LS Legal News Bulletin
The United Kingdom is opening its borders to top talent!
Thursday 13th January 2022
Zinaida Berezovskaya
The government is planning to make the UK the most exciting place for talented individuals by creating a global hub for innovation. Part of this strategy is to open borders to top talent. World-leading innovators should see the UK as the place to make their ideas a reality. One of the steps to implement this plan is an introduction of the Scale-up Visa.
Scale-Up Visa is a new route coming in Spring 2022 as part of the UK Innovation strategy to attract highly skilled immigrants to the country. This aims to drive innovation and support UK jobs and economic growth. The government is modernising the immigration system to help attract and retain the most highly skilled globally mobile talent from around the world.
Scale Up Visa- what to expect?
- Elite point-based Visa, enabling those with a job offer from the recognised UK scale-up to qualify for a fast-track visa - unsponsored points-based route to make it easier for the companies experiencing rapid growth in hiring professionals.
- Scale-up route will support UK scale-ups by allowing talented individuals at a required salary rate of at least £33.000 to come to the UK.
- Will allow eligible individuals to work, switch jobs and extend their visas and settle in the UK. This route does lead to settlement when meeting specific requirements.
Scale-up Visa will open a new route to highly skilled migration. Businesses will have access to overseas talent, which will open new global cooperation and innovation opportunities. The main criteria for successful application for a scale-up as introduced are English language requirement and a highly skilled job offer from a business that fits the criteria of a scale-up business.
UK scale-up business defined
- A scale-up business is defined as one that has expanded at a rate of 20 percent or more per year in either revenue or employee count over the previous three years and is still growing. It must have a minimum of 10 employees working for it at the start of the 3-year period.
- Scale-ups will be assessed through a fast-track verification process if they can demonstrate an average business or employment growth.
In other words, new innovative businesses are experiencing successful growth. And here Scale-up visa is introduced to help attract professionals from around the globe to come to the UK. These changes will attract highly skilled professionals and will boost the market growth.
The UK is becoming a modern global innovation hub
To create more opportunities for growth and innovation, the government is creating a global talent network to find and bring people to the UK. These centres will be in the USA and India, where people from the science and technology sector can connect, work, and create together. Apart from connecting people, these centres will help move to the UK. This is a smart "concierge service" to bring people to the UK by giving them opportunities to benefit from their skills and talents.
