Global Business Mobility visas

The routes for moving staff to the UK from an overseas business.

Checked against gov.uk on 28 Oct 2026

Who this is for: Employers and employees looking at intra-company and other business mobility routes.

Global Business Mobility is a group of routes for overseas businesses that want to send people to work in the UK. There are five: Senior or Specialist Worker, Graduate Trainee, UK Expansion Worker, Secondment Worker and Service Supplier. All of them need a sponsor with a licence and a Certificate of Sponsorship.

Per gov.uk, the Senior or Specialist Worker route is for an existing employee of a sponsor approved by the Home Office. The job has to be on the list of eligible occupations and the pay has to be at least £52,500 a year. The first stay is the shorter of the time on the certificate plus 14 days, or 5 years. The total stay is 5 years in any 6 year period if you are paid less than £73,900 a year, and 9 years in any 10 year period if you are paid £73,900 or more.

The Graduate Trainee route is for people on a graduate training programme for a managerial or specialist role. Gov.uk sets the pay at at least £27,300 a year. You can stay for the shorter of the certificate time plus 14 days, or 12 months. You must have worked for your sponsor outside the UK for at least 3 months immediately before you apply, and you cannot switch into the route from inside the UK.

On the sponsor side, gov.uk says the Senior or Specialist Worker route sits under a Worker licence, while Graduate Trainee, UK Expansion Worker, Secondment Worker and Service Supplier sit under a Temporary Worker licence. Read the gov.uk page for each route before you rely on any figure, because salary and stay rules differ by route and change over time.

Key points

  • There are five Global Business Mobility routes, and each needs a licensed sponsor and a Certificate of Sponsorship.
  • Senior or Specialist Worker: pay of at least £52,500 a year, per gov.uk.
  • Graduate Trainee: pay of at least £27,300 a year, and at least 3 months with the sponsor outside the UK before you apply.
  • You cannot switch into the Graduate Trainee route from inside the UK.
  • Senior or Specialist Worker sits under a Worker licence. The other four sit under a Temporary Worker licence.
  • Salary and stay rules differ by route, so read the gov.uk page for yours.

Typical order of events

  1. Before the moveThe overseas business confirms which route fits the role and the person.
  2. SponsorThe sponsor holds the right licence and issues a Certificate of Sponsorship.
  3. ApplicationThe worker applies for the visa with the certificate, from outside the UK for some routes.
  4. In the UKWork for the sponsor, within the stay limit for the route.

General information only. This page does not say whether you qualify for anything, and rules change, so check the linked gov.uk pages. For advice on your own case, use an IAA-registered adviser or a solicitor.