UK Expansion Worker visa
The UK Expansion Worker visa is for an overseas business that has not started trading in the UK and wants to send senior managers or specialists to set up its first UK branch or subsidiary. You can sponsor up to 10 people at a time, and the Home Office expects the UK business to be trading within 2 years of the licence being granted.
- Minimum pay£52,500a year, or the going rate if higher
- Licence lasts4 yearsand cannot be renewed
- Certificate, you pay£55the Temporary Worker rate, per worker
- Longest stay2 years12 months, then one 12-month extension
Figures from GOV.UK, Sponsor a Global Business Mobility worker.
Who can use the UK Expansion Worker route
The route is for a genuine trading business abroad taking the same business into the UK for the first time. A new venture in a different line of work does not qualify, and investment-only firms such as private equity or venture capital funds are excluded (GBM guidance, section GBM3).
If your business already trades in the UK, this route is closed to you. Apply on Senior or Specialist Worker or Skilled Worker instead. Japanese and Australian businesses expanding under their trade agreements, and companies listed on approved stock exchanges, face lighter evidence rules.
| UK trading | Must not have started; limited pre-trade steps, such as hiring your Authorising Officer, are allowed |
|---|---|
| UK footprint | UK premises (a lease or purchase papers) or a Companies House registration as a branch or subsidiary |
| Overseas trading | Active and trading abroad for at least 3 years, with bank statements for the last 12 months |
| Ownership | The UK business is wholly owned by the overseas business, part of the same legal entity, or in one of the closely linked group structures the guidance allows |
| Expansion plan | Credible plans and finances to trade in the UK in the same line of business |
| Licence fee | £611, the Temporary Worker fee, whatever your size |
How the provisional sponsor licence works
If your Authorising Officer, the senior person responsible for your licence, is still abroad when you apply, you get a provisional rating and an allocation of one certificate of sponsorship (CoS), the electronic record a worker uses to apply for the visa. That officer must assign the CoS to themselves and get their own visa first (GOV.UK).
- Once their visa is granted, they update their details on the sponsorship management system and ask for the licence to be upgraded to an A-rating.
- With the A-rating you can request up to 9 more certificates.
- They must start the UK role within 28 days of the CoS start date or the date their visa takes effect, whichever comes last.
If the officer is already in the UK, you get an A-rating and your full allocation straight away. A provisional licence cannot be downgraded to a B-rating: breaking the sponsor duties normally leads to revocation, as does a refusal of the officer's visa.
What a UK Expansion Worker must meet
Each worker needs at least 12 months with your business abroad, unless they earn over £73,900 or are a Japanese or Australian national working for a business from their own country (GOV.UK eligibility). The job must be on the GBM list of eligible occupations, and the worker must be 18 or over. The worker pays a £340 visa fee and the healthcare surcharge of £1,035 a year (GOV.UK costs).
After the first two years
Two years after the licence is granted, the Home Office sets your allocation on this route to zero, so you cannot bring in new workers or extend existing ones on it. Once the UK business is trading, you add other routes, such as Skilled Worker or Senior or Specialist Worker, and your staff can switch to them. The licence itself expires after 4 years with no option to renew.
Time on this visa counts towards the shared GBM limit of 5 years in any 6, and it does not lead to settlement. The Home Office register of licensed sponsors (22 October 2026 edition) lists 438 organisations holding this route.
Questions employers ask about UK Expansion Workers
Do we pay the immigration skills charge for a UK Expansion Worker?
No. The immigration skills charge applies only to Skilled Worker and Senior or Specialist Worker certificates.
What if we have traded abroad for less than 3 years?
Most businesses cannot use the route. A Japanese or Australian business expanding under its country's trade agreement can, but it is limited to sponsoring one worker at a time until it shows 3 years of trading.
Can someone already in the UK switch to this visa?
Yes, from most visas. Switching is not allowed from a visitor, short-term student, Parent of a Child Student, Seasonal Worker or domestic worker visa, from immigration bail, or from permission outside the rules (GOV.UK switching rules).
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