Can I Apply for A UK Expansion Worker Visa?

The UK Expansion Worker Visa lets an overseas business that has not yet started trading in the UK to send senior managers or specialist employees here to set up a UK branch or subsidiary.

What Is The UK Expansion Worker Visa?

The UK Expansion Worker visa is one of the Global Business Mobility routes, set out in Appendix Global Business Mobility of the Immigration Rules. It is a sponsored, temporary route. You can stay for up to 12 months initially and up to two years in total, and it does not lead to settlement.

Purpose and Overview

The route is for overseas businesses that want to establish a branch or subsidiary in the UK but are not yet trading here. The business can sponsor existing senior managers or specialist employees to come to the UK temporarily to carry out work related to the expansion, such as setting up premises, recruiting staff and putting operational arrangements in place.

Unlike most sponsored routes, the business does not need an established UK trading operation, but it still needs a UK sponsor licence for this route. If the business is already trading in the UK, it should use another route instead, such as the Senior or Specialist Worker or Skilled Worker route.

Who Can Apply: Target Applicants

You must be a senior manager or specialist employee of the overseas business, assigned to the UK to work on the expansion. You must be 18 or over and normally have worked for the business (or its wider group) outside the UK for at least 12 months. This 12-month requirement does not apply if you will be paid £73,900 or more a year, and there are further exceptions under the UK's trade agreements with Japan and Australia for Japanese and Australian businesses.

You can apply from outside the UK or, in many cases, switch from inside the UK. You cannot switch if you are in the UK as a visitor, short-term student, parent of a child student, seasonal worker or domestic worker in a private household, or if you have permission outside the Immigration Rules or are on immigration bail. Students must usually have completed their course first.

Basic Eligibility Criteria for The Worker

You must score 60 points: 20 for sponsorship, 20 for a job at the appropriate skill level and 20 for salary. There is no separate English language requirement on this route.

Job Offer and Skill Level

The job must be in an eligible occupation code listed in Appendix Skilled Occupations, which in most cases means work skilled to RQF level 6 (graduate level) or above. You do not necessarily need a degree, but the work itself must be at that level. The sponsor must choose the occupation code that best matches the duties, and the job must be genuine.

You must have a valid certificate of sponsorship from the sponsor and apply within three months of it being assigned.

English Language Proficiency

Unlike on the Skilled Worker route, you do not need to prove your knowledge of English.

Salary Threshold Requirements

You must be paid at least £52,500 a year or the going rate for the occupation, whichever is higher. Appendix Skilled Occupations sets out the going rate for each occupation code, adjusted pro rata for working hours.

The salary is based on guaranteed basic gross pay plus certain guaranteed allowances, such as London weighting or allowances paid to cover the extra cost of living in the UK. Accommodation allowances count only up to 30% of the total salary package. Other benefits, such as bonuses, do not count. The job must also comply with National Minimum Wage and working time rules.

Sponsor Requirements

The overseas business must hold a sponsor licence for the UK Expansion Worker route before it can assign certificates of sponsorship.

Becoming An Approved Sponsor

To be licensed on this route, the business must show that:

• it has a UK 'footprint', such as UK business premises or registration with Companies House as an overseas company branch or a subsidiary of the overseas business, but is not yet trading in the UK;
• the overseas business is currently active and trading, and has been trading for at least three years (with exceptions for some businesses, including certain Japanese and Australian businesses);
• it has a credible plan to expand the same type of business to the UK and establish a UK trading presence within two years; and
• its key personnel, including the Authorising Officer, meet the usual sponsor requirements.

The sponsor licence application fee is currently £611 for small or charitable sponsors and £1,682 for large sponsors. Businesses whose main activity is holding investments, such as private equity or venture capital funds, are not eligible for this route.

If the Authorising Officer named on the application is based outside the UK, the licence is normally granted with a provisional rating and a single certificate of sponsorship, which the Authorising Officer uses for their own visa application. Once they are granted permission, they can ask for the licence to be upgraded to an A-rating so that other workers can be sponsored.

Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS)

A certificate of sponsorship is an electronic record assigned through the sponsorship management system. It confirms the worker's name, the job, the occupation code, the salary and any allowances, and the start date, which must be no more than three months after the date of the visa application. The certificate fee for this route is currently £55.

The business may sponsor only as many workers as it genuinely needs to establish the UK operation, up to a maximum of 10 at any one time.

The licence is valid for a maximum of four years. The Home Office expects the business to establish a UK trading presence within two years of the licence being granted. After that point, the business cannot sponsor new UK Expansion Workers or extensions on this route. Once it is trading, it can apply to add other routes, such as Skilled Worker or Senior or Specialist Worker, and its workers may be able to switch to those routes if they meet the requirements.

Sponsor's Compliance Duties

Like all licensed sponsors, the business must meet its sponsor duties, including:

1. Record keeping: keeping the documents required by the sponsor guidance, including evidence of right to work checks.
2. Reporting: reporting specified changes through the sponsorship management system within the required time limits, for example if a worker does not start work, stops working, or their job changes.
3. Compliance: making sure sponsored workers are paid correctly and are doing the job described on their certificate of sponsorship.
4. Co-operation: co-operating with Home Office compliance checks and visits.

If the business fails to meet its sponsor duties, the Home Office can downgrade, suspend or revoke the licence, which can affect sponsored workers' permission. The Home Office may also visit to check that the business still has a realistic prospect of establishing a UK trading presence.

Application Process Overview

Workers apply online on GOV.UK. You can apply up to three months before the start date on your certificate of sponsorship. You will usually receive a decision within three weeks if you apply from outside the UK, or eight weeks if you apply from inside the UK.

Steps to Submit An Application

1. Obtain your certificate of sponsorship reference number from your sponsor.
2. Complete the online application on GOV.UK and pay the application fee and the Immigration Health Surcharge.
3. Prove your identity, either by using the UK Immigration: ID Check app or by attending an appointment at a visa application centre to give your fingerprints and photograph, depending on your nationality and documents.
4. Upload your supporting documents.
5. Wait for a decision. Faster decision services may be available for an extra fee in some locations.

Your eVisa

If your application succeeds, you will receive an eVisa, a digital record of your immigration status that you access through your UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) account. The Home Office no longer issues Biometric Residence Permits.

Required Documents

Make sure your documents are consistent with the information on your certificate of sponsorship, and check the current GOV.UK document list before applying.

Personal Identification Documents

You will need a current passport or other valid travel document. If you have lived in a country where tuberculosis screening is required for UK visa applicants, you will also need a TB test certificate from a clinic approved by the Home Office. Any document not in English or Welsh needs a certified translation.

Proof of Sponsorship and Job Offer

You will need your certificate of sponsorship reference number. The certificate itself records your job title, occupation code, salary and start date, and confirms that you meet the overseas employment requirement. The Home Office may ask for further evidence, such as payslips showing your employment with the overseas business.

Financial and Maintenance Funds Evidence

You will usually need to show that you have held at least £1,270 in your bank account for 28 consecutive days, ending within 31 days of the date you apply. You do not need to show this if you have been in the UK with valid permission for 12 months or more. Your partner and children, if applying as dependants, must also show they can support themselves; check GOV.UK for the current amounts.

Costs and Fees Involved

The main costs for the worker are the application fee and the Immigration Health Surcharge. The sponsor pays the sponsor licence and certificate of sponsorship fees.

Visa Application Fee

The application fee is £340 per person, whether you apply from outside or inside the UK. Partners and children applying as dependants each pay the same fee. Priority and super priority decision services, where available, cost extra.

Immigration Health Surcharge

The Immigration Health Surcharge is usually £1,035 per person per year of the visa, charged pro rata for part years, and is paid as part of the online application. It gives access to the NHS on broadly the same basis as a UK resident. For a 12-month visa, a single applicant would pay £1,035 in surcharge in addition to the £340 application fee.

Additional Costs

Other possible costs include a TB test (if required), certified translations and professional advice. If you use an adviser, make sure they are a regulated solicitor or are registered with the Immigration Advice Authority (formerly the OISC).

Processing Times and Decisions

You will usually receive a decision within three weeks if you apply from outside the UK, or eight weeks if you apply from inside the UK. It may take longer if the Home Office needs to verify your documents, you need to attend an interview, or because of your personal circumstances.

Length of Stay and Extensions

You can stay for 12 months from the start date on your certificate of sponsorship, or the time on your certificate plus 14 days, whichever is shorter. You can then apply to extend by up to 12 months, up to a maximum of two years in total on this route, provided the sponsor is still eligible to sponsor extensions. Time on the Global Business Mobility routes is also subject to an overall limit, normally five years in any six-year period (longer for some high earners).

While on this visa you can work for your sponsor in the job on your certificate of sponsorship, study, and do unpaid voluntary work. You cannot take a second job, change jobs without updating your visa, access most public funds, or apply for settlement on this route.