Relocating a tech business to the UK: immigration routes for founders and teams

London remains a leading destination for international tech businesses. Discover the UK immigration routes available for founders, senior hires and expanding teams.

With London Tech Week taking place from 8 – 12 June 2026, the UK’s digital technology sector is back in the limelight. The UK continues to position itself as an attractive location for tech businesses due to its established venture capital market, strong universities, mature financial and professional services infrastructure, and a sophisticated customer base for fintech, AI, cyber security, SaaS, gaming and other product-led technology businesses. There are a number of visa routes in place which enable top talent and specialists in the digital technology field to work in the UK.

Existing visa routes are in place for those looking to:

• Launch a new founder-led UK business;
• Open a UK branch for an existing overseas country;
• Hiring or transferring staff into an existing UK entity; or
• Enter the UK without being reliant on employer sponsorship.

Global Talent: exceptional digital technology specialists

The Global Talent visa is an option for founders, technical leaders and highly skilled digital technology professionals who can demonstrate recognised or emerging leadership in their field. Both business and technical applicants can qualify for a Global Talent visa.

This route can be attractive to founders, CTOs, AI researchers, cyber security specialists and product leaders who have a strong record of innovation, recognised contribution, publications, speaking, investment, product impact or other evidence of leadership.

Unlike sponsored work routes, the Global Talent visa is granted based on the applicant’s achievements and is therefore not reliant on the visa holder holding a particular job with a particular employer. This additional flexibility makes the route particularly attractive for many applicants. The Global Talent visa also offers visa holders a route to settlement, with certain applicants being eligible within three years.

Innovator Founder visa: founder-led, innovative businesses

The Innovator Founder visa is a principal route for entrepreneurs establishing an innovative business in the UK. It is designed for founders with a business idea that is new, innovative, viable and scalable. This business idea will have to be assessed by an approved endorsing body.

Those applying for the Innovator Founder visa must be seeking to establish a business in the UK and must have personally generated, or significantly contributed to, the business idea in question. They must also have a key role in the day-to-day management and development of the business.

Like the Global Talent route, the Innovator Founder visa is not dependent on employer sponsorship. However, following the initial endorsement, Innovator Founders will be required to meet with their endorsing bodies after 12 months and 24 months in the UK, where their progress will be assessed. Should the endorsing bodies not be satisfied that progress with the business is being made, the endorsement may be withdrawn and the visa curtailed.

Skilled Worker: the core route for building the UK team

For many technology businesses, the Skilled Worker route will be the principal route for hiring and retaining overseas workers in the UK.

UK employers with a valid sponsor licence may be able to sponsor overseas workers provided there is a genuine available role and they pay the applicable minimum salary for the job. The position must be for an eligible job, generally being at least RQF 6. Examples of eligible roles in the technology sectors are software engineers, data scientists, cyber security specialists and product managers.

The Skilled Worker route currently leads to settlement for visa holders following five years’ continuous residence, and applicants may be allowed to bring their family members to join them in the UK as dependants. It is important to bear in mind that this visa is reliant on the applicant remaining sponsored by their employer. If, for whatever reason, the applicant is no longer sponsored, they will be required to find alternative sponsorship or a different visa route in the UK within 60 days, or else the worker and their dependants may be required to leave the UK.

UK Expansion Worker: establishing a UK branch or subsidiary

The UK Expansion Worker route is designed for overseas businesses who have a footprint in the UK but have not yet begun trading in the UK and have credible plans to establish a trading presence in the UK. Under this visa route, businesses may send senior managers or specialist employees to set up a branch of the company in the UK.

Once the UK business is actively trading the UK, the Expansion Worker visa becomes inappropriate for the hiring of overseas workers, and the business should opt for alternative means to bring in talent, such as via the Skilled Worker route.

Conclusion

There are many factors for businesses, founders and workers to consider when looking to move to the UK to work in the digital technology sphere, with each route having different requirements and thresholds to be met and offering varying levels of flexibility and potential for settlement in the UK. It is recommended that those seeking to move to the UK in order to start or progress their career seek legal advice to ensure that they apply for the most appropriate route that is in line with their long-term goals.

How Gherson can assist

Gherson’s Immigration Team are highly experienced in advising on all UK visa matters. If you have any questions arising from this blog, please do not hesitate to contact us for advice, send us an e-mail, or, alternatively, follow us on X, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn to stay-up-to-date.

The information in this blog is for general information purposes only and does not purport to be comprehensive or to provide legal advice. Whilst every effort is made to ensure the information and law is current as of the date of publication it should be stressed that, due to the passage of time, this does not necessarily reflect the present legal position. Gherson accepts no responsibility for loss which may arise from accessing or reliance on information contained in this blog. For formal advice on the current law please do not hesitate to contact Gherson. Legal advice is only provided pursuant to a written agreement, identified as such, and signed by the client and by or on behalf of Gherson.

©Gherson 2026