‘Most generous’ UK visas set for launch

The UK is set to launch what have been described as the ‘most generous’ visa schemes yet in an effort to attract the world’s most talented individuals. First announced during UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak’s budget unveiling in 2021, the UK scale-up visa and high potential individual visa are set to open for applications in the Spring of 2022.

A government statement said: “We are preparing to launch the most generous visa system in the world for company founders and high-skilled workers in an attempt to drive up productivity and economic growth.”

The scale-up visa scheme will be open to fast-growing companies, enabling them to hire foreign workers, provided that they already employ 10 people or more and have grown at a rate of 20% per year over a three-year period in terms of revenue or employee numbers.

High potential individual visa

Meanwhile, the so-called ‘high potential individual’ visa will be exclusively available to graduates from the world’s top 100 universities – even if they don’t have a job offer in the UK. 

In addition to the scale-up visa and high potential individual visa, the UK government is also planning a ‘new look’ innovator visa, after an initial route flopped. The fresh innovator visa program will reportedly make it easier for overseas entrepreneurs with venture capital backing to start and run a business in Britain.

Requirements under the current innovator visa scheme – such as applicants having at least £50,000 of investment funds and being unable to work outside of their main business – will be scrapped.

In a recent visit to Bayes Business School in London, Rishi Sunak said that the government has ‘the backing of the British public to establish one of the world’s most attractive visa regimes for entrepreneurs and highly skilled people.

Levels of innovation

The UK Chancellor of the Exchequer said: “The new visa system will have a significant impact on our levels of innovation and promises to foster a new culture of enterprise in the UK.”

Bret Hoberman, the co-founder of British unicorn businesses Made.com and lastminute.com, said: “It will make it much easier for technology companies and fast-growing companies to hire foreign talent from anywhere in the world.”

According to the Digital Economy Council, the UK has 115 unicorns – technology companies valued at $1 billion or more – of which a quarter were created in 2021… that’s ahead of Germany, which has 56 unicorns and France, which has 31 unicorns.

Skilled worker shortages

According to bosses of fast-growing British businesses, there is a shortage of skilled workers in the UK to meet their needs, with Brexit and the coronavirus pandemic fuelling the lack of workers.

In 2008, a highly skilled migrants program was closed amid fears over net UK immigration numbers, stifling entry for entrepreneurs and talented individuals from overseas.

Dom Hallas, executive director of the Coalition for a Digital Economy, which campaigns for policies to support digital start-ups, described skills shortages as ‘so great’ that a more generous UK visa scheme and plan to train domestic workers was needed.

“As things stand, challenges with the UK visa system, including Home Office bureaucracy and the average £5,500 cost of applying for a skilled worker visa will prove problematic,” Mr Hallas said.

However, despite the challenges, Dallas said he expected a ‘big take-up’ of the new UK visas once they are launched.

A spokesperson for the Home Office confirmed the new UK visa plans.

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