Citizeo
Pathway

UK Work Visas for Overseas Business Transfers

United Kingdom Residency
Pathway overview

At a glance

UK Global Business Mobility visas are temporary work routes for people being assigned to the UK by an overseas employer or contract relationship. They can fit senior or specialist transfers, UK business expansion, and service-supplier work, but generally do not lead directly to settlement.

Type
Work permit or work residence
Work fit
People with a qualifying work route in the United Kingdom
Core requirements
Eligible citizenship, job terms, and route-specific documents
What to know
Often temporary and route-specific
Salary requirement
Route-specific; £52,500+ SSW
Job offer required?
Yes (intra-company)

Summary

Global Business Mobility (GBM) is five separate sponsored routes for temporary cross-border assignments: Senior or Specialist Worker, Graduate Trainee, UK Expansion Worker, Service Supplier and Secondment Worker. The correct route depends on the overseas employer, UK sponsor and commercial arrangement; GBM is not one interchangeable company-transfer visa.

Pathway fit check

Eligibility

Every applicant needs a certificate of sponsorship and a genuine eligible assignment. Senior/Specialist, Graduate Trainee and UK Expansion applicants normally need prior work for the linked overseas business, subject to route and high-earner exceptions. Service Suppliers must work under a qualifying UK trade agreement; Secondment Workers need a qualifying high-value contract or investment.

For certificates assigned under current rules, Senior/Specialist and UK Expansion pay must normally meet both £52,500 and the occupation going rate. Graduate Trainee pay must meet both £27,300 and 70% of the going rate. Service Supplier and Secondment use route-specific skill, service and contract rules rather than those two salary figures. GBM has no general English-language requirement.

What This Route Allows

The holder works only in the sponsored assignment, may study subject to ATAS and has no recourse to public funds. Eligible partners and children can normally apply and partners may work, except as a professional sportsperson or coach.

Maximum stay differs: Graduate Trainee is normally 12 months; UK Expansion and Secondment no more than two years; Service Supplier six or 12 months depending on the agreement; Senior/Specialist is usually capped at five years in six, or nine in ten for a high earner. Each grant can be shorter.

From 8 April 2026 the Graduate Trainee, UK Expansion, Service Supplier and Secondment application fee is £340. Senior/Specialist costs £819 for up to three years or £1,618 for longer from outside the UK; the in-country figures are £943 and £1,865. IHS normally applies to every family member.

What This Route Is Not

No GBM route leads to settlement, and GBM time does not count toward the qualifying period for settlement on another points-based work route. A business establishing its first UK presence normally uses UK Expansion; initial Sole Representative applications are closed. A proposal to change settlement rules does not convert GBM into a settlement route.

Next Steps

  1. Map the overseas entity, UK sponsor, worker employment and contract to one GBM route.
  2. Check the occupation, salary/going rate and prior-overseas-work evidence on the certificate date.
  3. Calculate all GBM time in the applicable rolling six- or ten-year window.
  4. Give each dependent a separate application and plan any settlement-route switch before the cap.
Compare your options

Similar work permit pathways in other destinations.

Sources