On Monday 11 April 2022, five new immigration routes went live as part of the new Global Business Mobility (GBM) Visa.
In this series of blogs, we have been exploring each of these five subcategories of the GBM Visa in turn. You can find more information on the Senior or Specialist Worker or the Secondment Worker in our earlier blogs.
In this blog we focus on the UK Expansion Worker route, discussing the key features of this new route and when it is most likely to be a popular choice for businesses.
UK Expansion Worker
The UK Expansion Worker route has been introduced as a route for overseas workers who are undertaking temporary work assignments in the UK as part of a business’ expansion to the UK.
It allows businesses that are not yet established and trading in the UK to send senior managers, or other specialist employees, to set up and open a branch or subsidiary of the business in the UK. To be eligible the organisation in question must not currently be actively trading in the UK. (If this is the case, then they must instead apply for a different type of visa instead (such as the Senior or Specialist Worker visas).
This visa route replaces the previous “Sole Representative of an Overseas Business” route for all new applicants. This new route is a sponsored route, unlike its predecessor. This is a significant change to the old Sole Representative route, which was an unsponsored route and therefore did not attract any of the compliance obligations or costs associated with employer sponsorship.
Any business wanting to make use of this route will need to specifically apply to become a licensed sponsor in the Expansion Worker route. Alternatively, where the organisation already holds a GBM licence in other categories, they will need to apply to add this tier to their existing licence before they are able to use it.
Eligibility
When applying for an Expansion Worker sponsor licence, the organisation must demonstrate to the Home Office that it is not actively trading in the UK. However, it must be able to demonstrate that it has a UK ‘footprint’. This can be demonstrated in a number of ways, including that the Company has a UK business premises or that they have registered their UK company with Companies House.
In addition to this, the business must also usually show that they have an active trading presence overseas (normally for at least three years before the date of the application). It is also important to demonstrate credible plans to successfully expand into the UK and establish a UK trading presence within two years.
Where a licence is granted in this category this it will be for a four year period (in common with the other licence periods); however, this licence will not be renewable at the end of the four year period. In addition, businesses will only be able to sponsor in this category for the first two years of their licence; after this, they will not be able to sponsor any applications from new workers in this category or extensions from existing sponsored workers.
Organisations seeking to use this visa route should take advice at an early stage of their business planning process to ensure that they can meet the prescribed requirements. Importantly, they need to make sure they have not progressed too far with their UK plans before obtaining a licence, as this may render them ineligible to apply.
To be eligible for a UK Expansion Worker Visa, the individual must be an existing employee of the overseas business looking to expand into the UK and must usually have been working for the business for a period of at least 12 months outside of the UK. If the individual in question is earning over £73,900 p.a. this requirement does not apply. (There is also a specific exemption for some Japanese nationals seeking to establish a UK branch or subsidiary of the sponsor group under the UK-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement.)
In common with the other GBM routes, the individual must be undertaking a suitably skilled role and meet the designated minimum salary requirements (typically £42,400 p.a. or the ‘going rate’ for the job in question, whichever is higher). In addition, there is no minimum level of English language skill required.
Businesses can sponsor a maximum of five employees in this route at any one time. This allows businesses to send teams to implement their expansion into the UK. (This is in stark contrast to the old Sole Representative route which only allowed one individual to come to the UK.) The sponsored employee may also bring their partner and dependents to the UK with them under this visa route.
UK Expansion Worker visas are granted for an initial maximum period of 12 months, and it is possible to extend this by a further 12-month period. The total maximum time individuals can stay in the UK on an Expansion Worker visa is two years. (This is subject to the cumulative maximum time limits in all GBM categories which we discussed in our earlier articles.)
As also discussed in our previous blogs and as is the case with all of the other GBM routes, this is a temporary route which does not lead to permanent settlement in the UK. However, individuals may be able to switch into another category which does lead to settlement, such as the Skilled Worker route, later down the line.
Who might need to use this route?
This route is extremely helpful for international and overseas businesses who are seeking to set up and operate a branch in the UK. The option to send one senior employee or a team of up to five senior employees to the UK for a period of up to two years each can assist a business in setting up a branch or subsidiary within the UK with increased convenience and ease, and enable them to fully utilise the experience and expertise of existing employees who already know and understand the organisation and the way in which it works.
As an example of when a business may wish to make use of this visa:
A successful Chinese manufacturing business who regularly ships goods to the UK wants to set up some factories in the UK, in order to try and reduce their carbon footprint and become more environmentally friendly when manufacturing items for consumers in the UK. This company has currently been trading in China for over 10 years and has a current turnover of £50 million.
The company has already purchased factory property in the UK and has registered their company name with Companies House. They now wish to send their Production Manager and Operations Manager to the UK in order to set the company up to ensure it is ready for trading and oversee the UK operations. The company confirms that these individuals will be on a salary of £50,000 per annum if they were to work from the UK, and they have both been working for the company in China for a period of 3 years.
Assuming the company can meet the strict Home Office requirements to show that they have a UK footprint with credible expansion plans for entering the UK market, they will be able to apply for a GBM Expansion Worker licence.
Once this is granted, they can sponsor the individuals that they wish to send to the UK in this category (assuming they are working in eligible occupations and meet the minimum salary requirements). If the visas are approved by the UK Home Office, the company will then be able to sponsor these employees and send them to the UK for an initial period of up to 12 months in order to set up the new UK company.
It will be interesting to see how many businesses take advantage of this new route. On the one hand, the complexities and compliance burden of employer sponsorship may prove an unwelcome new hurdle to overcome, particularly compared to the previous “light touch” compliance regime of the Sole Representative visa. On the other, the fact that the rules now permit businesses to send “teams” to the UK to implement their expansion plans is likely to prove a welcome development for international organisations looking to achieve maximum success when setting up in the UK.
Look out for the final blog in the series, in which we will be exploring the final GBM route – Service Suppliers.
If you have any queries regarding the new visa routes or need help with applying for/managing a sponsor licence application or making specific visa applications, please contact Laura Darnley or any member of our team of expert business immigration solicitors.
