Business Immigration

This visa allows employees to work in the UK for a branch of their current employer. They must be sponsored for a job on the eligible occupations list and be in a graduate training program. They must also have been working for their overseas sponsor for three months or more, with a sponsorship certificate in place and an annual salary of at least £23,100.

If you want to come to the UK to set up a new business, you can do so under the UK innovator visa programme, which replaces the previous Tier 1 entrepreneur visa. 

To be eligible for this, you will need to:

- Be over the age of 18

- Have £50,000 or more in investment funds

- Have a unique, innovative, viable and scalable business plan

- Have your business plan be endorsed by an approved UK organisation

- Meet English language requirements

- Have sufficient funds in place to support yourself while in the UK

Under the Innovator visa, you can stay in the UK for up to three years. After this, you can extend it further if necessary. You can also use the visa as a route to permanent settlement, able to apply after three continuous years in the UK.

You can be transferred to work on high-value contracts with a UK business via the secondment worker visa if you’ve been employed by your company for at least a year, have a certificate of sponsorship and have a job on the list of eligible occupations.

On this visa, you can stay in the UK for up to 12 months, with the potential to extend this to a maximum of two years. Note that it’s not possible to use this visa as a route to settlement.

You may be eligible for a skilled worker visa via self-sponsorship if you want to set up a new business in the UK or if you already own an existing UK business. The organisation itself will need to obtain a skilled worker sponsor licence in order for you to go down this route.

It is possible that this visa can lead to settlement in the UK and you can also be joined by dependent partners and children.

To be eligible, you will need to be over the age of 18, have an established and active UK company, satisfy English language requirements, have a job at an appropriate skill level and have a genuine job vacancy offer.

This visa is an option for senior managers and employees who want to work in a UK branch of their employer. You will need to have a certificate of sponsorship and a job on the list of eligible occupations, with an annual salary of at least £42,000.

On this visa, you can stay in the UK for up to five years. You may also be able to extend your stay if your annual salary comes to £73,900 or above. Note that this visa cannot be used as a route to settlement.

You are able to come to the UK on behalf of your overseas company as part of a contract to deliver services to a UK-based company under the service supplier visa.

In order to be eligible, you will need to have a certificate of sponsorship, have a job in the eligible occupation list and all necessary qualifications/experience and work for an overseas business or a self-employed service provider.

Under this visa, you can stay for up to six or 12 months, depending on the trade agreement in place. Note that it’s not possible to use this visa as a route to settlement.

If you need to come to the UK for business activities over a short period of time, you can do so using the standard visitor visa or the permitted paid engagement visa.

The former allows you to come to the UK for up to six months for work, including attending job interviews, meetings, events, negotiations, signing commercial contracts, trade fairs, unpaid talks, site visits, knowledge sharing, and so on.

To be eligible for this visa, you will need to:

- Genuinely intend to leave before visa expiration

- Have funds in place to support yourself and any dependents

- Do not use the visa as a way of living in the UK for extended periods

- Be able to pay for a return or onwards journey

If you want to conduct paid or unpaid work for a UK-based business or as a self-employed person, you will need to apply for a permitted paid engagement visa, which allows you to visit the UK for up to one month.

Start-up visas allow entrepreneurs and businesspeople the chance to set up a new and innovative business in the UK, even if they have only entry-level experience. 

In order to be eligible for this visa, you will need to:

- Be over the age of 18

- Have a unique, innovative, viable and scalable business plan

- Have your business plan endorsed by an approved UK organisation

- Be developing or in possession of the requisite skills to establish a business

- Meet English language requirements

- Have sufficient funds in place to support yourself while in the UK

Start-up visas are typically issued for two years. Note that this cannot be extended, and you will not be able to use it as a route to settlement in the country.