Scale-up Worker: six months sponsored, then unsponsored, with a settlement route

Eligibility requirements

• The sponsor must hold a Scale-up licence. Under the standard pathway UKVI verifies through HMRC data that the business grew by at least 20 per cent a year in employment or turnover over the previous three years and had at least ten employees at the start of that period; under the endorsing-body pathway, a listed endorsing body confirms the business meets the alternative criteria.
• A certificate of sponsorship for a graduate-level job (RQF 6 or above) in an eligible occupation code, lasting at least six months, with a salary of at least £39,100 per year or the going rate, whichever is higher (SCU 7.1). Only pay for the first 48 hours a week counts.
• English at CEFR B2 in all four components (SCU 9.1), or B1 where the previous permission was Scale-up permission granted on that basis.
• Maintenance funds of £1,270 unless certified by the sponsor or the applicant has 12 months' UK permission.
• For an unsponsored extension, the applicant must have been employed by a Scale-up sponsor for at least six months in a previous Scale-up permission (SCU 4.3) and must show monthly PAYE earnings at the annualised threshold for at least 50 per cent of the most recent permission (SCU 8.1).
• For settlement, the applicant must be employed in the UK with PAYE pay at the threshold on the date of application (SCU 18.1) and have had PAYE earnings at that level in at least 24 of the 36 months before the application (SCU 18.2), with five years' continuous residence (SCU 15.1).

Legal framework

Build the evidence

Prepare records that substantiate the relevant criteria. The final checklist depends on the applicant, route and filing authority.

• Certificate of sponsorship from the Scale-up sponsor, with the occupation code, salary and a contract of at least six months.
• Passport, English evidence at B2 and 28 days of maintenance evidence unless exempt.
• For extensions: payslips, P60s and HMRC records showing PAYE earnings at the threshold for the required proportion of the previous permission.
• For settlement: evidence of current PAYE employment at the threshold, 36 months of PAYE records, Life in the UK pass notification and English evidence at the level then in force.
• Dependants' relationship evidence and maintenance funds unless exempt.

How to apply

1. 01

   Verify the sponsor's status

   Confirm the employer holds a Scale-up licence (not merely a Skilled Worker licence). A business that cannot meet the HMRC-verified growth test must obtain endorsement before applying for the licence; the licence runs for four years and cannot be renewed.

2. 02

   Assign the certificate and apply

   The sponsor assigns a CoS for a graduate-level job of at least six months at £39,100 or the going rate. The worker applies online, pays the fee (£937 per person per GOV.UK) and the Immigration Health Surcharge, and proves English and funds.

3. 03

   Work the sponsored six months

   For the first six months the worker must work in the sponsored job; a change of employer in that period requires a new application. After six months the worker may change employer or add work without notifying the Home Office.

4. 04

   Maintain PAYE earnings for the extension

   Keep monthly PAYE earnings at the annualised threshold for at least half of the permission, since the three-year unsponsored extension depends on it. Self-employment income does not count.

5. 05

   Prepare for settlement

   Reach five years' continuous residence within the absence limits, with PAYE earnings at the threshold in 24 of the last 36 months and on the date of application, plus Life in the UK and the English requirement in force (speaking and listening at B2 from 26 March 2027).

After approval & family planning

• Partners and children may join as dependants and may work and study; they follow a five-year path to settlement.
• After six months there is no sponsor, so the worker bears the compliance burden: earnings records, absence tracking and keeping employment at the threshold.
• Settlement requires five years' continuous residence under Appendix Continuous Residence (no more than 180 days' absence in any 12 months) and the PAYE earnings tests. Earnings below the threshold for too long will defeat both the extension and settlement.

What this route builds, and what it opens

WG assesses every route on three returns: the knowledge it adds, the cognitive capability that sustained work abroad develops, and the institutional opportunity it opens or closes. Real work is the mechanism in each case.

Programme context. Where a participant is employed at graduate level by a UK affiliate that itself qualifies as a scale-up sponsor, this route may be assessed; most affiliates will not meet the growth test and the Skilled Worker route will be the comparator. Read the framework ↗

Frequently asked questions

Points to consider

• Scale-up suits workers joining a demonstrably fast-growing employer who intend to remain in salaried graduate-level employment. The earnings tests are mechanical and leave little room for a career pause.
• The four-year, non-renewable licence means a sponsor's ability to use the route is time-limited; the worker's plan should not depend on the sponsor still holding the licence at extension.