If you would like your overseas employees to apply for a Senior or Specialist Worker visa (previously known as Tier 2 Intra-Company Transfer), there are various requirements to be met. In this blog, we discuss the “overseas work” requirement.
What is a Senior or Specialist Worker visa?
The Senior or Specialist Worker visa is one of the UK’s main work visas. It allows you to transfer workers from your overseas business to work in your UK branch. Unlike the Skilled Worker visa, it does not lead to Indefinite Leave to Remain in the UK (“ILR”), and migrants can only hold this visa for a limited time, depending on their salary level.
You may be wondering, why apply for the Senior or Specialist Worker visa instead of the Skilled Worker visa? Well, the former does not require the applicant to meet the English language requirement and, therefore, if the transfer is required urgently, the Senior or Specialist Worker visa may be the most appropriate option.
However, unlike the Skilled Worker visa, the Senior or Specialist Worker visa requires applicants to meet the overseas work requirement.
What is the overseas work requirement?
To be eligible to apply for a Senior or Specialist Worker visa the applicant would need to be employed by the overseas business on the date of application, and in many cases must have worked for the overseas business for at least 12 months before the date of application.
There are exceptions to the rule. If the applicant earns more than £73,900 (based on working a maximum of 48 hours per week), or if the transfer is taking place under the UK-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, the applicant will need to be working for the overseas business, however, they do not need to be in their employment for the full 12 months prior to the date of application.
If you are considering transferring employees to the UK under the Senior or Specialist Worker route, it is important to ensure that the applicant meets the requirements relevant to them in order to submit a successful application.
How Gherson can assist
Gherson’s Immigration Team are highly experienced in advising on UK visa matters. If you have any questions arising from this blog, please do not hesitate to contact us for advice, send us an e-mail, or, alternatively, follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, 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.
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