On 15 March 2022 the Home Office issued the Statement of Changes to the Immigration Routes. The new order provides new routes for individuals coming to the United Kingdom for business purposes. Such new routes can be both sponsored and non-sponsored.
Existing business mobility options will be replaced by the new Global Business Mobility routes. The existing routes will be tightened up.
1. Graduate Trainee Route
The route is intended for overseas workers who are undertaking temporary work assignments in the UK. If the worker is on a graduate training course leading to a senior management or a specialist position and is required to complete a work placement in the UK. he or she can take this route.
Permission will usually be granted for one year after the start date of the job detailed in the Certificate of Sponsorship. Applicants who are refused under this route will need to follow the Administrative Review process.
2. Senior or Specialist Worker
The current Intra Company route will be replaced by this new route since 11 April 2022. It is intended to permit UK sponsors to sponsor overseas workers who are undertaking temporary work assignments in the UK, if the worker is a senior manager or specialist employee and is being assigned to a UK business linked to their employer overseas.
Applicants on this route will capped at five years or, if a high earner, nine years. Applicants who are refused under this route will need to follow the Administrative Review process.
3. Global Business Mobility – Service Supplier
This new route will replace the Temporary Work – International Agreement route. It is applicable for overseas workers wishing to undertake temporary work assignments in the UK, where the worker for at least a cumulative period of 12 months prior to applying is either a contractual service supplier employed by an overseas service provider, or a self-employed independent professional based overseas, and they need to undertake an assignment in the UK to provide services covered by one of the UK’s international trade agreements.
Permission will usually be granted for six months after the start date of the job detailed in the Certificate of Sponsorship, however in limited circumstances it may be issued for 12 months. Applicants who are refused under this route will need to follow the Administrative Review process.
4. Global Business Mobility – UK Expansion Worker
This route will replace the Sole Representative provisions in the Representative of an Overseas Business route. The new route is for overseas workers who are undertaking temporary work assignments in the UK, where the worker is a senior manager or specialist employee, and is being assigned to the UK to undertake work related to a business’s expansion to the UK. The business cannot have already commenced trading in the UK.
It is not a route to settlement, but applicants can bring their dependant partner and children under the age of 18.
This route allows for an initial grant of up to 12 months and can be extended by up to two years.
5. High Potential Individual (HPI)
This new route will be effective from 30 May 2022. It is applicable for recent graduates of top global universities, who want to work, or look for work in the UK, following the successful completion of an eligible course of study equivalent to UK bachelor’s degree level or above. The study must have been with an institution listed on the Global Universities List, to be compiled on an annual basis and consists of eligible non-UK institutions that are included in the list of the top 50 universities in at least two of the following ranking systems:
- Times Higher Education World University Rankings
- Quacquarelli Symonds World University Rankings
- The Academic Ranking of World Universities
It is not a route to settlement, but applicants can bring their dependant partner and children under the age of 18.
It is not a route to settlement, but applicants can bring their dependant partner and children under the age of 18.
There are other new routes to be introduced for youth mobility, seasonal workers, and secondment workers.
ORACLE CAPITAL GROUP provide immigration support in obtaining a visa, extending an existing visa, and obtaining a British residency permit with the prospect of becoming a British citizen.
