Виза «Высокопоставленный работник или специалист» заменила визу «Перевод внутри компании»

How does the new Senior or Specialist Worker visa differ from the old Intra-Company Transfer visa?

The Home Office has introduced the Global Business Mobility – Senior or Specialist Worker visa, which replaces the old Intra-Company Transfer (ICT) visa provisions.

Like the ICT visa, the new Senior or Specialist Worker visa is designed for overseas workers who are undertaking  temporary work assignments in the UK. The worker must be a senior manager or specialist employee who is being assigned to a UK business linked to their employer overseas by common ownership or control.

On closer inspection, there are very few differences between these two visas. In order to be eligible to apply, the worker will still need to be sponsored by the UK entity (so it will continue to require a sponsor licence), must have worked for the overseas business for at least 12 months (unless the UK salary is at least £73,900 per year), and will have to undertake a sufficiently highly skilled job with the relevant minimum salary. One thing to note is that the minimum salary has been increased from the previous amount of £41,500 to £42,400. The actual salary may need to be significantly higher, depending on which job the applicant will undertake while in the UK.

Global Business Mobility – Senior or Specialist Worker visa

The maximum length of visa that can be granted continues to be 5 years, with the visa holder having to take care to not spend more than 5 years in any 6-year period in the UK (unless the UK salary is at least £73,900, in which case the visa holder can stay for 9 years in any 10-year period).

The Senior or Specialist Worker route does not lead to settlement in the UK. It may be possible, however, to switch from the Senior or Specialist Worker route into an immigration category which does lead to settlement, such as a Skilled Worker visa.

How Gherson Can Help

This is somewhat of a re-branded, rather than a new visa category for the Home Office. We therefore expect fewer issues with Senior or Specialist Worker visa applications than, for example, with a UK Expansion Worker or Secondment Worker application, which are new categories .

At Gherson we have extensive experience in dealing with the Home Office when changes to the UK visa landscape are introduced. If you require assistance with a Senior or Specialist sponsor licence or visa, or have questions regarding any other UK visa category,  please do not hesitate to contact us for advice, send us an e-mail, or alternatively, follow us on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn to stay-up-to-date.

The information in this blog is for general information purposes only and does not purport to be comprehensive or to provide legal advice. Whilst every effort is made to ensure the information and law is current as of the date of publication it should be stressed that, due to the passage of time, this does not necessarily reflect the present legal position. Gherson accepts no responsibility for loss which may arise from accessing or reliance on information contained in this blog. For formal advice on the current law please do not hesitate to contact Gherson. Legal advice is only provided pursuant to a written agreement, identified as such, and signed by the client and by or on behalf of Gherson.

©Gherson 2022