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on June 18, 2025
Read Time: 7 Minutes
There are various visa pathways that someone may conceivably take in order to relocate to the UK for business purposes. These encompass such options as the Innovator Founder visa, the Expansion Worker visa, and the Senior or Specialist Worker visa.
However, you might easily find that as an entrepreneur wishing to move to the UK, none of the country’s visa categories targeted at people like you seem to be well-matched to your circumstances and needs.
Indeed, this has become a common occurrence for many enterprising individuals over recent years, as other entrepreneurial visa routes to this Western European country have closed or become subject to tighter restrictions.
This is just one reason why, two years on from when we last wrote about the appeal of the UK self-sponsored route, it remains a highly relevant option in 2025. In this article, we will explore the other factors that might lead you to consider self-sponsorship as a way of moving to the UK.
The short answer to this question is: yes!
However, you should bear in mind that:
Once this business has been set up, it will need to apply for – and be granted – a sponsor licence by the UK Home Office. This can be followed by the company sponsoring the prospective migrant to come to the UK on the Skilled Worker visa.
Despite the “self-sponsorship visa programme” not being a formal visa category in the UK, many business-minded people from outside the UK continue to be drawn towards it.
Here are some of the factors explaining this attraction:
If you are an entrepreneurial minded overseas national and you have considered relocating to the UK to start a business, you might have initially considered applying for the Innovator Founder visa, instead of self-sponsorship.
However, a successful application for the Innovator Founder visa depends on the candidate having an innovative business idea that is, in the words of the Home Office, “different from anything else on the market”.
Furthermore, applicants for the Innovator Founder visa need to have their business or business idea endorsed by an approved body known as an “endorsing body”. These requirements do not apply to the self-sponsorship route.
Another possible alternative is the Expansion Worker visa, under the “Global Business Mobility” banner. Indeed, we have previously written in detail about how this visa compares to self-sponsorship.
A major disadvantage of any of the Global Business Mobility visas, however, is that none of them lead to permanent settlement in the UK (a status otherwise known as “indefinite leave to remain”).
By contrast, self-sponsorship does provide a potential pathway to settlement. Indeed, Skilled Worker visa holders are often able to apply for this after five years, provided that they satisfy the eligibility requirements.
You may conclude, then, that even if you would stand a strong chance of being successful in applying for a different UK visa, taking the self-sponsored route could give you an easier means of entry, at the same time as broadening your options for the future.
As any entrepreneur knows, agility is vital for someone who is seeking to build up their own business. You can never be entirely sure when circumstances might change, potentially necessitating you pivoting in a different direction.
Unfortunately, the alternative UK visa routes aimed at entrepreneurs may not suit your preferences and needs in this regard.
As we mentioned above, the Innovator Founder visa category requires candidates to have an innovative and endorsed business idea.
But through the self-sponsorship route, a prospective migrant is able to establish or acquire a UK business in any of a broad range of sectors. Indeed, many entrepreneurial-minded foreign nationals find this option attractive because of the lack of restrictions on the type of business they can run in the UK, as well as the absence of minimum investment thresholds. Once you have successfully sponsored yourself as a Skilled Worker visa holder, you will have a high level of control over your business and immigration status. You won’t have to rely on a third-party employer wishing to keep you on their payroll over the long term.
Whether a foreign national applies for a UK Skilled Worker visa in the “normal” way or through a self-sponsored pathway, they will still need to meet the eligibility requirements.
This means they will be expected to earn a certain minimum salary – specifically, whichever is the highest of:
The entity that serves as the “employer” when you self-sponsor to come to the UK – in other words, your company – will need to make sure the job pays at least the UK minimum wage. It will also be necessary to adhere to the UK’s rules for the number of hours you work per week.
You will also, of course, need to do a job that is actually eligible for the UK Skilled Worker visa. An up-to-date list of eligible occupations is published on the GOV.UK website.
Presuming the job that you will be self-sponsoring for is on the list of eligible occupations, it might be permissible for your salary to be below the aforementioned £38,700-per-year usual requirement or your job’s standard “going rate”.
For example, you may only need to be paid between 70% and 90% of the standard going rate for your job, if your salary is a minimum of £30,960 per year, and one of the following is true:
At first inspection, this might not necessarily seem a great point of distinction from the alternatives.
After all, both the Innovator Founder visa and the Expansion Worker visa – to cite two commonly cited alternative visa categories – provide an opening for successful candidates to potentially bring their partner and children with them as their “dependants”.
However, as we have already touched on, given that the Expansion Worker visa is one of the Government’s Global Business Mobility visas, it has not been designed with long-term settlement in mind.
If your partner or child’s application under the Expansion Worker visa category is successful, their visa will usually expire on the same date as yours – and the maximum period of time you can remain on this visa in the UK is two years.
In the event, though, of you self-sponsoring your UK move on a Skilled Worker visa instead, and your “dependants” accompanying you via this category, they may be able to apply for ILR status in the UK after five years. This, of course, also depends on them meeting the other eligibility criteria.
We have written extensively in the past here at Cranbrook Legal about the UK’s enduring attractiveness and relevance as a place to do business.
Even amid the political ups and downs that the UK has seen over the past decade, encompassing such events as Brexit and the short and ill-fated premiership of Liz Truss, the country has retained its reputation for relative stability, including with regard to business legislation and policy.
As of 2023, the UK’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was worth 3,380.85 billion US dollars, which continues to place it among the world’s leading economies.
Plus, the UK offers a highly skilled and educated workforce, as well as a geographical position that puts it at a crossroads of major global trade routes, effectively bridging Europe, the United States, and Asia. This is before one also considers the convenience of the UK being an English-speaking country – English being widely regarded as the international language of business.
Self-sponsorship provides a route to all these benefits, without some of the barriers to entry that other pathways can present.
The process of getting self-sponsored via the Skilled Worker visa category in the UK can be all the quicker and more straightforward when you seek out the expertise of Cranbrook Legal’s specialists in UK immigration law.
To find out more about our complete project-managed service in this regard, please feel free to complete and submit our online contact form to arrange a free consultation. You are also welcome to give us a call in central London, on 0208 215 0053.
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