UK Global Business Mobility & Expansion Route Visas

The UK provides several business visa options to foreign businesses, including the Business Visitor Visa for short-term business activities, the Innovator Founder Visa for experienced entrepreneurs with innovative business ideas, and the GBM (Global Business Mobility) visas for representatives of overseas businesses.

Foreign businesses wishing to transfer employees to the UK for assignments related to their UK branch can benefit from the rich variety of visa types. These UK visas cater to overseas company executives and entrepreneurs of all stripes.

Global Business Mobility or GBM route is a specialized route for overseas businesses looking to set up their presence in the UK or expand it here. This route has five visa options, and each one caters to different objectives. For example, the UK Expansion Worker visa is for employees of overseas businesses, and the Graduate Trainee visa is for employees of overseas businesses on graduate training programmes. Each of these visas is designed for different business activities and lengths of leave.

Visas under the GBM route allow employees of overseas businesses to work for their employer in the UK. On the other hand, these visas allow overseas business to easily and speedily establish their presence in the UK, even without prior physical presence in the country. The Secondment Worker visa on this route allows collaboration between UK and international businesses to fulfil contractual obligation. 

The visa conditions, requirements, and the length of permission to come to or stay in the UK are different. These are all sponsored routes, meaning applicants must have job sponsorships before applying for these visas.  

Employers overseas, on the other hand, must apply for and obtain a sponsor licence in order to recruit and transfer the workers for a specific task or assignment in the UK.

Global Business Mobility 

The UK Government's new GBM (Global Business Mobility) route was launched on 11 April 2022 in line with their aim of turning the UK into an attractive destination for the world's best and brightest businesses and workers who could contribute to the UK’s plans for growth. This is a sponsored route that streamlines the UK immigration process for overseas businesses by consolidating, reforming, replacing existing routes, and expanding various routes, enabling greater business mobility.

The Global Business Mobility routes enable an overseas business to temporarily assign or transfer employees to the UK for a specific corporate purpose, for example, establishing a new branch or subsidiary in the UK, or senior executives and specialists undertaking temporary projects or assignments at a UK branch or subsidiary of the business in the country, that could not otherwise be done by a resident worker.

The GBM route consists of five visas. They are;

• Senior or Specialist Worker Visa - replaced the former ICT (intra-company transfer) route

• Graduate Trainee Visa - replaced the former UK intra-company graduate trainee route

• Secondment Worker Visa 

• Service Supplier Visa - replaced the service supplier provisions in the UK Temporary Work International Agreement route

• UK Expansion Worker Visa - replaced the sole representative provisions in the UK representative of an overseas business route

These are sub-routes under the umbrella of GBM for experienced workers based outside the UK transferring to a UK branch of their overseas employer. Out of these five visas, no visa is a route to settlement. 

All five visas require a business overseas to obtain a sponsor license in the UK from the Home Office before they can start assigning or transferring their staff to the country. 

Please note that minimum salary thresholds for Senior or Specialist Worker visa and Expansion Worker Visa have increased to £52,500 for the GBM route. The new minimum salary threshold for the Graduate Trainee Visa is now £27,300. 

These increases are effective for new applications made on or after 22 July 2025.

UK Expansion Worker

A UK Expansion Worker visa allows an overseas worker to come to or stay in the UK to undertake temporary work assignments related to setting up a branch of an overseas business in the UK that has not begun trading in the UK yet. However, workers of a business that is already trading in the UK should apply for a Senior or Specialist Worker visa instead.

The applicant must already work for the A-rated sponsor group as a senior manager or specialist employee and meet other eligibility criteria, such as doing an eligible job and being paid the minimum salary required for the job.

The employer, on the other hand, must be a licenced sponsor in the UK and must assign a CoS (Certificate of Sponsorship) to the employee for the job they are transferring to the UK. 

A UK expansion worker will normally have leave of 12 months after the start date of the work stated on their CoS or the end date given on their CoS plus 14 days, whichever is shorter.

A spouse/civil partner and children can apply as ‘dependants’ to come to or stay in the UK on this route.

The GBM – UK Expansion Worker visa is not a route to settlement.

Senior and Specialist Worker

The Senior or Specialist Worker visa - Global Business Mobility allows overseas workers to come to or stay in the UK to undertake temporary, eligible work assignments in the UK. The worker applying for this route must be a senior manager or specialist employee and be assigned to a UK branch of their employer overseas. This type of assignment is often called an ICT or Intra-Company Transfer.

The applicant must be an existing employee of an approved organisation holding a valid sponsor licence. 

The employer, on the other hand, must be authorised by the Home Office and listed as A-rated to sponsor a Senior or Specialist Worker and assign a CoS

A UK Senior or Specialist worker will normally have leave until the end date given on their CoS plus 14 days or 5 years, whichever is shorter.

A spouse/civil partner and children can apply as ‘dependants’ to come to or stay in the UK on this route.

The Senior or Specialist Worker visa - Global Business Mobility route is not a route to settlement.

Graduate Trainee Visa

The GBM - Graduate Trainee Visa allows overseas workers to come to or stay in the UK to undertake temporary, eligible work assignments in the UK branch of their employer overseas. The worker's job must be a part of a graduate trainee course leading to a senior management or specialist position, and they are required to do a work placement in the UK. This type of assignment is often called an ICT or Intra-Company Transfer – Graduate Trainee.

The applicant must be an existing employee of an approved organisation holding a valid sponsor licence. 

The employer, on the other hand, must be authorised by the Home Office and listed as A-rated to sponsor a Senior or Specialist Worker and assign a CoS

A UK GBM - Graduate Trainee will normally have leave for one year after the start date of the work stated on their CoS or the end date given on their CoS plus 14 days, whichever is shorter.

A spouse/civil partner and children can apply as ‘dependants’ to come to or stay in the UK on this route. The GBM - Graduate Trainee Visa is not a route to settlement.