UK Expansion Worker Visa
To establish a new office for an international company, you can apply for a UK Expansion Worker visa and then go to the UK.
Contact our immigration Solicitors today to learn more about Global Business Mobility visas and the Expansion Worker visa and how to apply for either. For more information, please call 02033844389 or send an email.
What is the UK Expansion Worker Visa?
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.
Call us now at 02033844389 or start a free online case assessment. Our experienced immigration solicitors are ready to assist you.
We are an Award-Winning, SRA-Regulated Law Firm UK Immigration Specialist Law Firm.
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.
Our experienced UK immigration Solicitors can help you with your immigration process.
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.
Our experienced UK immigration Solicitors can help you with your immigration process.
Requirement of Points
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 (20 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 (20 points).
- At least £48,500 yearly or the ‘going rate’ for your job (20 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.
Our experienced UK immigration Solicitors can help you with your immigration process.
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 12 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
Our experienced UK immigration Solicitors can help you with your immigration process.
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
- A code that describes your employment
- 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 12.
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.
Our experienced UK immigration Solicitors can help you with your immigration process.
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 12 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 biometric 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.
Having a lawyer on your side streamlines the Expansion Worker visa application process. For more information or assistance, call UK immigration solicitors at 02033844389 or send an online message.
Our experienced UK immigration Solicitors can help you with your immigration process.
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 28 days in a row, you must have had the funds accessible. Within thirty-one days after your application date, the 28-day period must conclude.
Unless you have been in the UK for 12 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 dependents must provide evidence that you can pay for their basic needs.
Our experienced UK immigration Solicitors can help you with your immigration process.
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 3 weeks.
It usually takes about 8 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 8 weeks to process an application to extend a worker visa.
Our experienced UK immigration Solicitors can help you with your immigration process.
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 8 weeks, you should usually hear back about your application.
Our experienced UK immigration Solicitors can help you with your immigration process.
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 8 weeks.
Our experienced UK immigration Solicitors can help you with your immigration process.
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
Financial Requirements For Dependants
Also, anyone who depends on you must have enough money to live on while they’re in the UK with you.
The following are the requirements:
- £285 for you and your partner
- One child costs £315.
- £200 for every extra child
Your children will have had the money on hand for at least 28 days in a row. You must apply for the loan no more than 31 days before the end of the 28-day time.
As long as you haven’t been in the UK with a legal visa for at least 12 months, you’ll probably need to show proof of this when they apply.
If your child or partner applies at a different time than you, they will only need to show that they have enough money to live on if they have been in the UK for less than a year.
Our experienced UK immigration Solicitors can help you with your immigration process.
How do Dependents 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).
Dependents on you will also have to show proof of who they are. You can do this at a visa application place by giving your biometric information, or you can use the “UK Immigration: ID Check” app to scan your ID.
After your dependents have filled out the application, uploaded their papers, and shown proof of who they are, they will also get a decision within 3 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. You can call us at 02033844389 or email us right now.
Our experienced UK immigration Solicitors can help you with your immigration process.
From inside the UK, how can dependents 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 kids 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 dependents:
- 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 dependents must also provide identification documents. You can do this at a visa application place by giving your biometric information, or you can use the “UK Immigration: ID Check” app to scan your ID.
After your dependents have filled out the application, uploaded their papers, and shown proof of who they are, they will also get a decision within 8 weeks.
Our experienced UK immigration Solicitors can help you with your immigration process.
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. Dail 02033844389 or email us now.
Table Of Contents
- What is the UK Expansion Worker Visa?
- Who is Eligible for an Expansion Worker Visa UK?
- With a UK Expansion Worker Visa, what can I do?
- Requirement of Points
- How Long Can I Stay in the UK on an Expansion Worker Visa?
- Which Documents are Required for a UK Expansion Worker Visa?
- How to Apply for a UK Expansion Worker Visa?
- What is the Cost of UK Expansion Worker Visa?
- What is the Processing Time For a UK Expansion Worker Visa?
- How to Switch to this Visa?
- How do I change my visa if I get a new job?
- Requirements for Dependants
- From inside the UK, how can dependents apply?
- Sponsor Requirements for UK Expansion Workers
- Frequently Asked Questions
Our experienced UK immigration Solicitors can help you with your immigration process.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Most of the time, a child needs a visa in order to live in the UK. For instance, if their parent is a foreign national working or studying in the country, the child may need a Child Dependant Visa.
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 kid 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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