UK Publishes Minimum Salary Foreigners Must Earn to Qualify for Permanent Residence on Scale-up Visa
- The UK government published the salary thresholds foreigners must meet to qualify for permanent residence on the Scale-up Worker visa
- The minimum salary requirement varies depending on when the applicant's most recent certificate of sponsorship was issued
- Applicants must also prove they met the relevant earnings threshold for at least 2 of the 3 years before applying
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The UK government has published the financial requirements that foreign workers on the Scale-up Worker visa must meet before they can apply for indefinite leave to remain, commonly known as permanent residence.
The guidance covers two separate conditions: a current salary threshold that must be met at the time of application, and an earnings history requirement covering the three years before applying.
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UK Scale-up Worker visa: What the current salary requirements are
How much an applicant must earn at the time of applying depends on when their most recent certificate of sponsorship was issued.
Workers whose most recent stay was based on a certificate of sponsorship issued on or after July 22, 2025, as well as those who have already extended their Scale-up Worker visa, must earn at least £39,100 (roughly ₦80.3 million) per year.
Those whose certificate was issued between April 4, 2024, and July 21, 2025, must earn at least £36,300 (roughly ₦74.5 million) annually.
The threshold drops to £34,600 (roughly ₦71 million) for workers whose certificate was issued between April 12, 2023, and April 3, 2024. Anyone whose most recent certificate was issued on or before April 11, 2023, must earn at least £33,000 (roughly ₦67.8 million) per year.
UK Scale-up Worker visa: The 3-year earnings history rule
Beyond current salary, applicants must also show they met the relevant earnings threshold for at least two of the three years immediately before the date of application. The same salary bands apply, matched to when the certificate of sponsorship was issued or whether the visa has been extended.
The government's guidance allows applicants to combine salaries from more than one job, provided each job paid at least the relevant monthly equivalent of the required annual salary.
However, if two jobs were held at the same time, only the higher-earning role may be counted.
Self-employed earnings are excluded from the calculation entirely, because such income is not processed through the PAYE (Pay as You Earn) system.
The requirements apply to anyone seeking to settle permanently in the UK through the Scale-up Worker visa route in 2026.
In a related story, Legit.ng reported that the UK had published three conditions that Scale-up Worker visa holders must meet to get permanent residency.
UK Scale-up Worker visa: Countries exempt from English test
Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported a list of countries exempt from the English test for the UK Scale-up Worker visa.
The announcement was published on the UK's official government website, which describes the visa as one that "allows you to come to the UK to do an eligible job for a fast-growing UK business (sometimes called a 'scale-up business')."
The site further notes that a UK employer must satisfy specific eligibility criteria before they can sponsor scale-up workers.
Source: Legit.ng
