Global Business Mobility has five routes for overseas businesses moving staff to the UK. They share a feature: none of them leads to settlement, so long-term plans need another route.
Information checked against the sources listed below on 10 October 2026. Rules, fees and thresholds change; this is general information, not advice on your case, and does not assess whether you qualify.
What the official guidance says.
- Senior or Specialist Worker: for existing employees of Home Office-approved sponsors working at their employer’s UK branch. You need an eligible occupation, a certificate of sponsorship and the minimum salary. The visa lasts the shorter of the certificate period plus 14 days or 5 years, with maximum total stay limits.
- Graduate Trainee: for existing employees of approved sponsors on a managerial or specialist graduate programme at the UK branch. You must have worked for the sponsor outside the UK for at least 3 months immediately before applying, and cannot switch to this visa from inside the UK. It lasts the shorter of the certificate period plus 14 days or 12 months, and cannot be extended.
- UK Expansion Worker: for senior managers or specialist employees of an overseas business setting up a UK branch that has not yet started trading. It lasts the shorter of 12 months from the job start date or the certificate time plus 14 days, and can be extended by 12 months to a maximum of 2 years.
- Service Supplier: for overseas employees or self-employed professionals with a contract to provide services to a UK company, where the contract is covered by a valid international trade agreement. Stays are limited to 6 or 12 months, depending on the trade agreement.
- Secondment Worker: for existing employees of an overseas organisation transferred to the UK to work for a different UK organisation under a Home Office-approved high-value contract. It lasts the shorter of 12 months or the certificate time plus 14 days, extendable by 12 months to a maximum of 2 years.
- None of the five routes allows an application for indefinite leave to remain. Eligible partners and children can join or stay as dependants.
What usually decides the outcome.
- Which route fits the transfer: branch, expansion, contract, secondment or trainee.
- Whether the employee meets the prior employment period for the route.
- Whether your business holds, or can obtain, the right sponsor licence.
- What the employee’s longer-term route is once the Global Business Mobility permission ends.
How we can help.
Depending on what you need, support can range from a first conversation to full representation. Ask for the scope of any work, and an explanation of our fees and separate government charges, in writing before you instruct the firm.
- Initial consultation and eligibility assessment. A conversation about your circumstances, the routes that may apply and the risks.
- Written advice and immigration planning. A considered view on your options and a plan that looks ahead to extensions, settlement or citizenship.
- Document and application checking. A review of an application or evidence you have prepared, before you submit it.
- Full application preparation and representation. Preparing and submitting the application, and dealing with the Home Office on your behalf.
- Responses to Home Office requests. Help answering requests for further information, interviews or evidence.
- Refusal analysis and next steps. Understanding why an application failed and whether to seek review, appeal, judicial review or make a fresh application.
- Ongoing business immigration support. Continuing help for employers with sponsorship, reporting, record keeping and right-to-work compliance.
Before you contact us
- Write a short summary of your circumstances and what you want to achieve.
- Note any decision dates, expiry dates or deadlines.
- Do not send passport numbers or sensitive documents in the first enquiry. We will explain how to share them securely.