A Senior or Specialist Worker

A Senior or Specialist Worker

A Senior or Specialist Worker visa allows you to come to or stay in the UK to do an eligible job at your employer’s UK branch. This visa has replaced the Intra-company Transfer visa, previously the Tier 2 (Intra-company Transfer) Long-term Staff visa.

If you are on a graduate trainee programme, you’ll need to apply for a Graduate Trainee visa.

Eligibility

To qualify for a Senior or Specialist Worker visa, you must be an existing employee of an organisation that’s been approved by the Home Office as a sponsor and they must have provided you  a ‘certificate of sponsorship’ with information about the work you will do in the UK. You must be undertaking a job that’s on the list of eligible occupations and be paid at least £48,500 per year. Your partner and children can apply to join you or stay in the UK as your ‘dependants’ if they’re eligible.

How long you can stay

You can stay in the UK with a senior or Specialist Worker visa for whichever is shorter of: The time given on your certificate of sponsorship plus 14 days or 5 years. You can apply to extend your visa or apply for another one as many times as you like up to the maximum total stay. The maximum total stay allowed for a Senior and Specialist Worker visa is 5 years in any 6 year period if you’re paid less than £73,900 a year and 9 years in any 10 year period if you’re paid £73,900 a year or more

Any time you spend in the UK on one of the following visas will be included in your maximum total stay:

• Intra-company Graduate Trainee visa
• Intra-company Transfer visa
• Graduate Trainee visa (Global Business Mobility)
• Secondment Worker visa (Global Business Mobility)
• Senior or Specialist Worker visa (Global Business Mobility)
• Service Supplier visa (Global Business Mobility)
• UK Expansion Worker visa (Global Business Mobility)

You can switch to, and extend this visa from within the UK. You can apply for a visa up to 3 months before the day you are due to start work in the UK. This date is listed on your certificate of sponsorship. Once you’ve applied online, proved your identity and provided your documents, you’ll usually get a decision on your visa within:

• 3 weeks, if you’re outside the UK
• 8 weeks, if you’re inside the UK

If you had a Tier 2 (Intra-company Transfer) Long-term Staff visa before 6 April 2011

You can stay in the UK for as long as your employer is sponsoring you if you’ve been in the UK since 6 April 2011 on any of the following visas:

• Tier 2 (Intra-company Transfer) Long-term Staff visa
• Intra-company Transfer visa
• Senior or Specialist Worker visa (Global Business Mobility)

There is no maximum stay.

Graduate Trainee

This category enables a company to transfer a recent graduate from their overseas entity to undertake a training programme in the UK.

Please note that the Short Term Category has been discontinued and is no longer in force.

For more information please contact our specialist compliance team today on +44(0)203 114 1198 or e-mail us at privateimmigration@duncanlewis.com / businessimmigration@duncanlewis.com.