Guide to Endorsements in UK Visa
Application
This post will
explain what endorsements are in UK visa applications, when an endorsement is
required for a UK visa application, and how a UK visa application endorsement
can be acquired.
What are endorsements in UK visa applications?
Endorsements
are official letters issued by organisations which are currently approved by
the Home Office as ‘endorsing bodies’. This status enables these endorsing
bodies to assess individuals or businesses in connection with applications made
under certain categories. They offer industry or field-specific expertise which
allows more effective and expert assessment of individuals or businesses than
the Home Office is able to offer in house.
When are endorsements required for a UK visa application?
Endorsements
are required in three categories of UK immigration application at the present
time:
- Global
Talent visa and permission applications;
- Innovator
Founder visa and permission applications;
- Scale-Up
sponsor licence applications.
You can find
broader information about these three categories here: Global Talent, Innovator Founder, Scale-Up Licences.
Some migrants
will also hold legacy endorsements under the Start-up and Innovator routes
which closed on 13 April 2023.
How are UK visa application endorsements acquired?
Global Talent
The Global Talent route is
for exceptionally talented or exceptionally promising individuals in the field set out below. Applicants in each field
require an endorsement from an approved endorsing body which has the relevant
expertise in that field.
- Arts and
culture (including combined arts, dance, literature, music, theatre
and visual arts) – endorsements issued by Arts Council;
- Architecture
– endorsements issued by the Arts Council but assessed by The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA);
- Fashion
design – endorsements issued by the Arts Council but assessed by assessed
by British Fashion Council
(BFC);
- Film and
television – endorsements issued by the Arts Council but assessed by by Producers’ Alliance for Film and Television (PACT);
- Natural
and medical science – endorsements issued by The Royal Society;
- Engineering
– endorsements issued by The Royal Academy of Engineering;
- Humanities
and social science – endorsements issued by The British Academy;
- Digital
technology – endorsements issued by Tech Nation (at the Founders Forum)
- Science
and innovation – endorsements issued by UK
Research and Innovation.
Applications
in this category involve a two stage process. First, an endorsement application
is necessary, made by submitting an online application form available on the
respective endorsing bodies’ websites.
The
requirements for endorsement are different in each field, but they will
generally all require three letters of recommendation from individuals or
organisations with significant authority in the field and direct experience of
the applicant’s work, as well as up to ten additional pieces of evidence which
speak to the applicant’s exceptional talent or promise. The requirements as to
the form and content of these pieces of evidence are strict and detailed.
Second, once
the endorsement letter is received, the applicant can go on to make an
immigration application.
Where endorsement
is refused, there is a review process whereby unsuccessful applicants can ask
the Home Office to confirm that the correct procedures were followed in the
decision making process. Requests must be submitted within 28 days of the
refusal.
Innovator Founder
The Innovator Founder visa provides
a route for people seeking to establish a business in the UK based on an
innovative, viable and scalable business idea. Under this route, applicants
first need to seek endorsement of their business idea from one of four
endorsing bodies. Once granted, they can go on to make a visa application. The
endorsing bodies are as follows:
- Envestors Limited;
- UK Endorsing Services;
- Innovator International;
- The Global Entrepreneurs
Programme (GEP).
The first three
of these endorsing bodies will require a detailed business plan or pitch deck,
submitted using the online application form available on their respective
websites. Additional documents such as video pitches, CVs and financial
documents may also be required.
GEP is a
government programme which only accepts applications from “founders that have already been invited to participate on their
programme”, through the Department of Business and Trade.
Processing
times vary from two weeks to six weeks, depending on the endorsing body you
select. Although the bodies purport to apply the same criteria for assessing
the innovation, scalability and viability of the business idea, it is likely
that there is some variety in the approach taken to assessment.
When compared
to the former Start-up and Innovator visas which the Innovator Founder route
replaces, the new endorsing bodies have been clear that the threshold for
meeting the innovation criteria in an endorsement application is now markedly
higher. Applicants will need to have innovation at the heart of their business
idea, and it will need to meet new or existing market needs and/or create a
competitive advantage.
Each endorsing
body has its own process for seeking reconsideration where an endorsement is
refused.
Scale-Up
The Scale-Up worker route enables
highly skilled migrants to come to the UK to work for sponsoring businesses
which have undergone a period of rapid growth. It is more flexible for workers
than the Skilled Worker route.
Businesses who
wish to sponsor workers on this route can apply for a sponsor licence on one of
two ‘pathways’. The standard pathway does not require an endorsement. It is
available to businesses where they have an annualised growth of at least 20%
for the three year period before application based on either employment (i.e.
staff count) or turnover, and where the business had a minimum of 10
employees at the start of the three year period.
If this
criteria cannot be met, businesses may still be able to sponsor on the
‘endorsing body pathway’. This pathway requires an endorsement
application made to one of the following endorsing bodies:
- Envestors Limited;
- UK Endorsing Services;
- Innovator International;
- The Global Entrepreneurs
Programme (GEP).
As with the
Innovator Founder endorsement applications, the GEP is only open to those already
participating in the Department of Business and Trade’s government programme.
To secure
endorsement, businesses must meet the following requirements:
- They
need a minimum of 10 employees who pay income tax and national insurance
through a PAYE scheme operated by the business;
- They
must be registered for VAT;
- They
must be solvent and trading in the UK;
- They
must have an HMRC footprint of less than four years;
- They
must be able to demonstrate a potential growth rate consistent with the requirements
of the Scale-Up route and be reasonably expected to meet the Home Office
definition of a qualifying Scale-Up sponsor under the standard pathway
within the next four years;
- They
must have sufficient finance to offer appropriate salaries to individuals
working in roles that meet the skill level of this route;
- They
must have a UK-registered corporate bank account.
It is also
necessary to meet at least three of the five following criteria:
- More
than 20% growth in turnover or employment per year over a two year period;
- Participation
in a relevant Government programme or receipt of relevant Government
funding;
- A
minimum of £1 million in equity finance in a single round in the 12 months
immediately before the date of application to the endorsing body;
- The
business has global offices or operations and be generating a minimum
threshold of 10% of turnover from exports
- High
expenditure on research, development of innovation;
Applications
are made on the endorsing bodies’ respective websites.
Endorsement
applications across these categories are diverse and specialised, but they all
share a common need for careful preparation in the light of detailed legal and
policy requirements.
For more information please feel free to contact me on :
An ISO 9001: 2008 Certified Company & CRISIL AAA Rated Company Head Office: 2nd floor, Indraprasth Avenue, Next to Urjita Hospital, V.I.P. Road, Karelibaug, Vadodara-390018, Gujarat, INDIA Phone:+91-265-2480840 / 2464464 /164 Mobile+91-999 8157 999 / 9601051799 Office: +91-922 765 6606 / 08 / 09 Email: omvishal.shah@gmail.com W - www.ominternational.net / www.omvisas.in |
0 Comments