Everything you need to know about the new Global Business Mobility visa

In the Statement of Changes to the UK’s Immigration Rules, dated March 15, 2022, the Home Office issued information on several new business immigration channels, including the Global Business Mobility visa and its five unique subcategories.

Immigration routes that may have formerly worked for UK business are no longer functional. However, how much of this strategy will be creative and valuable, rather than mixing current choices in a rebranding exercise? Let’s have a look.

Under each subcategory, we’ll look at what the new Global Business Mobility visa entails, as well as the eligibility conditions. We also consider if this visa offers a road to permanent residence, as well as whether dependants are eligible.

At A Y & J Solicitors, we have a long history of helping candidates to move to the United Kingdom without any hindrances. We offer pleasant, practical, and skilled legal counsel and can quickly identify and remedy any flaws in your application.

What is the Global Business Mobility visa route?

The Global Business Mobility visa is a new category of sponsored route. Companies looking to establish a presence in the United Kingdom, or have a contract with an overseas provider or want to relocate employees for specified business objectives, are the best fit for this route. These new visa routes rolled out on April 11.

The new route essentially creates a multi-category sponsored route that will reform and expand on several existing business visas, including the two types of Intra-Company visas, the Representative of an Overseas Business visa, and Temporary Work – International Agreement route visas for contractual service providers and independent professionals. It also opens up a whole new path for international workers to be sent to the UK as part of a high-value contract or investment by their overseas parent company.

Who qualifies to obtain the Global Business Mobility visa?

For foreign enterprises wishing to create a UK presence or relocate workers to the UK, the Global Business Mobility visa offers five options:

• A senior or specialist worker, to satisfy unique company demands.
• Graduate Trainees to falicitate training programmes.
• Worker on secondment to UK companies with high-value contracts or investments.
• Supplier of services to the United Kingdom in accordance with UK trade agreements.
• A UK Expansion Worker to create a UK presence.

The first three selections are for companies having a UK presence, while the latter is for companies without a UK presence. In all circumstances, the worker will require sponsorship.

In practice, the new method combines the previous Intra-Company Transfer, Intra-Company Graduate Trainee, Overseas Business Representative, and International Agreement visas. Only UK expansion personnel and secondments (to use the new language) demonstrate major differences among the five paths. The Migration Advisory Committee’s suggestion that Intra-Company Transfer visa holders (now Senior or Specialist Workers) be allowed to settle in the UK was not implemented.

What are the different visa options for Global Business Mobility?

There will be five distinct global business mobility routes, each of which corresponds to a different form of temporary job assignment, such as:

• Work as a Senior or Specialist Worker
• Pathway for Graduate Trainees
• Expansion Worker in the United Kingdom
• The Service Provider route
• The Seconded Worker route

Each of these paths has different qualifying conditions, such as a financial requirement and, when appropriate, the production of a valid TB certificate. We’ll go through the additional prerequisites for each path in detail below.

The Senior or Specialist Worker route

The Senior or Specialist Worker route is for senior managers and specialists who are allocated to a UK firm that is related to their employer overseas and who want to work in the UK for a specific period of time. The old Intra-Company Transfer method was superseded by this route.
An applicant must meet the following requirements to be considered for this route:

• Unless they will be working in the UK as a high earner at a gross income of £73,900 per year or more, they must be working for the sponsor group and have worked for that group outside the UK for a cumulative time of at least 12 months.
• The candidate must have a valid Certificate of Sponsorship for the position they’re looking for, provided by an employer who has been authorised by the UK Home Office to sponsor a Senior or Specialist Worker and who has paid the full Immigration Skills Charge. The candidate must be sponsored for approved employment that pays at least £42,400 per year or the ‘going rate’ for that position.

If the applicant is approved, permission will be granted for either 5 years after the start date of the job specified in the Certificate of Sponsorship; 14 days after the end date of this job; or the date at which the applicant will have had cumulative permission on the Global Business Mobility and Intra-Company routes totalling 5 years in any 6-year period, or 9 years in any 10-year period if applying as a high earner — whichever comes first.

UK Expansion Worker visa

The UK Expansion Worker route is for foreign employees who want to work in the UK on a temporary basis, and who are either senior management or a specialised employee who is being deployed to the UK to help with the company’s expansion. This visa route will take the place of the Representative of an Overseas Business, and it can only be utilised if the company hasn’t started operations in the UK. Workers should apply through the Senior or Specialist Worker route if the company already has a presence in the UK.

An applicant must meet the following requirements to be considered for this route:

• The candidate must have a valid Certificate of Sponsorship for the position they’re applying for, which must be given by a company that has been approved by the UK Home Office to sponsor a UK Expansion Worker.
• Unless they’ll be working in the UK as a high earner or a Japanese national seeking to establish a UK branch or subsidiary under the UK-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, he or she should be currently working for the sponsor group and have worked for that group outside the UK for at least 12 months.
• They must be sponsored for suitable employment with a wage of at least £42,400 per year or the ‘going rate’ for that position, whichever is greater, at or above a relevant minimum skill level.

Visa for Graduate Trainees

The Graduate Trainee route is for international employees who are enrolled in a graduate training programme leading to senior management or speciality post and are obliged by their employer to complete a work placement in the United Kingdom. The Intra-Company Graduate Trainee path will be replaced by this one.

An applicant must meet the following requirements to be considered for this route:

• Be employed by the sponsoring organisation at the time of application, and have worked for that organisation outside of the UK for at least 3 months previous to the application deadline.
• The applicant must have sponsorship for a qualified job with a standard salary of at least £23,100 per year for that position or whatever is the ‘going rate’ for the job role. They should also have a clearly defined progression toward a management or specialist function within the sponsor organisation as part of a structured graduate training programme.
• The candidate must also have a valid Certificate of Sponsorship for the position they’re applying for, provided by an employer that has been approved to sponsor a Graduate Trainee by the UK Home Office.

Secondment Worker route

The Secondment Worker route will be for foreign employees who are being seconded to the UK as part of a high-value contract or investment by their overseas company. This is a brand-new way to enter the country.
An applicant must meet the following requirements to be considered for this route:

• The applicant needs to be actively employed by a foreign company that has a Home Office-registered contract with their UK sponsor and has worked for that company for at least 12 months outside the UK.
• The applicant must have a valid Certificate of Sponsorship for the position they’re applying for, provided by an employer who is approved by the UK Home Office to sponsor a Secondment Worker and has a Home Office-registered contract with an overseas company where the applicant will work.
• He or she must be sponsored for qualifying employment that requires at least a minimal degree of ability.

Service Provider route

Contractual service suppliers hired by foreign service providers, as well as self-employed independent professionals residing abroad, who want to work in the UK on a temporary basis to deliver services covered by a UK international trade agreement. The contractual service provider and independent professional provisions under the Temporary Work – International Agreement route will be replaced by this route.
An applicant must meet the following requirements to be considered for this route:

• The applicant must be employed by or for an overseas service provider that will offer services to their UK sponsor and has worked in that capacity for a total of 12 months outside the UK.
• The candidate must be sponsored for a qualifying position with a minimum skill level of at least a university degree or comparable technical qualification and experience, or have a university degree or equal level technical qualification and experience.
• The candidate must have a valid Certificate of Sponsorship for the job they’re applying for, which must be issued by an employer who is authorised by the UK Home Office to sponsor a Service Supplier and who has a relevant Home Office registered contract with an overseas service provider for which the applicant will work in the UK.
• As a Service Supplier, he or she must fulfil the nationality requirements.

Is it possible to bring your dependents to the UK on a Global Business Mobility visa?

Under the terms of a Global Business Mobility visa, applicants may be accompanied or joined by a partner and any dependant children. The spouse or partner of the primary visa holder, on the other hand, must meet many eligibility standards, including a relationship and financial criterion, in order to travel to the UK through this route.

Why should you choose A Y & J Solicitors for guidance?

We are committed to not only supporting you with your Global Business Mobility visa application, but also to ensuring your long-term compliance with all Home Office standards. Despite the Home Office being more strict about the frequently changing requirements, we continue to be effective in developing compliance practices for our clients.

We give total ‘hand-holding’ assistance, resulting in peace of mind and certainty of positive results. All areas of sponsorship are covered by our services.