The UK Expansion Worker route is for businesses which are set up and trading outside of the UK, who wish to send a senior manager to expand their business presence in the UK. The overseas company must not already have a trading presence in the UK.

Overseas businesses do not have a person based in the UK able to establish the business and make a sponsor licence application. It allows the overseas business to send a worker to the UK to do this.

UK Expansion Worker Visa applicants will need to be currently working for a business or organisation that is linked to their UK sponsor by common ownership or control, or by a joint venture on which they are sponsored to work. They must have worked outside the UK for the linked business or organisation for a cumulative period of at least 12 months unless they are a high earner earning £73,900 per year.

The self-skilled sponsorship worker route can be considered by individuals who wish to set up a new business or own an existing business in the UK. This implies you could be eligible for a UK skilled worker visa under the sponsorship of your own UK company. Before you can apply for a UK Skilled Worker visa through self-sponsorship, your UK company must first get a Skilled Worker Sponsor Licence.

The Skilled Worker route leads to settlement, which provides a personal benefit to the applicant. However, this may not be required for a UK Expansion Worker. They are in the UK even if they have no desire to settle there.

Both routes allow for main applicants to bring their dependent partners and children under the age of 18.

Is sponsorship required for either the UK Expansion Worker or Skilled Worker routes?

A sponsor licence is necessary for both the UK Expansion Worker and the Skilled Worker routes before an individual may apply for a UK visa. UK Expansion Worker sponsor licence in order to use the UK Expansion Worker route. Either an A-rating or a provisional A-rating is required. This will depend on whether there is already a worker based in the UK or not.

However, to use the Skilled Worker route, the UK employer must have an A-rated Skilled Worker sponsor licence.

In practice, how does sponsorship work?

The business that is seeking a sponsor licence must appoint one or more individuals to fulfil the Key Personnel duties. Typically, these individuals must reside in the United Kingdom. Obviously, this is impractical for foreign companies seeking to expand their business by sending employees to the United Kingdom. Because of this, there is an uncommon exception to the rule: the person hired to fill the function of Authorising Officer for a GBM: UK Expansion Worker licence may be an employee who currently resides in the UK and will be in charge of the expansion there, OR

In the event that no one in the UK is qualified for this position, a senior employee of the overseas business will be delegated to the UK with the responsibility of supervising the expansion.

If they are the most senior individual in the company, they must be in charge of recruiting migrant workers and making sure the company fulfils its sponsor duties, or they must be in charge of the activity as a licenced sponsor in another role.

When the Authorising Officer is based in the UK, they are required to nominate a Level 1 User and Key Contact who is also based in the UK. A settled worker is required to be a Level 1 User. In the case where the Authorising Officer is a Level 1 User and an employee of the overseas business, they must also be in that position. They would be required to issue their own Certificate of Sponsorship ("CoS") in this scenario. It is just not permissible for Skilled Workers to do this. Individuals sponsored as Skilled Workers are ineligible to assume Key Personnel positions.

How long are migrants permitted to stay in the UK?

UK Expansion workers must spend more than five years in any six-year period in the UK in this category unless they are a high earner in which case they cannot spend more than nine years in any 10-year period.

However, there is no period limit on how long a migrant can stay in the UK as a Skilled Worker, however, they may be eligible for settlement after five years in this category.

Do the applicants need to meet English Requirements?

English proficiency is not a requirement for the UK Expansion Worker route. However, it is necessary for Skilled Workers to demonstrate that they satisfy the English language requirements for Level B1 of the CEFR in each of the following four areas: speaking, listening, reading, and writing.

Considerations when applying for a sponsor licence either expansion worker or skilled worker

The Skilled Worker route is a route to settlement, which is a personal benefit to the applicant. However, the Expansion worker route is designed for businesses and workers undertaking temporary business assignments in the UK and therefore will not lead directly to settlement in the UK.

The UK Expansion Worker route is a maximum two-year leave grant. This will be an unclear proceed for many since it would leave a company that may have invested significant funds in its UK expansion with little clarity about the medium and long-term prospects for the business, as no senior staff will be able to manage operations. Similarly, it may be more difficult to persuade senior personnel to undergo the disruption of transferring themselves and their families for only two years.

Extension applications can be submitted to let a person remain in this category (and other Global Mobility Categories) for up to five years within a six-year term, but they cannot lead to settlement. This issue may be alleviated by Expansion Workers switching to alternate routes, however, time spent in this category will not count towards settlement in the UK.

However, once in the UK, Expansion Worker visa holders may be able to switch to another immigration route that does allow them to undertake a temporary work assignment in the UK.

There will be five global business mobility routes that correspond to different temporary assignment types:

• Senior or Specialist Worker;
• Service Supplier;
• Secondment Worker;

It allows the overseas business to send a worker to the UK to do this. It is open to the UK business, once established, to apply for a Skilled Worker sponsor licence to sponsor workers in the UK on a more long-term basis. It is permissible for UK Expansion Workers to switch to become Skilled Workers from within the UK.