Global Business Mobility Routes
These five-headed categories either replace and simplify existing routes, or introduce new ones. In summary, the Global Business Mobility category consists of:
Senior or Specialist Worker: this route is for “senior managers or specialist employees who are being assigned to a UK business linked to their employer overseas”. Replaces the Intra Company Transfer route.
Graduate Trainee: for “workers on a graduate training course leading to a senior management or specialist position and who are required to do a work placement in the UK”. Replaces the Intra-Company Graduate Trainee route.
UK Expansion Worker: for “senior managers or specialist employees who are being assigned to the UK to undertake work related to a business’s expansion in the UK”. Replaces the Sole Representative provisions of the Representative of an Overseas route (whilst keeping the slightly more esoteric provisions for media representatives)
Service Supplier: for “contractual service suppliers” and “self-employed independent professionals” based overseas who undertake an assignment in the UK by virtue of an international trade commitment. Replaces the contractual service supplier and independent professional provisions in the International Agreement route (whilst keeping the rest of the provisions).
Secondment Worker: a brand new route for workers being seconded to the UK “as part of a high value contract or investment by their overseas employer”.
Despite recommendations from the Migration Advisory Committee, none of these five routes lead to settlement. In the case of the UK Expansion Worker, this represents a step backwards: the visa it is due to replace – Sole Representative – currently leads to settlement. (Existing sole reps will be permitted to settle under transitional provisions, assuming all other requirements are met.)
