There is news for you if you want to immigrate to the UK for business. On 15 March 2022, there was a statement from which the Government came out stating that there shall be changes to the UK immigration rules.

These changes come with the UK immigration department motto to continue to call upon the “brightest and best.” No wonder these alterations have received full support from businesses in Britain to hire the best talent worldwide.

This year there have been significant changes to the business immigration rules for UK:

• The shutting down of well-established business immigration routes such as Sole Representative and Intra-Company Transfer.
• Launching new business immigration visa pathways such as UK Global Business Mobility, UK High Potential Individual, and UK Scale-Up Visa

New Pathways

Scale-up Pathway

One of the best developments of the new changes is the launch of the highly anticipated “Scale-Up” route. This pathway has been specially designed to hire highly-skilled foreign graduates and employ them for UK Scale-Up Companies, which shall first be required to register with the Home Office as a licensed sponsor.

Perks for the Employee

• Ability to work full time for any employer in any job having been sponsored under the Scale-Up pathway for six months, although they require sponsorship to perform under this visa.
• Only after working under an employer for six months is the employee qualified to work anywhere in the UK in a job, they want.
• Skilled workers can only work for their sponsor but opt for supplementary employment in certain circumstances.

Advantages and Employer gets

• The responsibility of sponsorship for the Employer ends after six months
• The skilled worker is obliged to adhere to their sponsor during the entire course of the sponsorship, including monitoring of the sponsored worker and ongoing record keeping.
• Scale-Up sponsors shall be free of their duties of sponsorship post six months of employment of the individual in line with the Scale-Up visa job offer.

“Scale-Up” – Defined

Companies that witness a steady and high growth rate can positively contribute to the UK economy. No company cannot be “scale up, ” meaning they should meet the requirements to apply for the Scale-Up” sponsor license.

“Scale-Up” as defined by the OECD

• Minimum annualized growth of 20% in the previous three years, which includes turnover and staffing
• Minimum of 10 employees at the onset of the period

Only the most innovative and company with unique ideas shall be eligible, as this pathway can greatly aid successful startups, especially those in the fields of technology and fintech. Once registration has been completed as a Scale-Up sponsor, the business will be able to hire skilled talent from foreign lands

How to apply for a Scale-Up License?

• Please make an application to the Home Office via their specified online procedure.
• This process is more streamlined than the existing application procedure under the “Worker” license pathway.

Eligibility Requirements for the Scale-Up visa

• Hold a job offer that is at the graduate level (RQF level 6) or higher
• Get payment of fair salary as fixed by the Home Office that is £33,000 per annum, or the job going rate, whichever is more.
• Speak English at CEFR B1.

Duration of the Scale-Up pathway

This visa shall be granted for a period of 2 years. For visa extension, the candidate should have minimum PAYE earnings of £33,000 per year for at least half the time of the pathway. An extension can be granted as far as three years.

Global Business Mobility Pathways

Also, the new Global Mobility pathway has been launched and designed for temporary business assignments. Five subcategories under this route are:

1. Senior or Specialist Worker
2. Graduate Trainee
3. UK Expansion Worker
4. Service Supplier
5. Secondment Worker

When to Apply for the Global Business Mobility route?

The pathway to the Global Business Mobility pathway shall be open from 11 April 2022. Also, remember that these pathways are for temporary migration and not permanent residence.

High Potential Individual (HPI) Visa

This route was initially launched in March 2021 as part of the Government’s Plan for Growth. The UK thinks it can encourage high-quality migration by implementing such “elite” visa pathways.

Sole Representative Visa

The Sole Representative pathway shall be closed for initial applications from 9 am to 11 April 2022. Those applicants who have filed their visa application before the cut-off date can have their applications considered under the rules before 11 April 2022.

Intra-Company Transfer Route

This route shall be closed from 11 April 2022. This move is a full closure of the pathway wherein visa applicants shall not be able to extend under the ICT. Companies that want to transfer overseas staff for non-permanent positions can use the new Global Mobility Senior or Specialist Worker route or Graduate Trainee route, depending on which is applicable.

Those still on ICT visas can continue living and working on their existing visas. Still, they shall need to apply again under alternative routes like Global Mobility Route or the Skilled worker pathway if they wish to continue working for their Employer post their visa expiry. For more information call us at 8595338595 or drop an email to us at [email protected].