Table Of Contents:
- Global Business Mobility Route for Overseas businesses
- Opening a Business Branch in the UK
- How does the Global Business Mobility Route help in opening a Business Branch in the UK
- Obtain a Sponsor Licence
- Follow UK Employment Law & Contracts
- Apply for Global Business Mobility Route – UK Expansion Worker Visa
- After you have assigned your employee to the UK
- Let’s Summarize
The United Kingdom is one of the world’s leading economies. The country offers huge business opportunities to international companies that want to expand their business operations internationally. To cater to the international businesses that want to open their business branch in the UK, the country has a Global Business Mobility route in place.
In this attempt, the UK’s Home Office made important changes to the UK visas for global entrepreneurs and business owners looking to start a business or open a branch in the UK.
The Home Office reformed, revised, and introduced new visas under the Appendix UK Global Business Mobility route on April 11th, 2022.
Global Business Mobility Route for Overseas businesses looking to open a Business Branch in the UK
The UK Global Business Mobility route is an umbrella category of five different types of work visas.
These visas include:
- Senior or Specialist Worker
- Graduate Trainee
- UK Expansion Worker
- Service Supplier
- Secondment Worker
These visas have been designed for employees of overseas companies being assigned to undertake specific types of work or assignments in the UK.
Out of these 5 routes, the UK Expansion Worker route is for overseas workers who want to come to or stay in the UK to undertake work related to an overseas business’s (that has yet not started trading in the UK) expansion to the UK. This is a temporary visa where the worker being assigned to the UK must be a senior manager or specialist employee and is to undertake.
This route does not lead to ILR (indefinite leave to remain, also known as ‘Settlement’) in the UK. To qualify for the settlement, the worker will be required to switch into another UK immigration category, most commonly the Skilled Worker route.
Opening a Business Branch in the UK
If you already have an incorporated company registered in a country outside of the UK, you can must register your existing company as a foreign branch of your business in the UK with Companies House, which is the UK’s registrar of companies.
Some types of companies (including partnerships and unincorporated bodies) cannot register as an overseas company in the UK.
Normally, the process of registering your existing company in the UK as a foreign branch of your business is quicker. You will not be subject to UK company law, and therefore you will enjoy more flexibility to make decisions. However, you will be at a disadvantage due to not having the benefit of limited liability for your operations in the UK.
Please note that anyone who wants to register an existing business in the UK does not require any specific visa. However, someone working for or on behalf of the business must apply for a relevant UK visa to be assigned to the UK.
To open a business branch in the UK through the Global Business Mobility route, the overseas business must continue to have its main operations outside the UK. Therefore, this route is not suitable for a complete transfer of the business, but is solely for a well-established business that continues to trade overseas and now wants to expand to the UK.
How does the Global Business Mobility Route help in opening a Business Branch in the UK?
Overseas businesses looking to open a business branch in the UK need to assign this task to someone. Here comes the UK Global Business Mobility – UK Expansion Worker visa that allows you to send your senior employees to the UK to do the job of opening a branch in the UK.
Step 1: Obtain a Sponsor Licence
Once you have registered your branch in the UK, you must first apply for and obtain a sponsor licence. This means, an overseas business looking to open its first branch with the help of existing employees in the UK needs to apply for and obtain a UK expansion worker sponsor licence in order to send senior staff to the UK to oversee the process. To qualify for the licence, the business must meet strict eligibility criteria. The company must be genuine, established, and capable of building a trading presence in the UK. Businesses that already have a trading presence in the UK or are unable to demonstrate a credible history of overseas activity are not eligible for this visa and therefore a sponsor licence.
With a sponsor licence, a company can initially sponsor one senior manager or specialist employee, with the scope of being able to sponsor up to four more workers to support the opening of a business branch in the UK.
Step 2: Follow UK Employment Law & Contracts
When you open a business branch in the UK, you’re establishing a separate legal entity for it from your business in its home country.
In addition to getting your overseas business registered with the UK’s Companies House, you must also ensure that you follow all applicable UK employment laws and regulations.
Step 3: Apply for Global Business Mobility Route – UK Expansion Worker Visa
An employee whom you want to assign to the UK to open a branch of your overseas business here must apply for entry clearance as an expansion worker when applying from outside the UK or permission to stay when applying to switch to this visa from inside the UK. To be eligible as an Expansion Worker, the applicant needs to:
- Have a valid CoS (Certificate of Sponsorship) from you
- Have worked for your company outside the UK for at least 12 months, unless they meet one of the following criteria:
- They are earning more than £73,900
- They are a Japanese national doing work for your Japanese company, which you are expanding to the UK
- They are a national or permanent resident of Australia doing work for your Australian company, which you are expanding to the UK
- Assigned to the UK to do an eligible job
- Be paid the minimum salary required for your job
Expansion workers are not required to meet any English language requirement.
Step 4: After you have assigned your employee to the UK
The registered business branch in the UK has to remain dormant until all of your Expansion Workers have relocated to the UK. The expansion worker route under the Global Business Mobility route is no longer a valid option once the business has started trading in the UK.
At this stage, the business will need a Skilled Worker or a Senior or Specialist Worker sponsor licence to second your staff to the UK.
Let’s Summarize
Establishing a business branch in the UK can surely be an exciting opportunity, but it also presents its own unique set of challenges. From setting up a separate legal company, obtaining an expansion worker sponsor licence, and recruiting workers to understanding the UK’s employment law, you must get all the details right before you notify Companies House of your business registration in the UK.
The expansion workers you want to assign to the UK must meet the eligibility criteria to come to or stay in the UK to do the specific job of opening a business branch of your business in the UK.