New scheme will cover UK visa costs for start-ups hiring international talent
Key Points
- The government will introduce a visa fee reimbursement scheme for scale-ups hiring international workers in digital and tech, life sciences, and clean energy.
- The Chancellor will set out the scheme at a Global Talent Reception during London Tech Week.
- A second scheme offers a fast-track referral for a UK Expansion Worker sponsor licence via the Office for Investment.
- The measures sit alongside a new concierge support service for high-growth firms.
The government will introduce a visa fee reimbursement scheme for high-growth firms hiring international workers, the Department for Business and Trade has announced.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves, will set out the scheme in detail at a Global Talent Reception on Wednesday (10 June), according to the department. It said the scheme will reimburse visa fees for scale-ups in the digital and tech, life sciences, and clean energy sectors.
The measure is intended to help firms attract exceptional skills and strengthen the UK’s global competitiveness. It is one of two new schemes the Chancellor will detail at the reception, the department added.
The second is a fast-track referral, run through the Office for Investment, for a UK Expansion Worker sponsor licence. According to the department, this is intended to help high-potential international businesses set up in the UK more quickly.
The department said the two schemes complement wider visa reforms and talent measures, and are aimed at strengthening the UK’s offer to international talent and investors in key innovation sectors.
The schemes form part of a broader package of measures the government will announce during London Tech Week to boost access to global talent and support high-growth sectors.
The support is being delivered through the Global Talent Taskforce, which the department said is helping innovative companies build and expand in the UK by supporting international talent to settle in the country.
The department pointed to companies it said had already benefited from this support.
TreQ, a quantum engineering company founded by US entrepreneur Mandy Birch, relocated to Cambridge to access the UK’s research base, and is now operational and scaling its team.
It also cited fintech firm Yonder, which it said had been able to focus on product development and expansion from its London base after friction in accessing international talent was removed.
The announcements accompany a new “concierge” support service for high-growth firms, which Business and Trade Secretary Peter Kyle will unveil as part of a government effort to nurture the UK’s first trillion-dollar company.
“If we want the next generation of world-changing firms to be built in Britain, we must make Britain the best place in the world not only to start a company but, crucially, to scale one,” Kyle said.
Reeves said the government is backing the UK’s most ambitious firms “to start, scale, and stay here” with the finance, talent and support they need to succeed.
The department said the package builds on the Industrial Strategy, the Plan for SMEs, and the Autumn Budget, describing it as the next step in a cross-government effort to close the scale-up gap.
