Intra Company Transfer Visas

The Tier 2 Intra Company Transfer Visa is available to those who are from outside of the EEA area (and Switzerland), and have been offered a role in the UK branch of an organisation.

There are a number of requirements which must be fulfilled in order to be eligible for this visa, including sponsorship from your employer.

Main requirements for a Tier 2 Intra Company Transfer Visa:

• The salary for the position meets a certain threshold
• A valid certificate of sponsorship has been issued
• Have personal savings which you can use to support yourself when you arrive in the UK
• Able to show your travel history over the last five years
• Able to prove that you have worked for your employer outside the UK for at least twelve months
• Have tuberculosis test results if you’re from a listed country

There are two types of Intra-company Transfer Visas: Long-term staff and Graduate Trainee.

Long-term staff Tier 2 Intra Company Transfer

This is the route for those who you are being transferred to a role in the UK branch of an organisation.

You need to have worked for the company for at least twelve months to be eligible. However, if the organisation is paying at least £73,900 annually for the position, the 12-month requirement doesn’t need to be met.

Graduate Trainee Tier 2 Intra Company Transfer

This route is specifically for graduates who are transferring onto graduate trainee programmes to take up specialist roles.

To be eligible via this route, you need to be a recent graduate with at least three months of experience with your employer overseas.

You need to be employed by a licenced sponsor who holds a Tier 2 Intra Company Transfer Visa sponsor licence in order to work in the UK. A certificate of sponsorship will need to be included in your portfolio of documents to provide to the Home Office.

The certificate of sponsorship is an electronic record which holds your personal details and detailed information about the job you’ve been offered.

Your sponsor will give you a Certificate of Sponsorship reference number, which you must add to your Tier 2 Intra Company Transfer Visa application.

What is the Minimum Salary Requirement for Tier 2 Intra Company Transfer Visa?

Generally speaking, you must be paid at least the minimum salary for the type of visa or, alternatively, the appropriate rate for the job which you have been offered (whichever is higher).

The general minimum salary requirements are:

• £41,500 for long-term staff
• £23,000 for graduate trainees

Bear in mind that the minimum salary requirement could be different depending on the particular circumstances around your application.

For instance, if you are extending your Tier 2 ICT Visa, or working for less than twelve months, the salary requirements are likely to be different.

How much Personal Savings do I Need for the Tier 2 ICT Visa?

You need to prove that you have at least £945 in your bank account for 90 consecutive days before you apply for the Tier 2 ICT Visa. This is to prove that you can support yourself whilst you are in the UK.

However, this doesn’t need to be proved if your sponsor is a fully approved A-rated sponsor and can support you with £945 to cover your costs for a month when you arrive in the UK.

As with any UK immigration application, a portfolio of documents is an essential component of the application process.

The required documents may differ depending on the nature of your circumstances.

The following documents are required in all Tier 2 Intra Company Transfer Visas:

• Certificate of sponsorship reference number
• Passport or travel document
• Bank or building society statement or letter which shows that you have enough personal savings (if applicable)
• Any passport which has expired
• Tuberculosis test results document if you are from a listed country

Your documents should be in their original form. It is highly unlikely that photocopies will be accepted.

Any documents which are not in English or Welsh must be translated by an accredited translator. Both the translation and the originals need to be sent to the Home Office.

For more information on the application process and the documents you may need to provide, call us now on 0333 305 9375.

In some cases, the Home Office might ask you to prove the employment with your employer for a specified period of time.

As mentioned above, long-term staff earning less than £73,900 must have been employed for at least twelve months by the organisation. Graduate trainees must have been employed for three months.

However, there is no requirement to prove past employment status for those earning over £73,900.

Some of the information you might need to provide:

• Printed payslips
• Online payslips supported by a letter from your sponsor which is signed by a senior staff member
• Bank or building society statements

Do I Need to Supply Biometric Information?

As part of the application process, you may need to have your fingerprints and photograph taken at a visa application centre in order to get a biometric residence permit.

However, typically, this is information is only taken if you apply to extend your Tier 2 ICT Visa.

If your Tier 2 Intra Company Transfer Visa is accepted, you will be entitled to bring your family to live with you in the United Kingdom as dependents.

A dependent could be any of the following:

• Your husband, wife or partner
• A child under 18
• A child over 18 if they’re currently in the UK as a dependent

Any dependent must have £630 available to them, whether they are applying with you or not.

This money must have been in your bank account or your dependent’s bank account for at least 90 days before you apply.

If the dependent is applying from outside of the UK, they will need to have their fingerprints and photograph taken at a visa application centre to form their Biometric Residence Permit.

It is also possible for a family member who is already living in the UK to extend or switch their visas to become a dependent of you.

In this situation, the family member must book an appointment at a UK Visa and Citizenship Application Services (UKVCAS) point in order to form a Biometric Residence Permit.

Children Born in the UK

If you have a child whilst you are in the UK, you can apply for the child to be given permission to stay in the UK.

When you apply, you’ll need to provide a birth certificate for each child which shows the names of both parents.

There are no restrictions regarding your employment as described on your certificate of sponsorship if you are living in the UK under an ICT Visa.

You are also permitted to:

• Study, as long as it doesn’t interfere with your job
• Travel abroad and return to the UK
• Do voluntary work
• Bring family members with you
• Do a second job which is within the same profession at the same skill level for an additional 20 hours per week

Tier 2 Intra Company Transfer Indefinite Leave to Remain

It is important to note that time spent in the UK under the Tier 2 ICT Visa does not automatically count towards the required period of residence which leads to Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) status.

If your Tier 2 ICT Visa was issued before 6^th of April 2010, you can use your time spent on a Tier 2 ICT Visa towards the UK residency period.

However, if your Tier 2 ICT Visa was issued after the 6^th of April 2010, your residency under the visa will not count towards the required residency period which leads to ILR.

The problem around the Tier 2 ICT Visa and Indefinite Leave to Remain status can leave many people in difficult situations, where they are legally living in the UK, but cannot apply for permanent residence after five years.

It is possible to look for other employment in order to get around this problem. If you are offered a position with another employer, you can apply for the Tier 2 General Visa. Time spent living under the Tier 2 General Visa counts towards the minimum residency requirements for Indefinite Leave to Remain eligibility.

In almost all cases, you not be able to switch from the Tier 2 Intra Company Transfer Visa. In exceptional circumstances, you could be eligible to switch from the Tier 2 ICT Transfer Visa to the Tier 1 Entrepreneur Visa or the Tier 1 Innovator Visa.

If you do wish to change jobs and work for a new employer, you can apply for a Tier 2 General Visa, as long as you meet the requirements. In most circumstances, a cooling off period of twelve months applies before you can apply for the Tier 2 Visa.

However, if you are earning £120,000 or more as a Tier 2 Intra Company Transfer Visa holder, or you will be earning £159,600 or more as a Tier 2 General Visa applicant, the cooling off period will not apply.

Typically, you will receive a decision on your application within three weeks of the date it is received by the Home Office.

In most cases, it is possible to expediate the decision on your application should you wish.

You can pay an extra £500 for the priority service to get a decision within five working days. If you pay an extra £800, you will get a decision within one working day.

Depending on the complexity of your case, you could be required to provide further documentation or to verify certain documents.

Long-term staff 

Graduate Trainees

However, there are other costs to bear in mind with a Tier 2 ICT Visa application.

• Translation costs
• £19.20 for cost of biometric information
• Healthcare surcharge fee

It is possible to apply for an ICT Visa extension if you wish to continue your employment in the UK. Extensions can be granted if you are in possession of a Graduate Trainee or Long-term staff Tier 2 ICT Visa.

You must also be able to meet the following eligibility criteria:

• That you have the same job as the one you received with your previous visa, or a similar one
• That you hold a job with the same employer who originally provided your certificate of sponsorship
• You are already residing in the UK
• You still earn an ‘appropriate salary’

Also, you need to include any dependents who are on your current visa when you make a Tier 2 ICT Visa extension application.

For Long-term staff Tier 2 ICT Visa holders, the extension lasts for the shortest of the following:

• Date given on your certificate of sponsorship, plus 14 days
• The time needed to extend your stay to the maximum time which is permitted in the category
• 5 years
• 9 years if you earn more than £120,000 per year

Graduate trainees can extend their original visa for a further 12 months if their original visa was for less than 12 months.

You may need to provide your biometric information as part of the application if you didn’t during your original Tier 2 ICT Visa application. You will need to provide this information at a UKVCAS service point.

If you need support with the ICT Visa application, you can contact us at our offices in London, Manchester, and Birmingham, or in many other locations throughout the UK. We look forward to helping you with your case.