Global Business Mobility Visas

Types of Visas Under Global Business Mobility

Senior or Specialist Worker

The Senior or Specialist Worker visa is aimed at senior or specialist employees to come to the UK and carry out work in their employer’s UK branch.

To be eligible for this visa, you must:

Have a valid certificate of sponsorship from your employer who’s a registered sponsor authorised by the Home Office
Have been working for your employer outside the UK for at least 12 months, unless you earn £73,900 a year or more
Work an eligible job with an appropriate occupation code
Be paid at least £42,800 or the ‘going rate’ for your job, whichever is higher
You must fulfil the specific genuineness requirement, therefore you must show you will only undertake your proposed role and will not engage in any additional employment while in the UK.

The Senior or Specialist Worker route will allow you to stay in the UK for either 5 years or the period of time given on your certificate of sponsorship plus 14 days, whichever is shorter.

The maximum total stay you can complete in the UK is 5 years in any 6 year period, or 9 years in any 10 year period, depending on how much you earn.

Note time spent on other Global Business Mobility visas and Intra-Company Transfer visas will also be factored into this calculation.

UK Expansion Worker

A UK Expansion Worker visa allows business owners from overseas to expand their business in the UK by setting up a branch of businesses.

To be eligible for this visa, you must:

Have a valid certificate of sponsorship from your employer who’s a registered sponsor authorised by the Home Office
Have been working for your employer outside the UK for at least 12 months, unless you earn £73,900 a year or more, or you’re a Japanese national working for a Japanese company that is expanding to the UK
Work an eligible job with an appropriate occupation code
Be paid at least £42,800 or the ‘going rate’ for your job, whichever is higher
You must fulfil the specific genuineness requirement, therefore you must show you will only undertake your proposed role and will not engage in any additional employment while in the UK.

The UK Expansion Worker visa will allow you to stay in the UK for either 12 months or the period of time given on your certificate of sponsorship plus 14 days, whichever is shorter. You may extend your visa by another 12 months if necessary, though the maximum time you can spend on this visa is 2 years.

The maximum total stay you can complete in the UK is 5 years in any 6 year period when taking into account time spent on other Global Business Mobility visas and Intra-Company Transfer visas.

Graduate Trainee

The Graduate Trainee visa allows employees on a graduate training programme for a managerial or specialist role to come and work in their employer’s UK branch.

In order to be eligible for this visa, you must:

Have a valid certificate of sponsorship from your employer who’s a registered sponsor authorised by the Home Office
Have been working for your employer outside the UK for at least 3 months
Work an eligible job with an appropriate occupation code that is also part of a structured graduate training programme
Be paid at least £24,220 a year

The Graduate Trainee visa will allow you to stay in the UK for either 12 months or the period of time given on your certificate of sponsorship plus 14 days, whichever is shorter. You will not be able to extend your visa.

The maximum total stay you can complete in the UK is 5 years in any 6 year period when taking into account time spent on other Global Business Mobility visas and Intra-Company Transfer visas.

Secondment Worker

A Secondment Worker visa allows applicants to come to the UK and carry out work for their overseas employer if they have a high-value contract with a UK-based organisation.

In order to be eligible for this visa, you must:

Have a valid certificate of sponsorship from the UK-based organisation who’s a registered sponsor authorised by the Home Office
Have been working for your employer outside the UK for at least 12 months
Work an eligible job with an appropriate occupation code, and in a contract that’s worth over £50 million

The maximum total stay you can complete in the UK is 5 years in any 6 year period when taking into account time spent on other Global Business Mobility visas and Intra-Company Transfer visas.

Service Supplier

A Service Supplier visa allows employees of overseas companies or self-employed professionals to come to the UK and carry out services covered by a UK international trade agreement.

In order to be eligible for this visa, you must:

Have a valid certificate of sponsorship from the UK-based organisation who’s a registered sponsor authorised by the Home Office
Be an employee of an overseas business, or a self-employed service provider based overseas who is providing a service under a contract that is covered by a valid international trade agreement
Have been working for your employer outside the UK for at least 12 months, or have at least 12 months’ professional experience if self-employed
Work an eligible job with an appropriate occupation code, or prove that you have relevant qualifications or experience

The UK Service Supplier visa will allow you to stay in the UK for either 6 months or 12 months, or the period of time given on your certificate of sponsorship plus 14 days, whichever of these is shorter. You may extend your visa if necessary, as long as you’ve not met the maximum total stay.

The maximum total stay you can complete in the UK is 5 years in any 6 year period when taking into account time spent on other Global Business Mobility visas and Intra-Company Transfer visas.

Table of Contents

Types of Visas Under Global Business Mobility

Senior or Specialist Worker

UK Expansion Worker

Graduate Trainee

Secondment Worker

Service Supplier

Rochdale Office

Manchester Office

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