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The $100,000 Question: Why US Tech Needs a UK Base Now

When President Trump signed off on a $100,000 fee for every new H-1B visa petition last weekend, the ripple effect was immediate. Investors asked whether startups could still afford to bring in overseas engineers. HR directors scrambled to recalculate hiring budgets. And for global talents, the designers, coders and data scientists who have long seen Silicon Valley as the promised land the message was unmistakable: the United States is no longer the easy first choice.

The H-1B has always been political football, but this change marks something different. It transforms the cost base of hiring, and in doing so, it forces US tech firms to ask a bigger strategic question: where else can they build teams, attract world-class people, and still connect seamlessly with their American operations?

The answer, increasingly, is London.

Why London?

The UK has positioned itself, almost by accident, as the most natural hedge against US immigration volatility. Visa fees are not insignificant, but they are predictable. There is no lottery. A sponsor licence can be secured in weeks, and once you have it, visas for new hires can be processed just as quickly.

For companies used to rolling the dice each March on the H-1B lottery, that certainty is transformative. It means talent strategy can be planned rather than prayed for.

The timing also matters. London sits in the sweet spot between California and Bangalore, overlapping with both in a single working day. For distributed teams and round-the-clock development cycles, that time zone advantage is worth almost as much as a tax break.

More Than a Safety Net

It would be a mistake to see the UK only as a fallback for those priced out of the H-1B. The country has been quietly redesigning its immigration system with tech in mind.

The Skilled Worker route, while more expensive than it once was, offers stability and a path to settlement. The Global Talent visa endorsed by Tech Nation remains one of the most flexible unsponsored routes in the world. And the Scale-up visa is designed for precisely the kind of high-growth firms that usually cluster in San Francisco or New York.

Combine those options with London’s financial markets, venture ecosystem and cultural cachet, and the UK starts to look less like a Plan B and more like a genuine alternative centre of gravity.

The Cost Argument

The hard numbers tell their own story. Sponsoring a skilled worker in the UK involves licence fees, an immigration health surcharge, and the visa itself. For a five-year hire, the all-in cost is measured in the low tens of thousands of pounds. Compare that with a flat $100,000 fee before you even pay wages in the United States, and the business case begins to write itself.

The fee will not deter the largest tech companies, who can absorb it as a cost of doing business. But for mid-sized players and scale-ups the very firms most responsible for innovation and job creation it could be fatal. A UK office is no longer just a growth play, it is a survival strategy.

The Strategic Pivot

What we are seeing is a shift in mindset. For decades, the default was simple: if you wanted to scale in tech, you built in the US and dealt with immigration headaches as best you could. Now the calculation is different. A physical footprint in the UK is a release valve: a place to hire international talent without political whiplash, a platform to reach European markets, and a credible base that investors understand.

This does not mean abandoning America. The US market, capital and ecosystem are still unrivalled. But the smartest companies are already thinking in terms of dual anchors: Silicon Valley for scale, London for stability.

Conclusion

The $100,000 H-1B fee has turned a visa into a luxury product. For the companies who cannot justify that spend on every new engineer or product lead, the UK offers a rational, strategic alternative.

The firms that move early, incorporating, licensing, and embedding compliance in London will have a head start. They will be able to keep hiring globally while their competitors are paralysed by costs in the US.

The message is clear: if you are a US tech company serious about resilience, you no longer just want a UK presence. You need one.

Get in touch with our Corporate Immigration team via the form below.

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Gifting Intellectual Property in a Will

Whether Intellectual Property (IP) rights make up a major or minor share of the value of an estate, testators should carefully consider how they are gifted under their Will. It is essential to ensure that IP is properly identified, valued and transferred to beneficiaries on death.

What is Intellectual Property?

IP refers to many different types of legal rights and intangible assets. Some of the most common rights to consider in estate planning are:

• Copyrights – rights to original artistic, dramatic, musical and literary works lasting for 70 years after the death of the author/creator
• Patents – protection for inventions and innovative processes lasting for 20 years from registration
• Trademarks – distinguishing branding features that can be registered for a ten year period and renewed thereafter
• Design rights – protection for the appearance of a product, in whole or in part

These types of IP often generate income during the testator’s lifetime and after their death, typically through royalties and licensing, so should be considered in the process of drafting or updating a Will.

Key considerations when gifting IP in a Will

Identification

Any IP assets should be clearly identified in the Will or accompanying Letter of Wishes with details such as registration information, creation dates and any associated agreements (such as licensing arrangement) noted in the relevant document.

Any ambiguity could lead to disputes or delays in probate being granted and onward transfer to beneficiaries.

Asset management and choice of executor

IP rights often require ongoing management including renewing registrations, negotiating terms of licensing and dealing with any infringement issues. This should be considered when dealing how IP assets are passed down beneficiaries.

Some testators will choose to create a trust structure to administer the ongoing management of these assets. In certain circumstances this can help to preserve the value of the assets over time, but advice should be sought to determine if this is a suitable solution.

It is common to appoint specialist executors or trustees to manage these assets. This is a particularly important consideration when the testator’s IP generates significant income or is involved in complex commercial agreements.

Tax implications

IP assets are subject to Inheritance Tax so accurate valuation on death is fundamental. Valuation of these assets can be complex, particularly where multiple income streams are involved, so professional valuation may be required. It is also likely that there will be income tax considerations for beneficiaries and executors. Tax advice should be sought if necessary.

Conclusion

In summary, where a testator holds IP rights they should carefully consider how they would like to pass these assets to their beneficiaries. Proper identification and valuation of these assets is essential to ensuring that the administration of their estate can progress smoothly and without delay.

Obtaining tax and estate planning advice helps to ensure that these assets are protected and preserved when being passed down to beneficiaries.

To discuss the contents of this article, please contact our Private Wealth & Tax team via the form below.

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Bank of Mum and Dad: Considerations when helping your children with a property purchase

An increasing amount of young people are relying on the ‘bank of mum and dad’ to purchase their first home. According to a recent Savills report, 52% of first time buyers received help from their parents in 2024. This trend is expected to continue and parents should consider a number of factors in supporting their children in this way.

The support may be by way of:

• A financial gift
• A loan
• An assignment of contract to buy a property off-plan

Financial Gift

Most importantly parents must decide whether to make a gift or a loan. A gift is the transfer of money without any expectation of repayment nor any interest in or control over the property.

If the child is intending to use a mortgage, a gift may be the only option since many mortgage lenders will not proceed with loaned funds. It is sensible to speak to a mortgage broker on this point at an early stage. Where a mortgage is involved parents will need to sign a declaration of gift in the mortgage lender’s required format.

Parents should consider ways in which they may protect their gift for the family, for example, should the child later be in divorce proceedings, or errantly sell the property. If a parent is a co-owner this will increase the Stamp Duty Land Tax payable for second property ownership. Parents may wish to consider requiring the child to enter a restriction on the title requiring their consent to sell, which imposes an administrative hurdle (although no concrete protection); or mooting prenuptial agreements.

There are tax implications. If a parent were to die within 7 years of the gift then it may be subject to inheritance tax. Gifts of up to £3,000 are exempt from inheritance tax and the allowance can be carried forward for one year, making a potential £6000 available.

Loan

A loan structure can be used to give the parents more control, and this can be supported by a legal charge (a mortgage) over the property in favour of the parents, subject to the agreement of any principal mortgage lender. The parties are free agree the detail of the loan terms, whether any interest is payable and whether it may be waived in the future.

A formal loan agreement should be put into place but this need not be complex. If parents decide to charge interest on the loan, the income will be subject to tax. If the gifting parent were to die, the amount of the loan would remain within their estate for inheritance tax purposes.

Assignment of Contracts

Parents may purchase an off-plan property and closer to completion of the construction choose to assign/transfer the benefit of their contract (and the paid deposit) to their child. They may ultimately gift the balance or the child may obtain a mortgage for the amount payable at completion. In the latter case, parents and children should be aware that some mortgage lenders are reluctant to lend in cases of ‘assigned contracts’. If the property has gone up in value since the date of contract potentially capital gains tax could be payable and specialist advice should be sought. Similarly, the tax implications of gifting the deposit would apply, as set out earlier. If there have been changes in Stamp Duty Land Tax between the date of the contract and the date of the transfer then those changes may apply to the contract. Legal advice should be sought on this point on a case by case basis.

Conclusion

Whichever way parents choose to support a home purchase it is evidently important to seek comprehensive and joined up advice. Quastels offers specialist real estate and tax advice with access to a network of trusted advisers. Contact: enquiries@quastels.com

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