The Global Business Mobility – Service Supplier route is for overseas workers who are undertaking temporary work assignments in the UK, where the worker is either a contractual service supplier employed by an overseas service provider or a self-employed independent professional based overseas, and the work is part of a contract covered by one of the UK’s international trade agreements.
To qualify for a Service Supplier visa, you must:
If your application is approved, you will normally be granted leave as a Service Supplier for a period of 6-12 months, depending on the trade agreement relied on.
You can return to the UK under different trade agreements. However, care has to be taken not to spend more than the maximum cumulative time permitted in the UK under any of the Global Business Mobility routes – in most cases, this is a maximum of 5 years in any 6-year period. If you are applying as a high earner (i.e. you will be earning at least £73,900 per annum), this limit increases to 9 years in any 10-year period.
As a Service Supplier visa holder, you are only permitted to work in the UK within the job for which you are being sponsored.
You are also permitted to undertake voluntary work and study in the UK in addition to your work, subject to certain conditions.
The Global Business Mobility – Service Supplier visa allows you to bring a dependant spouse or partner and dependant children who are under the age of 18 at the time of the initial application.
The Secondment Worker visa route does not lead to settlement in the UK. It may be possible, however, to switch from this visa route into an immigration category which does lead to settlement, such as the Skilled Worker.
For more information about us and our corporate immigration services, please contact a member of the team who can answer any questions and guide you through the process.
Contact us using our contact form by selecting a service from the drop down list below.
