IN A WORLD WHERE START-

UPS ARE FACING

DIFFICULTY GETTING FUNDING , THE FEES

ASSOCIATED WITH

SPONSORSHIP AS WELL AS

THE INCREASED SALARY

COSTS MAY BE UNAFFORDABLE . for those with a strong industry profile . The closure of Tech Nation last year without a clear plan for who was to take over the operation of the visa caused some alarm , but thankfully Tech Nation has continued to process these applications and the government has now announced a tender for the new endorsing body , with a contract to be agreed by 2025 . We can also perhaps hope that whichever organisation wins that tender might improve the criteria for endorsement .

The Innovator Founder visa

Under the Innovator Founder route , which replaces the previous start-up / innovator routes , visas are available to applicants who can convince one of the approved endorsing bodies that they have a business plan that is innovative , viable and scalable . This sounds great as a concept , and unlike the previous innovator route there is helpfully no longer a requirement to show £ 50,000 in available start-up capital . However , successful entrants face overly prescriptive requirements at the settlement stage , meaning it can often be difficult to complete an immigration journey on this visa route . It is also significantly more restrictive than the previous entrepreneur route and this is reflected in the tiny number of people who have made use of this visa since its introduction .

Immigration considerations for growing start-ups

For UK-based founders and start-ups , there are a number of immigration considerations when it comes time to grow their business and start thinking about building out their team .

Do you need a sponsor licence ?

For a business to hire someone from abroad , they need to obtain a Skilled Worker sponsor licence and sponsor each migrant worker they want to employ . It is important the business has clear HR policies in place , established processes for checking the right to work , a system for keeping track of any sponsored employees and understands their obligations as a sponsor . There are also minimum skill requirements for the role and salary requirements for the sponsored worker but , beyond these points , the Skilled Worker route is relatively straightforward and a number of obstacles to sponsorship were removed in preparation for Brexit to allow for the impact of removing freedom of movement for EU citizens .

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