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UK Expansion Worker Visa
The UK Expansion Worker Visa allows overseas businesses to send a senior employee to the UK to establish a new branch or wholly owned subsidiary. This route is suitable for international companies that do not yet trade in the UK but are looking to set up operations, secure premises, recruit staff and prepare the business for future growth in the UK market.
Our UK based immigration specialists provide clear and practical guidance on eligibility, sponsor licence requirements and visa applications. If you need assistance with UK business visas or company expansion, speak to our team today by calling 020 3384 4389 for professional support tailored to your business goals.
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Ready to Secure Your UK Visa Without Delays?
To establish a UK branch of an overseas company that has not yet begun trading in the UK, foreign nationals are able to come to the UK on an Expansion Worker visa. If you are a senior manager or specialist employee currently working for the company, you are qualified to apply for this visa.
Remember that a Senior or Specialist Worker visa is the better choice if the company is currently operating in the UK. You can apply for this visa through the UK government’s Global Business Mobility program.
UK Expansion Worker Visa
Purpose
For overseas businesses not yet trading in the UK who wish to send senior or specialist staff to establish UK operations.
Eligibility Requirements
Valid Certificate of Sponsorship, eligible occupation, required minimum salary, and prior employment with the overseas business (usually twelve months) unless an exception applies.
Salary Threshold
Must meet a minimum of £48,500 or the ‘going rate’ for the role, whichever is higher.
Visa Duration & Extensions
Granted for either 12 months after the job’s start date or the CoS expiry plus fourteen days (whichever is shorter). Extension possible for twelve months. Maximum stay on this route: Two years.
The Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS) is a fee paid by most visa and immigration applicants for over six months to access the National Health Service (NHS). It is not required for British citizenship applications, as permanent residents contribute via taxes like National Insurance.
This route does not lead directly to settlement. You may switch to another immigration visa route that does allow settlement (e.g. Skilled Worker) if eligible.
When applying for a Spouse visa, you must pay the Immigration Health Surcharge to cover your healthcare costs while in the UK. Since February 2024, the surcharge has been £1,035 per year, following a 86% increase. For in-country application, it will be for 30 months and out-country application, it will be for 33 months.
You can bring your partner and children (if eligible). You can work only in the role in your Certificate of Sponsorship, study, travel in/out of the UK, and do voluntary work.
Expert Guidance
Are you planning to expand your business to the UK?
The UK Expansion Worker route offers a structured pathway, but your eligibility depends on meeting strict criteria.
Benefits
Why Choose Us for Your Expansion Worker Visa UK?
Tight schedule and no time to deal with endless paperwork? We take the burden off your shoulders, ensuring a fast and stress-free visa process so you can focus on your business trip.
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Applications Approved
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From Consultation to Visa Approval
Our immigration specialists streamline your application process by clearly identifying which evidence and strategies will strengthen your case.
By aligning your unique circumstances with Home Office requirements, we help you focus on high-impact preparations while addressing any potential weaknesses in your application.
From Consultation to Visa Approval
Our immigration specialists streamline your application process by clearly identifying which evidence and strategies will strengthen your case.
By aligning your unique circumstances with Home Office requirements, we help you focus on high-impact preparations while addressing any potential weaknesses in your application.
Maximising Your Approval Chances
Our goal is to maximise the chances of your visa being approved the first time. By carefully reviewing your circumstances, identifying potential weaknesses, and preparing strong supporting evidence, we significantly reduce the risk of refusals. Every application is checked by senior immigration solicitors who apply their expertise to make your case as clear, accurate, and persuasive as possible. This attention to detail is what improves success rates and helps our clients move forward with confidence.
Success Rate Optimisation
We carefully analyse every detail of your application to maximise the chances of approval. By addressing weaknesses, strengthening supporting evidence, and ensuring full compliance with Home Office rules, we optimise your case for success. This thorough approach significantly improves approval rates and gives you confidence throughout the process.
Risk Mitigation Strategies
We identify potential risks in your application early and put safeguards in place to address them. By preparing strong evidence, clarifying complex points, and anticipating Home Office concerns, we minimise the chance of delays or refusals.
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Evidence-based case preparation
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Home Office compliance checks
-
Success rate optimisation
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Risk mitigation strategies
From Consultation to Visa Approval
Our immigration specialists streamline your application process by clearly identifying which evidence and strategies will strengthen your case.
By aligning your unique circumstances with Home Office requirements, we help you focus on high-impact preparations while addressing any potential weaknesses in your application.
Maximising Your Approval Chances
Our goal is to maximise the chances of your visa being approved the first time. By carefully reviewing your circumstances, identifying potential weaknesses, and preparing strong supporting evidence, we significantly reduce the risk of refusals. Every application is checked by senior immigration solicitors who apply their expertise to make your case as clear, accurate, and persuasive as possible. This attention to detail is what improves success rates and helps our clients move forward with confidence.
Success Rate Optimisation
We carefully analyse every detail of your application to maximise the chances of approval. By addressing weaknesses, strengthening supporting evidence, and ensuring full compliance with Home Office rules, we optimise your case for success. This thorough approach significantly improves approval rates and gives you confidence throughout the process.
Risk Mitigation Strategies
We identify potential risks in your application early and put safeguards in place to address them. By preparing strong evidence, clarifying complex points, and anticipating Home Office concerns, we minimise the chance of delays or refusals.
Work With Trusted, SRA-Regulated UK Immigration Experts
Your immigration journey is too important to risk on unqualified or unregulated help. Every case we handle is prepared by SRA-regulated solicitors who apply structured legal reasoning, precise documentation checks and full compliance with Home Office and UKVI rules.
Our accreditations are your assurance that you are working with a reputable, experienced and highly trained legal team. We combine decades of immigration expertise with strict professional standards to give you clarity, confidence and complete peace of mind — no matter which visa or application route you are pursuing.
Who is Eligible for an Expansion Worker Visa UK?
The eligibility criteria to apply for a UK expansion worker visa is:
- The employer must be a UK sponsor;
- The certificate of sponsorship must be genuine.
- Unless you fall into one of the following categories, you must have worked for a company outside of the UK for a minimum of twelve months:
- Earning more than £73,900
- Moreover, a Japanese national working for a Japanese firm with UK expansion plans
- A permanent resident or citizen of Australia working for an Australian firm with UK expansion plans
- Perform work that qualifies as an eligible occupation.
- Receive an annual salary of £48,500 or more, whichever is greater, as compensation for your work.
With a UK Expansion Worker Visa, what can I do?
While you’re in the UK on an Expansion Worker visa, you’ll have the freedom to do:
- Get the job listed on your sponsorship card and work for your sponsor.
- Study
- If you are eligible, you can bring your partner and any eligible children with you as your “dependants.”
- Perform community service
- Go on a vacation and then come back to the UK
Notably, you won’t have the option to:
- Obtain a State Pension or access most other public funds
- You should not change occupations unless you have updated your visa and are eligible.
- Have a second job.
- To seek indefinite leave to remain and establish a permanent residence in the UK.
Points Requirement
The UK Expansion Worker visa has a point system that all candidates must adhere to.
You need to score 60 points in all three areas. The points for each of these groups are twenty.
Here are the several types:
- To qualify for sponsorship, your company, which must be a licensed sponsor, must offer you a valid certificate (Twenty points).
- The job you have to do requires a certain level of expertise, and it needs to be associated with a specific eligible occupation code (Twenty points).
- At least £48,500 yearly or the ‘going rate’ for your job (Twenty points) is the minimum salary required.
It is important to remember that in order to qualify for this visa, you need to achieve a total of 60 points across the criteria mentioned above. Additionally, you must meet all of the other eligibility requirements.
How Long Can I Stay in the UK on an Expansion Worker Visa?
To remain in the UK with a UK Expansion Worker visa, you must not exceed the duration specified on your sponsorship certificate plus fourteen days, or twelve months following the start date of your sponsored position, whichever is less.
Visa extensions of up to twelve months are available upon request. Nevertheless, this visa only allows you to remain in the UK for a maximum of two years.
Keep in mind that your maximum stay on a UK Expansion Worker visa can be reduced if you have previously stayed in the UK on this or another type of visa. Depending on your visa status, you may only be able to remain in the UK for a maximum of five years out of every six years:
- Intra-company Graduate Trainee visa
- Secondment Worker visa
- Intra-company Transfer visa
- Graduate Trainee visa
- Service Supplier visa
- Senior or Specialist Worker visa
Which Documents are Required for a UK Expansion Worker Visa?
Core Documents
To apply for an Expansion Worker visa, you must present the following documents:
- Your company will provide you with your certificate of sponsorship reference number.
- Identity and nationality proof in the form of a passport or other valid document
- Your yearly income and position
- Your occupation code
- On your certificate of sponsorship, you will see your employer’s name and sponsor licence number.
- supporting documentation (such as bank statements) demonstrating that you have sufficient funds to sustain yourself while in the UK
- If you are applying with a partner or children, you must provide evidence of your relationship with them.
- Your tuberculosis test findings (if your country is on the list)
Other Required Documents
Along with your visa application, you could be required to provide additional documents. Among these, you might find:
- Proof that you’ve spent at least a year working for a company outside of the UK, such as through:
- Printed pay stubs
- A letter from your sponsor signed by a top staff member and attached to your online payslips
- Statements from a bank or building society
- Passbooks for building societies
- If your job requires you to do sensitive research at the PhD level or above, you must have a valid ATAS certificate.
Unless you qualify under one of the exceptions, you won’t have to prove that you’ve worked for your company outside the UK for twelve.
It should be noted that certified translations of any documents not written in English or Welsh are required for all of the documents you submit.
How to Apply for a UK Expansion Worker Visa?
To get an Expansion Worker visa, you have to go online to the UK government’s website.
Important: unless an exception applies, you need to have worked for your employer outside of the UK for a minimum of twelve months before applying.
For your initial application, please complete the application form and attach any required supporting papers.
You will also need to show proof of your identity. Both in-person at a visa application centre and online using the “UK Immigration: ID Check” app will be sufficient to verify your identification.
In order to apply for a bio-metric residence permit, you will need to provide fingerprints and have a photo taken at a visa application centre. Furthermore, your passport and supporting documents may have to be kept by the visa application centre while they handle your application.
During the application process, you will be informed of the methods required to verify your identification.
Extending an Expansion Worker visa, changing your visa status from another UK visa, or updating your visa due to a change in employment all require separate applications.
What is the Cost of UK Expansion Worker Visa?
The application fee for an Expansion Worker visa is £298.
At the time of application, you must also pay the immigration healthcare surcharge. You should expect to pay £1,035 annually for as long as you remain in the UK.
Additionally, you’ll need to prove you can sustain yourself once you get to the UK by having £1,270 on hand.
For a minimum of twenty eight days in a row, you must have had the funds accessible. Within thirty-one days after your application date, the twenty eight day period must conclude.
Unless you have been in the UK for twelve months or more on a valid visa, you will typically be required to provide proof of this when you apply.
Please be aware that to enter the UK legally, you and your dependants must provide evidence that you can pay for their basic needs.
What is the Processing Time For a UK Expansion Worker Visa?
If you are filing for an Expansion Worker visa from outside the UK, you should hear back within three weeks.
It usually takes about eight weeks to get a decision if you apply from within the UK.
If you want to get this visa, you must do so at least three months before you start working in the UK. Your certificate of sponsorship will include this date.
You should also give yourself extra time if you need to go to a visa application office for an appointment.
In some cases, your application may take longer if your supporting papers need to be looked over, you are asked to go to an interview, or your personal situation changes.
For an additional fee, you can choose a priority service that handles your application within 5 days or a super-priority service that processes it the next business day.
Please be aware that not all countries may have access to this service.
Renewal of UK Expansion Worker Visa
To make a request to renew your Expansion Worker visa, you must do so online at Gov.uk.
To extend your visa, you must meet all of the following criteria:
- You are still employed in the same capacity as when you were initially granted permission to enter or remain in the UK.
- Your job is in the same category as when you were given permission to come to or stay in the UK before.
- Moreover, you are still employed by the same company that issued your current sponsorship certificate.
- You haven’t stayed longer than the limit of two years.
- To apply to extend your visa, you must be in the UK.
While your application is being handled, you cannot leave the UK, Ireland, the Channel Islands, or the Isle of Man. If you do so, your application will be cancelled.
It can take up to eight weeks to process an application to extend a worker visa.
How to Switch to this Visa?
If you’re already in the UK with another type of visa and meet the requirements, you might be able to switch to an Expansion Worker visa.
Take note that you can’t switch to this visa if you’re already in the UK:
- With a visit visa
- On a student visa for a short time
- On a Parent of a Child Student visa.
- With a seasonal worker visa
- On a visa for a domestic worker in a private home
- On Immigration Bail
- You were able to stay outside of visa rules because of things like compassionate grounds
For any of these reasons, you need to leave the UK first and apply for a visa from another country.
Also, if you want to change from a student visa to this one, one of the following must be true:
- You’ve finished the course that your student visa paid for.
- After you finish your course, you’ll start your new job.
- You have been studying for a PhD for at least 24 months.
Within eight weeks, you should usually hear back about your application.
How do I change my visa if I get a new job?
Your Expansion Worker visa needs to be updated if your job moves to a different occupation code.
- To change your visa, you must still be working for the same company.
- You must still meet the standards for the Expansion Worker visa at your new job. Besides that, you’ll need a new sponsorship certificate.
- Additionally, if you have been in the UK for less than a year, you will need to show extra documents.
You can ask to have your visa changed up to three months before you start your new job.
You can keep working at your present job while your new application is being looked at, as long as you apply before the end of your current visa.
You shouldn’t start your new job until you’re sure you have permission to do it.
Usually, you’ll hear back about your application in eight weeks.
Requirements for Dependants
To the UK, you can bring your partner and children with you if you have an Expansion Worker visa. Their visa will expire on the same date as yours if their application is approved.
With permission, you can bring the following family members:
- Your husband, wife, civil partner, or partner who isn’t married
- Child under 18 years old (even if born in the UK while you were there)
- Your child over 18 if they are living with you in the UK and are dependent on you
- When you apply, you’ll need to show proof of your bond.
Partner Requirements
If you want to bring your partner to the UK, you need to show that either
- The UK recognises your marriage or civil union.
- When you apply, you must have lived together as a couple for at least two years.
Standards for Children 16 and Over
If they bring children over 16 to the UK, they must:
- Live with you (unless they are in high school, college, or university full-time)
- Be single and not married or in a civil union.
- Not have any children.
- Be financially helped by you
Also, if your child stays with you, you’ll need to show proof of their address with things like the ones below:
- A bank statement
- Bills for credit cards
- Driver’s license or
- NHS registration card
- An official university or college letter
How do Dependants Apply If They Are Not in the UK?
Each dependent must apply for a visa online through Gov.uk.
Also, each of them will have to pay a different fee to apply for a visa.
Your children will need your application number when you apply online. You will get it when you apply. It’s called a Unique Application Number (UAN) or a Global Web Form (GWF).
Dependants on you will also have to show proof of who they are. You can do this at a visa application place by giving your bio-metric information, or you can use the “UK Immigration: ID Check” app to scan your ID.
After your dependants have filled out the application, uploaded their papers, and shown proof of who they are, they will also get a decision within three weeks.
Your children must send in their application in time so that they can come to the UK with you. If you need more help with your application to come to the UK or the application of a dependent, you can get one-on-one help from UK Immigration Solicitors.
From inside the UK, how can dependants apply?
Your children must each fill out a separate application on the Gov.uk website if they want to change or extend their visa to match yours.
They can do this either:
- At the same time, you get your own visa changed or extended,
- When their present visa runs out, at any time
As well as any children who turned 18 during your stay.
Keep in mind that if your partner or children are already in the UK, they won’t be able to switch to your visa as your dependants:
- With a visit visa
- On short term student visa
- To study as a parent of a child
- Seasonal worker visa
- On a visa for a domestic worker in a private home
- On bail for immigration
- That is, they were exempt from immigration regulations (for reasons such as compassion), and their stay was authorised.
Your children will need your application number when you apply online. You will get it when you apply. It’s called a Unique Application Number (UAN) or a Global Web Form (GWF).
All of your dependants must also provide identification documents. You can do this at a visa application place by giving your bio-metric information, or you can use the “UK Immigration: ID Check” app to scan your ID.
After your dependants have filled out the application, uploaded their papers, and shown proof of who they are, they will also get a decision within eight weeks.
Sponsor Requirements for UK Expansion Workers
The UK Expansion Worker route is for companies that work with businesses in other countries but haven’t started offering their services in the UK yet. If an overseas company wishes to send a senior or specialised worker to the UK for a temporary job in an established UK business, they must apply for a different visa, such as the Senior or specialised Worker visa or the Skilled Worker visa. But the UK company must have a licence to help workers get these visas.
Get Help from UK Immigration Solicitors
One of the UK’s Global Business Mobility routes is the UK Expansion Worker route. Its goal is to boost the UK’s local economy and bring in foreign companies.
If you want to start a new branch in the UK as a business owner or senior employee of a well-known overseas company, you might want to get help from a professional. Our UK Immigration Solicitors can help with this.
Individuals and companies seeking entry to the UK can rely on our comprehensive and legal UK expansion worker visa guidance. We can help you with every step of the expansion process, from getting approved as a UK expansion worker sponsor to getting UK Expansion Worker visas for your employees and giving you advice on all parts of UK business immigration.
We can also help you if you’re thinking about other Global Business Mobility visa routes or if your UK company has general immigration needs, like applying for a Skilled Worker visa or registering with Companies House.
Get in touch with a member of our team right away to learn more about the services we offer and how we can help you.
Frequently Asked Questions FAQs
With the Expansion Worker visa, you can work in a lot of different types of jobs.
Many of these roles are also eligible for other Global Business Mobility visas. On the Gov.uk website, you can find a full list of jobs that qualify for Global Mobility visas. This includes jobs for UK growth workers.
If you have a child while you are in the UK on an Expansion Worker visa, that child will not automatically become a British citizen.
However, you will need to fill out an online application for them to be considered as your dependent. You will need to do this if you want to move with them in and out of the UK.
If they want to stay in the UK after turning 18, you need to add them to your visa application.
When you apply, you need to show a full UK birth record for each child that lists both parents’ names.
The genuine job condition for the UK Expansion Worker Visa means that the job you want to do in the UK has to be real and match your skills and academic background. The job shouldn’t be a fake or made-up one that’s only there to help you get a visa. The UK government will check to see if the job offer is real and if it meets the standards for the type of visa.
For your job in the UK, the “going rate” is the average yearly gross salary for that role. It charges £45,800 in 2023.
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