UK Business Visitor Visa- Eligibility, Documents Required & Application Process

A UK Business Visitor visa allows foreign nationals to come to the UK to carry out certain business-related activities. This is a visa designed for overseas nationals travelling to the UK for a short period, usually up to 6 months, to undertake specific unpaid business activities. This is a sub-category of the UK Standard Visitor visa. The rules are strict about what activities a business visitor can and cannot undertake, and visitors must be able to show that they are genuinely coming to the UK for business activities and will return home at the end of their permission.

The UK Business Visitor visa permits an individual to enter for activities that support their role overseas. They cannot take up employment or carry out paid work in the UK. Typical business activities include attending seminars, meetings, trade fairs, or carrying out site visits and inspections. 

Please note that although the Business Visitor visa is designed to support international business engagement, it is not a work visa and therefore one cannot use this visa to live or work in the UK.

Permitted activities for business visitors 

A business visitor can do the following business activities:

• Attend conferences, meetings, seminars, and interviews

• Negotiate and sign deals and contracts

• Attend trade fairs to promote business, provided they are not directly selling

• Carry out site visits and inspections

• Gather information for their employment overseas

• Be briefed on a UK-based customer’s requirements, provided any work for the customer is done outside of the UK; and

• Undertake activities relating to their employment overseas remotely from within the UK, provided this is not the primary purpose of their visit.

• Get work-related training from a UK-based organisation or company if they require it for their employment overseas, and the training is not available in their home country

• Give a one-off or speeches and short series of talks as long as these activities are not organised as commercial events and will not make a profit for the organiser 

• Conduct site visits and inspections

• Manage the delivery of goods and services from a UK company to their overseas company or organisation

• Manage the delivery of goods and services provided by a UK-based company to their overseas company

• Offer advice and consultation, troubleshoot, give training, and share skills and knowledge on specific internal projects with UK employees of the same corporate group they work for overseas

• Install, dismantle, service, repair, or advise on equipment, machinery, computer software, and hardware (or train UK-based workers to provide these services), if their overseas company has a purchase, supply, or lease contract with a UK company or organisation

Doing activities as part of an overseas job role

A person can do certain additional activities in the UK as a Standard Visitor if they are employed overseas as:

• An archaeologist

• An artist, entertainer, or musician

• A personal assistant and/or bodyguard

• A driver (working for an operator or self-employed operator) on a genuine international route between the UK and a country outside the UK

• An IA (Internal Auditor)

• A correspondent, journalist, producer, or cameraman 

• A lawyer or expert witness

• A market researcher and analyst

• A personal assistant

• A pilot or cabin crew member to work in the UK between 01 March and 31 October under the terms of a Civil Aviation Authority-approved Wet Lease Agreement. 

• A professor from an overseas academic institution

• A religious worker

• A researcher 

• A scientist

• A seafarer (someone who normally works on a vessel on a genuine international route between a UK port and a port outside the UK) 

• A sports person, personal or technical staff of the sports person, or sports official

• A tour group courier

• A translator and/or interpreter

• A member of a film crew (actors, directors, producers, or technicians)

• A member of the production or technical staff team supporting a musician, artist, or entertainer

Entry requirements for business visitors 

From April 2025, specified non-visa nationals need to obtain an ETA (Electronic Travel Authorisation) to travel to the UK as a visitor (including for business activities) for up to 6 months. An ETA allows an individual to travel to the UK, but it does not allow the ETA holder to enter the UK. The holder of an ETA will still need to obtain permission to enter as a business visitor on their arrival in the UK.

Visa nationals, on the other hand, in order to come to the UK as a business visitor, must apply for and obtain entry clearance (a visit visa) to the UK before arriving here.

If a person gets permission as a business visitor to the UK for less than 6 months

They may be able to get their stay extended as long as the total time they remain in the UK does not exceed 6 months or extend due to compassionate or compelling circumstances.

Validity requirements for entry clearance to the UK as a business visitor 

A visitor seeking entry clearance to the UK for business activities must apply online on the website gov.uk using the specified application form. For entry clearance, one needs to use this form

An application seeking entry clearance in the UK as a visitor must satisfy all the following criteria:

(a) The applicant must have paid any required fee; and

(b) The applicant must have enrolled in biometrics (their fingerprints and facial photograph) when required; and

(c) The applicant must have submitted a passport or other valid document to establish their identity and nationality.

An application seeking entry clearance to the UK as a visitor must be made from outside the country. 

Any application that does not satisfy all the validity criteria as a visitor for doing permitted business activities may be rejected as invalid and not considered.

Suitability Requirements for entry clearance to the UK as a business visitor

The business visitor visa applicant must not fall for refusal under Immigration Rules - Part Suitability.

Eligibility requirements for entry clearance to the UK as a business visitor

A person can visit the UK to perform specific business activities. The applicants will need to meet the general eligibility criteria for a standard visitor visa and specific criteria applying to a business visitor visa. 

Under the Immigration Rules – Appendix V – Visitor, a person applying to travel to the UK for up to 6 months for business activities must: 

• Be a genuine visitor, which means they must

• Leave the UK when their visit ends. They must prove that they have significant ties – family, monetary or property ties 

• Not reside in the UK for extended periods through successive or frequent visits, or make the UK their main home

• Not engage in any of the prohibited activities, for example, the Visitor must not intend to work in the UK unless expressly allowed by the permitted activities.

• Maintain and accommodate themselves for the whole stay in the UK without using public funds (or be funded by someone else, such as an inviting organisation, to support them)

• Be able to pay the cost of the return or onward journey without using public funds (or be funded by someone else, including their inviting organisation, to pay for the journey) 

If a person is visiting the UK to do activities as part of an overseas job role will need to meet the requirements specific to their job they are coming to the UK for. They can visit the UK for certain permitted activities if they:

• Have a letter of invitation from a UK-based client or organisation for a pre-arranged event or other permitted engagement

• Can show they are an expert in their profession

• Are aged 18 or over

The engagement they are visiting the UK as part of an overseas job role must be relevant to their expertise, qualifications, and main job in their home country.

The documents they will need

A business visitor visa applicant must provide a passport or a valid travel document. Their passport should be valid for the complete duration of their stay in the UK and have a blank page for their business visitor visa. 

The other documents they will need to submit include, but are not limited to:

• Copies of their older passports showing evidence of travel to other countries

• Confirmation of their legal residence, if they are not a citizen of the country they are applying in, or their right to reside there is not included in their passport

• Proof of funds required, such as a bank statement or payslip, to demonstrate that they can pay for all reasonable costs related to their visit to the UK, 

• In case someone else (the applicant’s sponsor, such as a friend or a family member) is covering the cost of maintenance, travel, or accommodation, they should provide evidence showing:

  • What support is being provided, and whether the support extends to any dependent family members

  • How this support is being provided

  • The sponsor has sufficient funds to support themselves and their dependents adequately

  • The relationship between them and the sponsor

  • The sponsor is legally in the UK (if applicable), for example, if they hold a British passport 

• Other socio-economic evidence to show that they have strong ties to their home country, and hence they will return at the end of their visit. For example,

  • A letter from their employer on company-headed paper, detailing their job role, salary, and length of employment, and stating that they have been granted annual leave to visit the UK 

  • Evidence of owning property in their home country 

  • Evidence of having a family member who depends on them in their home country.

• Those coming to the UK to attend a business conference or event should submit an invitation letter from the event organiser.

• Those visiting the UK to work with their UK-based colleagues should submit a letter from their employer confirming this.

• A pilot or cabin crew member travelling to the UK to work under a wet lease agreement should submit a letter from their employer confirming that they are employed by them and that a wet lease agreement is in place.

Those coming to the UK to perform activities as an artist/entertainer/sports person can provide

• Dates and times of performances, concerts, screenings, exhibitions, talks, and readings

• Details of any awards they have received

• Proof of their recent performances

Applying for an entry clearance for a business visitor visa

A person who needs a business visitor visa must apply online on the website gov.uk using the specified application form. They must apply from outside the UK before they travel to the UK.

The earliest someone can apply for a UK business visitor visa is 3 months before they travel to the UK. 

They need to pay the business visitor visa application fee, which is £127.

As part of their online visa application, they will need to book an appointment at a VAC (Visa Application Centre) in their country. On the date of appointment, they will have their biometrics (their fingerprints and facial photograph) taken at the VAC. 

The VAC may keep their passport and documents while processing their application.

Getting a decision for entry clearance

Once a person has applied online, proved their identity, and submitted the supporting documents, they will usually get a decision on their application for a business visitor visa within 3 weeks.

Granting leave to enter as a business visitor

Before granting leave to enter, the Home Office must be satisfied: 

• The applicant has valid entry clearance 

• There are no reasons to believe: 

            o That the applicant submitted false information to get the entry clearance 

o that circumstances have changed since the applicant was issued entry clearance, or 

o the purpose of entering the UK is different from that for which the entry clearance was issued 

• None of the sections under Part Suitability apply. 

If the Home Office is satisfied that the person fulfils all the requirements, they will grant the applicant leave to enter the UK as a business visitor to the UK.  

A person seeking leave to enter the UK as a business visitor may be admitted here for a period up to 6 months, subject to the conditions of no work, no study, and no access to public funds.

Refusal of a UK business visitor visa

If the decision maker is satisfied that an applicant meets all suitability and the relevant eligibility requirements for a business visitor visa, they will grant the visa to the applicant; otherwise, their application will be refused.