Table Of Contents:
- What is a UK Tourist Visa
- UK Tourist Visa – Can You Work in the UK
- Permitted Paid Engagements
- Working Remotely for Your Overseas Employer
- Business Activities
- Intra-Corporate Activities: Direct Client Work
- Other Works You Can Do on a UK Tourist Visa
- Summary
A UK tourist visa allows visa nationals to come to the UK for tourism purposes. The visa falls under the UK standard visitor visa route. A tourist visa allows the holders to stay in the UK for a short period of up to 6 months. Successful applicants can visit on vacation or for tourism.
With a UK tourist visa, you cannot engage in paid or unpaid work for a company or as a self-employed person. You are also not allowed to engage in full-time remote work.
What is a UK Tourist Visa?
A UK Tourist Visa officially falls under the UK standard visa route. You will be required to apply for a tourist visa if you are a visa-national and your purpose of visiting the UK is tourism, for example, on holiday or vacation. The visa is valid for up to 6 months, and you must leave the UK at the end of your visit. You must apply for this visa before you travel to the UK. The earliest you can make a tourist visa application is 3 months before you travel.
You cannot usually work in the UK on a tourist visa. If your purpose of coming to the UK is to work, you may look to apply for long-term work visas, such as a skilled worker visa, or short-term work visas, such as a creative worker visa, instead.
UK Tourist Visa – Can You Work in the UK?
No. The tourist visa does not permit you to do any paid or unpaid work for a UK company or as a self-employed individual. Doing so can lead to your deportation from the UK. However, you may be able to do a permitted paid engagement or event, or do remote work tied to an overseas employer.
You cannot generally do the following on a UK tourist visa:
• Do a job with a UK company.
• Work in the UK as a self-employed person.
• Undertake an internship or work placement.
• Sell or provide goods or services in the UK.
• Apply or attend job interviews for a UK position.
However, you may do the following (with restrictions) on a tourist visa as long as your purpose of visiting the UK is not to work here;
1. Permitted Paid Engagements
You can visit the UK for a certain ‘permitted paid engagement’ if you:
• Are aged over 18
• Have a written invitation for a pre-arranged event or other permitted engagement from a UK-based client or organisation
• Can demonstrate that you’re an expert in your profession
The engagement must be relevant to your qualifications, expertise, and main job in your home country.
Even though a UK tourist visa lasts for up to 6 months, you must do the engagement in the first month.
2. Working Remotely for Your Overseas Employer
The new rules, effective from 31 January 2024, have added a new activity to the list of permitted “General Business Activities”. The new rules allow UK tourist visa holders to conduct work-related activities for foreign employers while in the UK, as long as their reason to visit is tourism or any non-work-related activity. Examples include attending a short online meeting or checking and responding to a few emails or phone calls.
A tourist visa does not allow remote work for a UK employer, but working remotely for an overseas company while in the UK may be allowed, depending on the nature of the work.
Please note that it does not include remote work as a digital nomad, as those looking to travel to the UK primarily for work will need to apply for a relevant skilled worker visa.
3. Business Activities
The default position, both under the old and new rules, is that tourist visa holders must not intend to work during their stay in the UK, unless the work is one of the “permitted activities” that is explicitly permitted in the Visitor appendices. The list of permitted “General Business Activities”, under the old rules, allowed Visitors to:
• Attend meetings or conferences.
• Negotiate contracts.
• Conduct site visits.
• Attend trade fairs to promote your business in the UK (you cannot sell things).
• Give a one-off or short series of talks as long as they’re not for profit or a commercial event – you can only be paid for speaking at certain engagements or events (a ‘permitted paid engagement’).
• Oversee the delivery of goods and services provided by a UK company to your overseas company or organisation.
• Deliver training or share knowledge on internal projects with UK employees of the company you work for overseas.
• Install, dismantle, repair, service, or advise on equipment, computer software, and hardware, if your overseas company has a contract with a UK company or organisation.
• Participating in short-term training.
4. Intra-Corporate Activities: Direct Client Work
Under the new rules of the UK Tourist Visa, direct client work is only allowed if:
(a) Your movement is in an intra-corporate setting, and any client-facing activity is incidental to your employment overseas; and
(b) These activities are needed for a project or service delivery by the UK branch of your employer abroad, and are not part of a project or service that is being delivered directly by your employer overseas, to the UK client
The guidance clarifies that the visitor’s primary purpose for travelling to the UK should not be to undertake any direct client work, but is “incidental” to their overseas employment.
Other Works You Can Do on a UK Tourist Visa
- Conducting Research – Scientists, researchers, and academics can conduct research in the UK, with certain exceptions for academics applying for a 12-month visit visa or seeking permission extensions within the country.
- Doing activities as a Lawyer – Lawyers will be allowed to engage in additional activities, for example, providing legal advice, appearing in arbitrations, participating in legal proceedings, acting as expert witnesses, litigation, and teaching.
Summary
A UK Tourist Visa does not permit you to work in the UK. However, there are some allowed activities (mentioned above) you may undertake as a visitor to the UK, as long as the primary purpose of your travel to the UK is tourism. These activities should not involve any compensation from a UK entity or local engagement.
In most cases, when you are found to be on a UK Tourist visa, working illegally within the UK, you will likely be arrested and taken to a detention centre. If you are qualified for voluntary return, you will be presented with the offer, which you can choose to accept or deny.
If you do not qualify for voluntary return, you may be deported.
Read Similar Blogs:
Documents Required for a Successful UK Visitor Visa Application