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A Senior or Specialist Worker visa is a visa that falls under the UK’s Global Business Mobility routes, and it allows people to come to the UK or stay here to do an eligible job at a UK branch of their employer. An eligible job is one that appears on the Home Office’s approved list of occupation codes for Global Business Mobility visas.
This visa was introduced on 11 April 2022, replacing the ICT (Intra-company Transfer) visa, previously the Tier 2 (Intra-company Transfer) Long-term Staff visa.
Senior or Specialist Worker, for the purpose of this visa, is a senior manager (a person in a senior management role) or specialist employee (a person with specialist skills/knowledge relevant to the job they will do in the UK) who is applying for, or has obtained, entry clearance from outside the UK or permission to stay in the UK from within the country on the GBM – Senior or Specialist Worker route, or who their employer (a UK business linked to an overseas company) is sponsoring or intends to sponsor on this route.
Who can be sponsored on the Senior or Specialist Worker route?
A person applying for a Senior or Specialist Worker visa must have been issued a CoS (Certificate of Sponsorship) from their employer unless they were last given permission on this route and are applying to continue working for the same sponsor as in their last permission. Their employer must be a licensed sponsor with an A-rating.
The CoS must confirm the applicant’s name, job details, salary offered, PAYE details, and other details.
A UK employer can sponsor a worker who generally meets the following requirements:
1. They already work for the overseas company
The applicant must be an existing employee of the sponsor’s overseas group. The UK job must be connected to the same corporate group.
2. They are being transferred to a linked UK business
The UK company and the overseas employer must have the required corporate connection. For example, the UK company could be a subsidiary, branch or another linked entity of the overseas organisation.
3. They have a suitable job
The worker must be sponsored for a job that appears in the eligible SOC 2020 occupation codes for the Senior or Specialist Worker route, subject to the applicable transitional provisions.
4. They meet the overseas employment requirement
Normally, a Senior or Specialist Worker visa applicant whose gross annual salary is less than £73,900, as confirmed by their sponsor, must have worked for their employer outside the UK for 12 or more months. However, an important exception applies to high earners: if the worker is paid £73,900 or more per year, there is no minimum overseas service requirement.
The occupation codes stated below no longer appear in the list of eligible occupations for the Senior or Specialist Worker visa:
• 3411: Artists
• 3412: Authors, writers, and translators
• 3413: Actors, entertainers, and presenters
• 3414: Dancers and choreographers
• 3422: Product, clothing, and related designers
However, if a person is already sponsored in the UK in one of the occupation codes stated above, they can continue working in their job until their visa expires. They can also apply to extend their visa if they wish to continue working in the exact same job.
If a person does not wish to continue working in one of the occupations listed above, they can switch jobs as long as it is on the eligible occupations’ list.
Those who change their job must apply to update their visa.
5. They are paid the required salary
The general salary requirement is currently £52,500 per year, unless a specific exception applies. The salary must also normally meet the going rate for the particular occupation, so the worker must meet whichever applicable requirement is higher.
No general salary requirement applies to those who have been in the UK since 6 April 2011 on any of the following visas:
• Tier 2 (Intra-company Transfer) Long-term Staff visa
• ICT (Intra-company Transfer) visa
• GBM – Senior or Specialist Worker visa
The worker, however, must still be paid the ‘going rate’ for the type of job they will do in the UK.
6. The employer must be an approved sponsor
The UK employer/sponsor must be approved by the Home Office as a licensed sponsor for this particular immigration route and be authorised to sponsor a Senior or Specialist Worker. Normally, it must be A-rated on the sponsor register.
7. The job must be genuine
UKVI must not have reasonable grounds to believe that the job does not exist, is a sham, or was created mainly to enable the person to obtain immigration permission.
Summary
The Senior or Specialist Worker route is mainly for existing overseas employees of a multinational or linked business who are temporarily transferred to a UK branch or connected company to perform an eligible skilled role.
If you want to be sponsored on this route, you need a CoS from a licensed UK sponsor, a job in an eligible occupation, the required salary, and—unless you are a high earner—the required period of employment with the overseas sponsor group.
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