Scale-up Worker Settlement & ILR
If you are approaching settlement on the Scale-up route, the assessment is different from the initial sponsored stage. It looks at your qualifying residence and a Scale-up-specific UK PAYE employment and earnings framework.
On this page
In brief
- Scale-up settlement is different from the initial sponsored stage.
- It looks at your qualifying residence and a Scale-up-specific PAYE employment and earnings framework.
- Continuous residence is assessed over the five-year period.
- The guide sets out what Scale-up settlement looks at.
Is this the right stage?
This page is for a person who has, or was last granted, permission as a Scale-up Worker and is considering settlement in the UK. It covers the settlement stage rather than the requirements for first obtaining or extending Scale-up permission.
You are considering ILR
Continue here if your question is about settlement as the principal Scale-up Worker.
You need Scale-up permission
See the Scale-up Worker Visa page for the initial route and permission-stage requirements.
Scale-up Worker Visa →Your route or immigration history is more complex
Different settlement provisions may apply if Scale-up is not your current or most recent route.
Settlement hub →What Scale-up settlement looks at
A Scale-up settlement application brings together several separate requirements. The route-specific feature is the PAYE employment and earnings test; residence, suitability and Knowledge of Life in the UK must also be considered.
Qualifying period
Review whether you have the required period of qualifying permission.
Continuous residence
Check whether residence during that qualifying period meets Appendix Continuous Residence.
PAYE employment and earnings
Review your current UK PAYE employment and the qualifying monthly PAYE earnings history required by the Scale-up settlement rules.
Settlement requirements
Review suitability, Knowledge of Life in the UK and the English rule applying on your application date.
The five-year qualifying period
The principal applicant must have spent a continuous period of five years in the UK on qualifying immigration routes. The whole period does not have to be spent as a Scale-up Worker. Appendix Scale-up permits specified routes to be combined, including Scale-up, Skilled Worker, Global Talent and certain other qualifying work or business routes. Time relied upon in this combined qualifying period must be qualifying permission held as the principal applicant rather than as a dependant.
Mixed immigration history? Where more than one immigration route forms part of the five-year period, map the immigration history before applying rather than assuming every form of UK permission counts.
Continuous residence
The five-year qualifying period is also subject to the continuous residence requirement in Appendix Continuous Residence. Absences from the UK can therefore affect whether the qualifying period is complete.
See our Continuous residence guidance for the residence framework and absence issues to review.
The Scale-up PAYE employment and earnings requirement
Scale-up settlement has a route-specific earnings test. You must be in qualifying UK PAYE employment when you apply, at the level required by the Immigration Rules applying to your circumstances. You must also show qualifying monthly UK PAYE earnings for at least 24 months of the three years immediately before the application date.
This is not the Skilled Worker settlement salary test. Scale-up has its own PAYE employment and earnings rules. The applicable monetary level can change and is not reproduced here; confirm the current figure on GOV.UK before applying.
Current PAYE employment
The settlement assessment includes your qualifying UK PAYE employment on the application date.
At least 24 qualifying months
The historic test looks for the required monthly PAYE earnings in at least 24 months of the immediately preceding three-year period.
Not simply an annual average
Review the qualifying months individually rather than assuming higher earnings in one period automatically cure a lower-earning month.
What earnings can be relied on?
The settlement earnings assessment is based on qualifying UK PAYE earnings. Other income cannot simply be added to the PAYE figure. In particular, self-employment income, overseas earnings, dividends and other payments outside PAYE are not substitutes for qualifying PAYE earnings.
UK PAYE employment income
Review the qualifying gross PAYE salary and the individual months relied upon.
Other income streams
Self-employment, dividends, overseas earnings and other non-PAYE income do not replace the route's qualifying PAYE earnings.
Evidence areas to review
- Immigration history and grants of permission
- PAYE employment history
- Month-by-month earnings chronology
- PAYE records for the months relied upon
- Payslip and P60 information where relevant
- Corresponding salary payments shown through banking records
- Evidence relevant to any qualifying statutory absence from work
- Explanation of any gaps, overlapping employment or unusual PAYE history
English and Knowledge of Life in the UK
Knowledge of Life in the UK
The Scale-up settlement rules require the Knowledge of Life in the UK requirement to be met unless an applicable exemption applies.
Knowledge of Language and Life →Check the rule applying when you apply
The Immigration Rules contain a change to the English requirement for Scale-up settlement. The position therefore depends on the application date. Check the current rule before applying.
English language requirement →English rule changing. The August 2026 caseworker guidance records the present position as having no separate settlement language test because English was met at an earlier Scale-up stage. Appendix Scale-up already contains a future-dated settlement English requirement. Confirm the rule in force on your application date.
What about your partner or children?
Settlement for the principal Scale-up Worker does not automatically settle a partner or child. Appendix Scale-up contains separate settlement provisions for dependants, including their own validity and eligibility requirements. Their position should be reviewed separately.
Before a straightforward application is prepared
A useful pre-application review should connect the immigration history, continuous residence and PAYE records rather than treating them as separate documents.
Map the qualifying period
Identify the grants of permission relied upon and any permitted combination of qualifying routes.
Map the PAYE months
Identify the months relied upon within the relevant three-year earnings period and any gaps or statutory absences.
Cross-check the evidence
Check that PAYE records, employment documents and salary payments tell a consistent story.
Approaching settlement on your work route? Get a fixed-fee check of your ILR eligibility and continuous-residence position.
Get a fixed-fee quoteOur regulatory scope. ENS provides immigration advice and services on straightforward applications within its IAA Level 1 authorisation. Where a Scale-up settlement matter involves a refusal, disputed PAYE earnings or employment, a significant continuous-residence issue, suitability concerns or another complex/contentious issue, we will identify the boundary and direct you to the appropriate next step. IAA regulation · Refusal or complex issue → specialist referral.
How ENS can help
Settlement framework review
We can review a straightforward Scale-up settlement case against the relevant qualifying-period, residence and route-specific settlement framework.
PAYE evidence review
We can help organise the qualifying PAYE period and identify the employment and earnings evidence areas that should be checked before submission.
Straightforward application support
Where the matter remains within Level 1 competence, we can assist with preparing and reviewing a straightforward settlement application.
Frequently asked questions
Can a Scale-up Worker apply for settlement?
Yes. Scale-up is a route to settlement. The principal applicant must meet the settlement validity, suitability and eligibility requirements in Appendix Scale-up.
How long is the qualifying period for Scale-up Worker settlement?
The principal applicant must complete a continuous five-year qualifying period in the UK using permission that can count under the Scale-up settlement rules.
Do all five years have to be spent as a Scale-up Worker?
No. Appendix Scale-up permits the qualifying period to include specified other immigration routes. Each period relied upon should be checked against the routes permitted by the current Rules.
Does time spent as a dependant count toward the principal Scale-up settlement qualifying period?
The qualifying-route combination in the current Scale-up settlement rules is based on qualifying permission held other than as a dependant. A dependant has separate settlement provisions.
Does Scale-up settlement have an earnings requirement?
Yes. Scale-up settlement has its own UK PAYE employment and earnings requirements. It should not be treated as the Skilled Worker settlement salary test.
How much PAYE earnings history is reviewed?
The settlement rules look for qualifying monthly UK PAYE earnings during at least 24 months of the three years immediately before the application date. The monetary level is not reproduced here because it can change; check the current Immigration Rules before applying.
Can dividends or self-employment income count toward the PAYE earnings requirement?
They cannot simply be substituted for qualifying PAYE earnings. The guidance excludes self-employment income, dividends and other specified non-PAYE income from the settlement earnings assessment.
What happens if I had maternity, paternity, sick or another specified statutory absence from work?
Certain specified statutory absences can receive special treatment within the earnings assessment if the relevant conditions are met. The dates, type of absence and PAYE position should be reviewed carefully.
Is there an English and Life in the UK requirement for Scale-up settlement?
The Knowledge of Life in the UK requirement applies unless an exemption applies. The English position is changing under the Immigration Rules, so the requirement applicable on the date of application should be checked before applying.
Do my partner and children automatically get settlement when I do?
No. Partners and children have separate settlement provisions under Appendix Scale-up, so their individual position must be considered separately.
Source basis: Home Office, Scale-up Worker caseworker guidance, version 11.0, published for Home Office staff on 03 August 2026. Immigration Rules and guidance can change; confirm the current position on GOV.UK before applying.
Discuss your Scale-up settlement application
If you are approaching the settlement stage, we can review the structure of a straightforward application and identify the qualifying-period, PAYE and evidence issues that need attention.