Factsheet: Sponsoring a UK
Expansion Worker
FAQs
27 April 2022
The UK Expansion Worker visa is a sub-category of the UK’s Global Business Mobility (GBM) route. A UK Expansion Worker visa allows the holder to come to the UK to set up a branch of an overseas business that has not started trading in the UK yet. Applicants must already work for the overseas business as either a senior manager or specialist employee. From 11 April 2022, this visa has replaced the Sole Representative route.
Whereas its predecessor route was an unsponsored route, the UK Expansion Worker route requires the worker to have a UK sponsor. That sponsor will be a branch or wholly-owned subsidiary of an established overseas business.
As well as meeting the general requirements to qualify for a sponsor licence, businesses applying to sponsor workers under the UK Expansion Worker route must meet additional requirements to show that they have:
- A UK ‘footprint’
- An overseas trading presence
- Credible plans to expand to the UK and establish a business presence within 2 years.
To help employers understand these additional requirements, Smith Stone Walters has created a free guide which addresses some of the most frequently asked questions about sponsorship under the UK Expansion Worker route.
Click here to download the factsheet.
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