Global Business Mobility Visas UK

What is Global Mobility Visa in UK?

The Global Mobility visas are a group of sponsored work visas in UK that opened to new applicants in April 2022.

It is a collection of five separate visas aimed at overseas businesses who wish to fulfil certain specific business roles in the UK.

These include carrying out contract work for UK companies, transferring staff to the UK, or setting up a new UK-based branch of an existing overseas business.

These visas replace and iterate on a number of previous UK visas, such as the Intra-Company Transfer, Sole Representative visa and Temporary Worker – International Agreement route.

Global Business Mobility Routes in UK

The visas under this category include the following:

• Senior or Specialist Worker visa
• Graduate Trainee visa
• UK Expansion Worker visa
• Secondment Worker visa
• Service Supplier visa

All of these visas have individual eligibility requirements that must be met in order to apply. However, there are also numerous commonalities between these visas, such as similar financial requirements for applicants and their dependents.

All of these visas also require applicants to have a valid certificate of sponsorship from an authorised sponsor when applying.

Senior or Specialist Worker Visa

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.

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 12 months, unless you earn £73,900 a year or more
• Work an eligible job with an appropriate occupation code
• Be paid at least £52,500 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.

Graduate Trainee Visa

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 £25,410 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.

UK Expansion Worker Visa

A UK Expansion Worker visa allows overseas business owners to come to the UK and set up a new UK-based branch of their business.

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 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 £52,500 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.

Secondment Worker Visa

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 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.

Service Supplier Visa

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.

Global Mobility Visa Sponsor Requirements

Businesses wishing to sponsor an international worker on a Global Mobility visa will need a sponsor licence and maintain compliance with the associated duties and conditions.

To be eligible, a business must have an established UK presence and be officially registered. It is important that there are no past or unspent immigration law or trading law offences leveraged against your company. As a sponsor, businesses will be expected to oversee and manage their international workers’ status appropriately, which involves a particular internal structure and HR department. Here, you will need to ensure that the appropriate roles are represented, which include an Authorising Officer, a Key Contact, and at least one Level 1 User to access the Sponsor Management System (SMS).

To sponsor foreign workers or issue an intra company transfer visa as an overseas employer, you will need to offer genuine employment and prove that the potential employee is well-matched to the position you are hiring for. All positions must comply with UK regulations and constitute a fair employment opportunity.

How Do I Apply Global Mobility Visa UK?

You must apply for a Global Business Mobility visa online through the Gov.uk website.

When applying for your Global Mobility visa for the first time, you’ll have to fill in the application form and upload a range of supporting documents, including your certificate of sponsorship details, details of the employer who’ll be sponsoring you, and proof that you’ve worked for your employer for the minimum amount of time (if necessary).

You’ll also have to prove your identity. This will either be done at a visa application centre, where you’ll give your biometrics information, or the ‘UK Immigration: ID Check’ app to scan your identity document.

If you need to attend a visa application centre, you’ll give your fingerprints and have a photograph taken of you for your biometric residence permit.

You’ll be notified of how you’ll have to prove your identity when you apply.

Note that there are also separate application processes if you wish to extend your Global Business Mobility visa, switch to it from another visa, or update it if your job changes.

Global Mobility Visa Fees and Processing Time

The Senior or Specialist Worker visa costs between £819 to £1,865 to obtain, depending on your circumstances.

All of the other visas under the Global Business Mobility category cost £340 to obtain.

When applying, you must also:

• Pay the immigration healthcare surcharge of £1035 a year
• Prove that you have enough money to support yourself in the UK – usually around £1,270 available, unless you’re exempt

All Global Business Mobility visas will take 3 weeks to process if you’re applying from outside the UK, or 8 weeks if you’re applying from inside the UK.

Can I Extend my Global Mobility Visa in the UK?

If eligibility and conditions continue to be met, Global Mobility visas may be extended for up to a total duration of two years. To do so, the worker’s certificate of Sponsorship must be updated by the employer, and employment must continue under the same role and conditions.

Applying for an extension will require applicants to confirm their identity by providing their biometric data. This may be done via the UK Immigration: ID Check app or by submitting fingerprints and a photo at a UKVCAS point.

Relevant details of personal and employment conditions must be provided. Should there have been any significant changes, such as a change of job roles or personal circumstances, a new CoS and visa must be applied for instead.

The Global Business Mobility Visa is set up as a temporary visa, so there will not be an option to extend a visa beyond the maximum two-year duration. Workers may consider alternative immigration pathways or reapply under a different employment if needed, though another mobility visa may not be available right away. 

Our immigration lawyers at IAS can help you understand alternative immigration pathways. You can call us today at +44 (0)333 414 9244 for support.

Employer’s Guide to Sponsoring a Global Business Mobility Visa Worker

Sponsoring an international worker via the Global Business Mobility route involves reporting duties and general responsibility to ensure the international worker’s compliance with their immigration conditions. This means that employers must track and maintain an up-to-date database of their employees’ details. Should there be notable changes of circumstances or reasonable suspicions that the worker is in breach of their immigration conditions, employers must report these as soon as possible to maintain compliance.

Routes include the UK expansion worker visa, service supplier visa, secondment worker visa and specialist worker visa, as well as a graduate trainee visa.

Sponsors must ensure that the working conditions, hours, and general duties adequately match the employees’ skills and UK trading regulations. The worker must be fully informed, and the worker’s rights must be respected under UK law. 

Failure to comply with sponsorship duties may impact a business’s permission to remain a sponsor. Should improvements not be made when requested, this may lead to a permanent or temporary ban from sponsoring foreign workers, fines, and possibly more severe consequences.

How Can IAS Help?

The Global Business Mobility group of visas presents a number of opportunities for overseas workers and companies to come and conduct business in the UK.

They add to the UK’s existing roster of work visas in many different ways, and aim to promote and invigorate the UK’s economy through increased international trading.

If you’re an overseas service provider, business or trader looking to apply for a Global Business Mobility visa route, then IAS can help.

We are a team of expert immigration specialists who can help with your business immigration needs. We offer a range of services and packages designed to support your organisation, regardless of your size or business goals.

Whether you’re looking to expand your business into the UK by opening up a new branch, need advice on how to carry out short-term contract work in the UK, or you need advice about how contractual service providers can operate in the UK, we can help.

For more information about the Global Business Compliance services we provide and how we can help you obtain an Overseas Business visa, reach out to a member of our team today. Call us on +44 (0)333 414 9244 or contact us online.