In his 2021 Budget Speech, Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced the introduction of a new Global Business Mobility (GBM) visa.
The purpose of the revised route is to help overseas businesses establish a presence in the UK or transfer their staff to their existing UK branch. Despite a commitment to launch this new visa route in Spring 2022, details are only just starting to emerge as to what this new visa might look like.
What do we know about the current proposals for the GBM visa?
Details from the Home Office which have been made available to us, indicates that their current thinking is for the GBM visa to provide new subcategories for those seeking entry to the UK, namely:
- Senior or specialist worker
- Graduate trainee
- UK expansion worker
- Secondment worker
- Service Supplier
In all cases, the following requirements will need to be met:
- All roles will need to be sponsored.
- Jobs will need to be at the appropriate skill level.
It remains to be seen whether this will be maintained as RQF Level 6 (i.e. jobs typically requiring a degree level of education) as per the current Intra Company Transfer (ICT) requirements, or whether the threshold might be reduced to match the Skilled Worker skill level threshold of RQF Level 3 (i.e. jobs typically requiring an A Level standard of education).
- The pay for the role must meet the salary threshold. Again, we have not seen ay details as to what level this will be set at.
- There will be no English language requirement. (This is currently the case for the ICT routes.)
- The worker must be an existing employee with a minimum length of employment overseas.
- Assignments will be temporary but flexible and workers will be able to switch to permanent routes.
What are the five proposed sub-tiers to the GBM visa?
Looking at what we know about each of the proposed routes in turn:
1) Senior or specialist worker
This category is designed for workers with specialist skills that are required in the UK branch of an overseas business for a specific purpose, or they are a senior executive who is required to work at the UK office.
Although not expressly stated, this seems most aligned to the current Intra Company Transfer visa route. However, it remains to be seen whether the eligibility criteria will remain the same or whether additional stricter requirements will be introduced to ensure that applicants are truly “specialists” or “senior executives”.
2) Graduate Trainee
As a graduate trainee, the worker will be on a placement in the UK branch of the business as part of a structured training programme. This appears to be a rebranding of the existing Intra Company Transfer, Graduate Trainee route.
3) UK Expansion Worker
The UK Expansion Worker category of the GBM visa will allow overseas businesses to send senior or specialist workers on assignment allow the overseas business to expand into the UK.
This route seems reminiscent of the current Sole Representative of an Overseas Business route. Although it’s not been confirmed that the existing route will be scrapped in favour of this new option, it does seem likely, given the Home Office’s stated aim of consolidating the “ICTs and other business mobility visas into a single route”.
Importantly, however, these proposals would be a marked departure from the current Sole Representative route for the following reasons:
- The new route will require sponsorship, and reporting/management will be required via the Sponsor Management System. This is not currently the case, as the existing Sole Representative route is not subject to sponsorship at all, and there are no duties to manage/report on workers in this category;
- The new route would allow businesses to send more than one worker to the UK using this route. This would potentially allow for a “team” to come to the UK in order to establish the new branch. This is not currently the case: as the name suggests the current Sole Representative route only allows for a single person to use the route. This currently poses significant practical problems for businesses.
- There will be a streamlined transition into the sponsorship system for other types of assignments.
The Home Office is currently considering how this route might work in practice, and, in particular, what sort of requirements they will put in place regarding:
- The “footprint” they expect from the business in the UK before they can send in an overseas worker; and
- The evidence they will require that the overseas business is genuinely seeking to expand into the UK as a new market.
If this sub-category is ultimately being designed as a replacement for the Sole Representative route, this would be a really significant change for overseas businesses looking to establish themselves in the UK.
These proposals will be of particular interest to businesses looking to expand into the UK over the next 12 months.
4) Secondment worker
Workers in this category will be on secondment to a UK business for specific purposes for example, to transfer knowledge related to a high-value import or export or to oversee a substantial investment. This is a new option that reflects arrangements that are not currently easy to facilitate under the existing visa rules.
5) Service supplier
The final option will be for workers who are service suppliers, travelling to the UK to deliver a service in line with a UK trade commitment.
Again, the existing visa rules do not easily accommodate these sorts of arrangements, so this would potentially be a welcome addition for businesses engaged in international trade arrangements.
What will happen next?
On 13 October, the Migration Advisory Committee published its thoughts on the ICT routes. The Government will no doubt now spend some time reviewing the 116 page report to see whether this changes its thinking on the GBM visa route at all. However, with a Spring 2022 launch date proposed, there isn’t much time for the Government to finalise the plans and communicate them to businesses.
We’ll be keeping a careful watch on the proposals and will be commenting further as new information becomes available.
If you have any questions about anything referenced in the above or would like advice regarding your specific circumstances, please contact a member of our Business Immigration Team who will be able to assist you.
