The Global Business Mobility Routes

Secondment Worker Visa

The Secondment Worker Visa will be for overseas workers who wish to be temporarily seconded to the UK by their overseas employer as part of a high value contract or investment.  This is a new immigration route.

• Applicants will need to be currently working for an overseas business that has a contract with their UK sponsor that has been registered with the Home Office by the UK sponsor and have worked outside the UK for that overseas business for a cumulative period of at least 12 months.
• Applicants will need to have a valid Certificate of Sponsorship for the job they are planning to do, issued by an employer that is authorised by the Home Office to sponsor a Secondment Worker. The job will need to be an eligible job at or above a minimum skill level but applicants will not need to satisfy a salary requirement.
• Secondment Worker Visa applicants will also not need to satisfy an English language requirement.
• Permission will be granted for either 1 year from the start date of the job detailed in the Certificate of Sponsorship, the time given on the Certificate of Sponsorship plus 14 days, the date on which the applicant will have had continuous permission as a Secondment Worker totalling 2 years, or the length of time that will take them to the maximum time period allowed in the category, whichever is shorter. The maximum time allowed in the category is 5 years in any 6 year period.

Service Supplier Visa

The Service Supplier Visa will be for overseas workers who are either a contractual service supplier employed by an overseas service provider or a self-employed independent professional based overseas, who need to undertake a temporary assignment in the UK to provide services covered by one of the UK’s international trade commitments. This route will replace the contractual service supplier and independent professional provisions in the Temporary Work – International Agreement route.

• Applicants will need to be currently working as or for an overseas service provider that will provide services to their UK sponsor and have worked as or for the overseas service provider outside the UK for a cumulative period of 12 months.
• Applicants must have a valid Certificate of Sponsorship for the job they are planning to do, issued by an employer that is authorised by the Home Office to sponsor a Service Supplier.
• Their UK sponsor must have a contract with an overseas service provider, where that contract has been registered with the Home Office, and on which the applicant, as a Service Supplier, will work.
• The job will need to be an eligible job at or above a minimum skill level but applicants will not need to satisfy a salary requirement.  
• Service Supplier applicants will also not need to satisfy an English language requirement, but they will need to satisfy a nationality requirement.
• Permission will be granted for the time given on the Certificate of Sponsorship plus 14 days, or the length of time that will take the applicant to the maximum time period allowed in the category. The maximum single assignment period is either 6 months or 12 months if covered by a UK international trade commitment.

Settlement on the Global Business Mobility Visa Route

The Global Business Mobility Visa holders may be able to apply from within the UK to switch into another immigration route. The main work and business routes for achieving settlement are likely to be:

• Skilled Worker Route
• Scale-up Route
• Start-up Route and Innovator Route