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Overseas Employers
Explore UK visa options for overseas businesses sending employees to the UK, including eligibility requirements and application processes.
Advice we specialise in
Global Business Mobility: Senior or Specialist Worker
A guide to the Global Business Mobility: Senior or Specialist Worker visa for transferring experienced staff to the UK.
Global Business Mobility: UK Expansion Worker visa
A guide to the UK Expansion Worker visa for overseas businesses setting up their first UK branch.
What is the Global Business Mobility visa?
The Global Business Mobility visa route enables overseas businesses to send certain categories of personnel to the UK on a temporary basis.
This route comprises distinct visa categories which correspond to the following types of temporary work assignments.
Senior or Specialist Worker
This route is for overseas workers who are senior managers or specialist employees and who are being assigned to a UK business linked with their employer overseas.
Graduate Trainee
This route is for overseas workers who are on a graduate training course leading to senior management or a specialist position, and where they are required to do a work placement in the UK.
UK Expansion Worker
This route is available to overseas workers who are undertaking temporary work assignments in the UK, where the senior managers or specialist employees are being assigned to carry out work related to a business’s expansion in the UK.
Secondment Worker
This route is designed for overseas workers where the worker is being seconded to the UK as part of a high-value contract or investment by their employer.
Service Suppliers
This route is for contractual service suppliers employed by overseas service providers, or self-employed independent professionals based overseas, who wish to undertake a temporary assignment in the UK to provide services covered by one of the UK’s international trade agreements.
This visa allows you to bring dependent family members including partners and children under the age of 18. However, this route is not intended to be a route to settlement.
Who is eligible for the Global Business Mobility visa?
The specific eligibility criteria vary between the routes; however, there are some commonalities:
- Each route requires the applying worker to be an existing employee (or contractor) of the sponsoring organisation, with some stipulations as to the length of time that the person has been employed prior to the application.
- Each applying worker must have a certificate of sponsorship from an eligible UK sponsor, which sets out the work to be carried out in the UK.
- Each route requires the applicant to be working in a job role included on the Home Office’s list of eligible occupations.
- Each worker must satisfy specific criteria pertaining to the level of salary to be paid for their work in the UK.
- Each worker must satisfy the Home Office that they have sufficient personal savings to financially maintain themselves in the UK (or that their employer will meet these maintenance costs).
The Global Business Mobility routes do not require applicants to satisfy an English Language Requirement.
The duration of stay in the UK under the Global Business Mobility route varies based on categories and worker's salary level.
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Overseas employers FAQs
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Do I need to pay a fee to come to the UK as an overseas worker?
UK visa applications have fees based on the application type. Most applicants must pay the Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS) for NHS access.
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Can workers for overseas employers bring their families to the UK?
Global Business Mobility routes and the Representative of an Overseas Business route allow applicants to include dependent partners and children, subject to specific requirements being met in respect of the dependents. Dependent relatives are not allowed under the Overseas Domestic Worker route.
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Can I extend my visa as an overseas worker?
Representatives of an Overseas Business can apply for a two-year visa extension after their initial three-year visa expires. Global Business Mobility route visas can be extended up to a maximum term, but visa holders must leave the UK afterward. Overseas Domestic Worker visas cannot be extended and have a maximum stay of six months.
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Can my presence in the UK as an overseas worker lead to my settlement in the UK?
Time spent in the UK as a Representative of an Overseas Business may be counted towards an application for indefinite leave to remain (also known as settlement) after holding leave under this route for 5 years and subject to meeting the requirements for indefinite leave to remain. However, the Global Business Mobility route and Overseas Domestic Worker route are temporary and do not count towards indefinite leave to remain applications.
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Do I need to provide a TB certificate if I’m applying as an overseas worker?
Applicants from certain countries (listed in Appendix T) must provide a TB test certificate dated within the six months prior to their application to work in the UK for an overseas employer.
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