What is the Senior or Specialist Worker visa (Global Business Mobility – GBM)?

The Senior or Specialist Worker visa is designed for senior level professionals, such as senior managers, and specialist employees to be able to undertake temporary work in the UK for their existing company’s UK branch or subsidiary.

There are a number of requirements you must meet in order to be eligible for this visa. The most important requirement is that your overseas employing entity is connected to the UK entity by what the UK authorities term ‘common ownership or control’. There are various ways this can be evidenced, the most common of which is that the non-UK and the UK entity have a common parent in the organisational structure. The UK entity must hold the correct sponsor licence to be able to sponsor the Senior or Specialist Worker visa, and the role that the UK entity wishes to fill must be sponsorable. This means it must comply with salary and skills requirements. 

Importantly, applicants must already be employed by their employer overseas for a period of at least 12 months before the date of their application, unless they are applying as a high earner. If you are a high earner, i.e. earning more than £73,900 per year while in the UK, there is no minimum time you have to have worked at your company overseas before applying.

There are also salary requirements to qualify for this type of visa. Applicants must be paid a minimum of £45,800 per year, or the going rate for their job as defined by the UK authorities on their list of sponsorable jobs. Jobs are only sponsorable if they are skilled to degree level (which is different from the Skilled Worker visa, which only needs the job to be skilled to A-level).

The benefit of the Senior Specialist Worker visa is that there is no English language requirement, so it can potentially be applied for faster than, for example, the Skilled Worker visa, which does require proof of English language ability.

The  Senior or Specialist Worker visa allows you to stay in the UK for a total of 5 years in any 6-year period. The length of your time in the UK could be increased to 9 years in any 10-year period if you are applying as a high earner.

Unlike the Skilled Worker visa, this visa does not lead to Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) in the UK. You will need to switch to a Skilled Worker visa if you would like to permanently reside in the UK. Any time spent on the Senior or Specialist visa will not count towards the 5 years of continuous residence you will need to show to qualify for ILR.

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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