The UK doesn’t offer a “self-sponsorship visa†however, it provides different means to work in the UK while sponsoring yourself. These routes include the Skilled Worker, Innovator, and Start-up visa. The Innovator and Start-up visa routes are now grouped together under the immigration category ‘Innovator Founder Visa’ which opened in April 2023 for non residents to come to the UK to set up a business. It effectively replaces the Innovator route and Start-up visa, and is now the primary visa category for foreign entrepreneurs looking to set up a business in the UK.
The self-sponsorship visas are for foreigners who want to start or invest in another UK business. All business visa categories work differently and have separate eligibility criteria. For instance, the Skilled Worker permit usually requires that you work for a UK company.
However, for self-sponsorship, you must register your proposed business and get a sponsor licence. Through your sponsor licence application, you will obtain the Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS), allowing you to run your own company. It is not so straightforward and its advisable to obtain legal advise if you wish to proceed on this route.
In the case of Innovator Founder visa, it has to be a new business idea, and you should have received an endorsement from an authorized body in the UK. The endorsement body can either be a UK higher education institution or a business organisation that previously supported UK entrepreneurs.
Generally, Irish citizens don’t need any of the self-sponsorship visa options or the EU Settlement Scheme to work in the UK.
Contact us if you require advise on the explicit details of each visa and how they work.
