UK Business Visa
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Important Travel Document Information – Please Read
You must have the necessary permission to conduct business in the United Kingdom. With a UK Business visa, people can enter the country to do business, including attending conferences, meetings, and contract negotiations.
You must ensure that, among the available UK Business visa alternatives, you apply for one that meets your eligibility requirements and permits you to conduct your intended business operations.
If you wish to do specific short-term business operations in the United Kingdom, you may be able to apply for a standard visitor visa.
Business Visitor Visa
You may also use the UK Business Visa for tourism and recreational purposes, such as visiting friends and family, although you must inform the Home Office of the primary objective of your trip. The standard visiting visa regulations are in Appendix V of the Immigration Rules.
To start your application process, please click below.
Start ApplicationRequirements for obtaining a UK Business Visa
These dictate the requirements for obtaining a UK business visa for this category, including a lengthy list of permissible and forbidden activities.
Appendix V
This path is for those who wish to visit the United Kingdom for a short time (typically up to six months) for objectives such as tourism, visiting friends or family, conducting business, or taking a short course of study. Each Visitor must complete the Visitor route requirements, regardless of whether they are traveling as a family, tour group, or school group, for example:
- A visa national listed in Appendix Visitor: Visa National must obtain a Visitor (a visit visa) entry clearance before entering the United Kingdom.
- your stay in the U.K. must not exceed the permissible length of stay stated on the visit visa (usually six months).
What UK Visa do I need?
Standard Visitor: for people wishing to engage in the permitted activities. Permitted Activities, such as tourism and family visits, typically for up to six months. With a Standard Visitor Visa, you can apply for a visit visa with a validity of six months, two, five, or ten years; however, any stay in the U.K. must not exceed the permissible length of stay endorsed on the visit visa (usually six months).
Marriage/Civil Partnership Visitor: for people wishing to enter the United Kingdom to marry, form a civil partnership, and notice marriage.
Permitted Paid Engagement Visitor: for experts in their area traveling to the United Kingdom to perform paid engagements for up to a month.
Transit Visitor: This is a UK Transit Visa for persons who wish to transit the United Kingdom en route to a nation outside the Common Travel Area and need to enter the United Kingdom for up to 48 hours by crossing the British border, unless the Appendix Visitor: Transit Without Visa Scheme applies. The United Kingdom does not allow visitors to work unless they have express permission.
Standard Visitor
Marriage/Civil Partnership Visitor
Permitted Paid Engagement Visitor
Transit Visitor
UK Businesss Visa Permitted Activities
Activities allowed the regular visiting visa permits the following commercial activities:
- Participating in gatherings, conferences, seminars, or interviews.
- Delivering a single talk or a brief series of talks, as long as they are not organized as commercial events and do not generate a profit for the organizer.
- Negotiating and concluding contracts and deals.
- Participating in trade shows solely for promotional purposes, providing no direct selling is involved.
- Conducting site visits and examinations.
- Collecting data for an international position.
- Being briefed on the requirements of a UK-based customer, provided that any work for the customer is performed outside of the UK.
Other Permitted Activities
You are permitted to engage in the following corporate or intra-corporate activities as an employee of an international company:
- Advisory, consulting, problem-solving, and training services.
- Sharing skills and information on a particular internal project with U.K. personnel of the same corporate group, providing no work is performed directly with clients.
- Conducting regulatory or financial audits as an internal auditor in a U.K. branch of the same group of companies as the employer.
- Further sector-specific actions are authorized under a regular tourist visa, such as receiving funds to start, take over, join, or manage a business in the United Kingdom, although starting or running a business is prohibited.
How do I qualify for a business visa for the United Kingdom?
To qualify for a UK Business visitor visa, you must meet the following conditions:
- You will depart the United Kingdom after your trip.
- Ensure that you have enough money to keep and accommodate yourself without aid from the government.
- You can pay for your return or the continuation of travel.
- You have evidence of any allowed business operations you wish to conduct in the United Kingdom. It is implicit in these conditions that you are seeking entrance for a purpose approved by the visitor route and that you will refrain from engaging in forbidden activities.
Please note that if a U.K. company is paying you to come as an expert in your field, you should apply for what is known as an authorized paid engagement visa.
It permitted paid engagement visa.
Under this specific visa form, you may engage in various compensated activities, such as serving on a selection panel as a highly qualified scholar or delivering lectures at an institution of higher education, arts organization, or research organization.
For detailed information on specific parts of the UK Business visa process, you can refer to the links below to find the answer to your query. If you are unable to find any particular information, please contact us via email.
Useful Resources
| UK Visa News |
| UK Visa Fees |
| UK Visa Types |
| Supporting Documents |
| How to submit a Visa Application |
| Visa Appointments |
| Visa Decison |
| Visa Refusal |
| Visa Policy |
Other UK Visa Types
A Business visa is required for any foreign national wishing to enter the United Kingdom to undertake business activities. Alternatively, you can choose from the following visa types:
| UK Family Visa | UK Refugee Visa | UK Transit Visa |
| UK Standard Visitor Visa | UK Study Visa | UK Business Visa |
| UK Work Permits | UK Spousal Visa | UK Settlement Visa |
| UK Parent Visa | UK Child Visa |
How To Apply
You must submit a visitor visa application online from outside the U.K. You need to show your passport or other valid travel documents, as well as documents that support your reason for traveling to the United Kingdom and that demonstrate you meet the other U.K. business visa criteria for this route.
A visa application center may also need you to register your biometric information, such as your fingerprint scan or a digital photograph of your face.
You can apply for a visiting visa up to three months before your trip, and you should expect a response within three weeks. If the authorities approve your visa application, it typically remains valid for six months, during which you must adhere to certain rules regarding what you can and cannot do.
You may be invited and compensated by a UK-based client or organization:-
- as a professional performer, artist, or musician • being a professional athlete
- as a competent attorney – to represent a client
- to provide a lecture or lecture series
- as a scholar – to serve as a student examiner or evaluator
- serving as an air pilot examiner
Make sure your paid activities in the United Kingdom are legal.
You cannot:
- Engage in paid work unrelated to your primary foreign occupation or area of expertise
- Study
- Reside in the U.K. for lengthy periods
- demand governmental funds (benefits)
- Travel via the United Kingdom en route to another country (‘in transit’). A Marriage Visitor Visa is required to marry, register a civil partnership, or give notice of a marriage or civil partnership.
To qualify for an authorized paid engagement visa, you must meet the following requirements for a U.K. business visa:
- You are older than 18
- Your stay in the United Kingdom will not exceed one month
- You will depart the United Kingdom after your trip.
- You have enough funds to maintain and accommodate yourself without assistance from the government
- You can pay for your return or continuation of travel
- You are not en route (in transit) to
Global Business Mobility Visa
Global Business Mobility is a combined category of sponsored routes for foreign companies intending to establish a presence in the United Kingdom or transfer employees for specific business purposes. The route consists of five subcategories of sponsored worker visas, each designed for a particular type of worker and has its eligibility and application procedures.
- Senior or Expert Worker path
- Route for Graduate Trainees
- Assignment (secondment) Worker path
- Service Provider path
- Route for U.K. Expansion Worker
The first three selections are for companies with a presence in the United Kingdom, while the last three are for companies without a presence in the United Kingdom. (Both parties will have the opportunity for seconds.) The worker will always require sponsorship.
In practice, the new method combines the previous Intra-Company Transfer, Intra-Company Graduate Trainee, Overseas Business Representative, and International Agreement visas. Only UK expansion personnel and secondments (to use the new language) experience significant changes among the five paths. The Migration Advisory Committee’s recommendation to allow Intra-Company Transfer visa holders (now Senior or Specialist Workers) to settle in the United Kingdom has not been implemented
To qualify for an innovator visa, you must meet the following requirements for a U.K. business visa:
You are at least 18 years old
- You are not from the EEA or Switzerland.
- You wish to create a new business in the United Kingdom
- An authorized organization has endorsed your company
- You satisfy the language requirement
- You have sufficient funds to maintain yourself while in the United Kingdom.
Under the innovator path, you must also have at least £50,000 to invest in a new firm. However, you may qualify without investment capital if your business is already established and approved under the start-up method.
If awarded an innovator visa, you will be entitled to remain in the United Kingdom for three years. You may also request to renew your visa for an additional three years, with no restriction on the number of times you may do so.
In addition, the innovator visa offers a straight path to residency in the United Kingdom. In other words, if you have consistently resided in the United Kingdom for five years, you are eligible to apply for indefinite leave to remain.
As a result, many candidates will transfer from the start-up visa to the innovator route, transforming from aspiring entrepreneurs to permanent business owners in the United Kingdom.
UK Businesss Visa Forbidden Activities
In addition to creating or operating a business as a self-employed individual, the Standard Visitor Visa prohibits various additional activities. The following are examples:
- Employing in the United Kingdom
- Working in the United Kingdom for a company or organization
- Engaging in an internship or work placement
- Selling directly to consumers
- Offering merchandise and services