Immigration Corner | Obtaining a UK Expansion Worker visa

Dear Mr Bassie,

I am considering working for a business that plans to expand in the United Kingdom. I understand that I will need a particular type of visa. Please advise me on how I should go about this. I look forward to reading your response.

PP

Dear PP,

A United Kingdom (UK) Expansion Worker visa (Global Business Mobility) allows persons to go to the UK to set up a branch of an overseas business that has not started trading in the UK yet.

Persons must already work for the overseas business as either a senior manager or specialist employee. If the business is already trading in the UK, those persons should apply for a Senior or Specialist Worker visa instead.

ELIGIBILITY

To be eligible for a UK Expansion Worker visa persons need to:

• Have a valid certificate of sponsorship from their employer

• Have worked for the employer outside the UK

• Do a job that is on the list of eligible occupations

• Be paid the minimum eligible salary required for the job

Please note that the specific eligibility depends on the job.

LENGTH OF STAY IN THE UK ON THE VISA

Persons can stay in the UK with a UK Expansion Worker visa for whichever is shorter of the following:

• 12 months after the start date of the job on their certificate of sponsorship

• The time given on their certificate of sponsorship plus 14 days

Persons who want to stay longer in the UK can extend their visa by 12 months. The maximum time they can stay in the UK on a UK Expansion Worker visa is two years. If they have spent time in the UK on this or another visa, they might not be able to stay on a UK Expansion Worker visa for as long.

Persons can only stay in the UK for a maximum of five years in any six-year period, if they have spent time on any of these visas:

• Intra-company Graduate Trainee visa

• Intra-company Transfer visa

• Graduate Trainee visa (Global Business Mobility)

• Secondment Worker visa (Global Business Mobility)

• Senior or Specialist Worker visa (Global Business Mobility)

• Service Supplier visa (Global Business Mobility)

• UK Expansion Worker visa (Global Business Mobility)

HOW TO APPLY

Persons must apply online and how they apply will depend on whether they are:

• Outside the UK and are going to the UK

• Inside the UK and extending their current visa

• Inside the UK and switching from a different visa

The applicant’s partner and children can apply to join the applicant or stay in the UK as their ‘dependents’, if they are eligible.

THE COSTS

Please note that the partner or children will each need to:

• Pay the application fee

• Pay the healthcare surcharge for each year of their stay

• Prove that they have enough personal savings

It is advisable that persons check how much it costs prior to applying.

HOW LONG IT TAKES

Persons can apply for a visa up to three months before the day that they are due to start work in the UK. This date is listed on the certificate of sponsorship.

Please note that, as part of the application, persons will need to prove their identity and provide the relevant documents.

It may be necessary to allow extra time if applicants need an appointment to do this. Those persons will find out if they need one when they start their application.

GETTING A DECISION

Once applicants have applied online, proved their identity and provided their documents, they will usually get a decision on the visa within three weeks, if they are outside the UK, and eight weeks, if they are inside the UK at the time of applying. Persons may be able to pay to get a faster decision.

WHAT PERSONS CAN AND CANNOT DO WITH THE VISA

With a UK Expansion Worker visa, persons can:

• Work for their sponsor in the job described in their certificate of sponsorship

• Study

• Bring their partner and children with them as their ‘dependents,’ if they are eligible

• Do voluntary work

• Travel abroad and return to the UK

Persons cannot:

• Apply for most benefits (public funds), or the State Pension

• Change jobs unless they are eligible and update their visa

• Have a second job

• Apply to settle permanently in the UK (also known as ‘indefinite leave to remain’)

Please be aware that, if the application is successful, persons will receive a full list of what they can and cannot do with this visa.

Good luck.

John S. Bassie is a barrister/attorney-at-law who practises law in Jamaica. He is a justice of the peace, a Supreme Court-appointed mediator, a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, a chartered arbitrator, the past global president of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, and a member of the Immigration Law Practitioners Association (UK). Email: lawbassie@yahoo.com