suitability issue or another contentious circumstance, we will identify the complexity boundary and direct you to the appropriate next step. How our IAA Level 1 scope works · Refusal or complex issue → specialist referral.
How ENS can help
Identify the sponsored or unsponsored framework
We can help identify whether your application falls under the sponsored Scale-up framework or the later unsponsored earnings framework.
Organise the relevant evidence
We can help organise the relevant CoS, job, salary, English, financial or PAYE earnings evidence for a straightforward application.
Prepare a straightforward application
We can assist with preparing and checking a straightforward Scale-up Worker application within ENS’s IAA Level 1 authorisation.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Scale-up Worker visa sponsored?
The route starts with sponsorship. A first sponsored application requires a qualifying Scale-up sponsor and Certificate of Sponsorship, but the worker is only tied to the sponsored job for the initial sponsored period.
How long must I work for the Scale-up sponsor?
The guidance requires a sponsored Scale-up Worker to remain in the job recorded on the Certificate of Sponsorship for the first six months of permission.
Can I take another job during those first six months?
Yes. Additional employment, self-employment and voluntary work can be permitted, provided you continue undertaking the sponsored Scale-up job during the required initial period.
What happens after the first six months?
After the initial sponsored period, sponsor duties fall away. You can remain with the Scale-up sponsor or leave that employment, subject to the conditions of your permission.
Does a Scale-up job have a salary requirement?
Yes. The sponsored job must meet the current Scale-up salary framework, including the general threshold and applicable occupation going rate. The current figures should be checked on GOV.UK before applying.
What English level is required?
The guidance requires English at B2 in reading, writing, speaking and listening.
Can I get further Scale-up permission without a sponsor?
The route contains an unsponsored further-permission framework, but it is not automatic. Qualifying UK PAYE earnings during the relevant Scale-up period are central to that application.
Can self-employment income count towards the unsponsored earnings requirement?
The earnings framework focuses on qualifying UK PAYE earnings. Other income sources should not be assumed to count towards the requirement.
How long is Scale-up permission granted for?
Under the current guidance, sponsored Scale-up permission is granted for two years and permission under the unsponsored framework is granted for three years.
Does Scale-up lead to settlement?
Yes. Scale-up is a route to settlement, but settlement has a separate framework involving residence, KoLL, current employment and PAYE earnings requirements. Those detailed tests belong on the separate settlement page.
Source basis: Home Office, Scale-up Worker caseworker guidance, version 11.0, published for Home Office staff on 3 August 2026. Immigration Rules, salary thresholds, going rates and guidance can change; confirm the current position on GOV.UK before applying.
Discuss a Scale-up Worker application
If you are starting on the Scale-up route or reviewing further unsponsored permission, we can help identify the framework and evidence areas that need attention.