UK Senior or Specialist Worker Visa (GBM) vs. Skilled Worker Visa

Just when businesses have adapted to the visa application routes for sending overseas workers to the UK, a new system was introduced: the Global Business Mobility routes. In this article, we take an in-depth look at part of the new ruleset.

One of the categories under this new system is the Global Business Mobility - Senior or Specialist Worker visa (GBM - Senior or Specialist Worker visa). This visa allows foreign nationals in certain occupations and roles (e.g., senior managers and specialist workers) to come to the UK and work at a UK branch of their overseas employer.

This new visa replaces the old Tier 2 Intra Company Transfer (Tier 2 - ICT) visa. The good news is that the changes obey the maxim ‘First, do no harm’. This is achieved by not actually doing much, other than giving the visa a new name, and removing the slightly anomalous exemption from the Immigration Skills Charge.

But do these changes help employers? Do they make the UK more open for business?

To answer these questions, and to understand these revised rules, we must reopen the old rule book and learn more about the old Tier 2 Intra Company Transfer visa.

The Tier 2 Intra Company Transfer Visa

Similar to the new GBM: Senior or Specialist Worker visa, the old Tier 2 – ICT visa was for employees of multinational employers who needed to be transferred to their UK branch to take on a skilled role in the UK.

Tier 2 – ICT visas were used in their thousands by the big outsourcers (e.g., Infosys, TCS, Wipro) and the ‘Big 4’ consultancies (i.e., PWC, EY, Deloitte, KPMG).

But aside from this visa, another type of visa was used by employers to send their overseas workers to the UK: the Tier 2 General visa.

Tier 2 Intra Company Transfer Visa vs. Tier 2 General Visa

A Tier 2 General visa was for those who have been offered a skilled job in the UK, while the Tier 2 – ICT visa was for those who have been working for their current employer overseas and would like to continue doing so, but at their UK branch instead.

When compared, the Tier 2 – ICT visa had huge advantages over the Tier 2 General visa.

The Tier 2 General visa was subject to quotas, and required 28-days of advertising (i.e., Resident Labour Market Test). On the contrary, the Tier 2 – ICT visa offered speed, predictability of outcome, and range of staff that could be sponsored. This visa (and, pre-2008, the ICT Work Permit) was exempt from the 28-day advertising requirement, which almost always made it a faster option. Then, during the coalition and Theresa May years, when the policy of ‘reducing net migration’ meant quotas and severe restrictions on the Tier 2 General visa, the quota-free Tier 2 – ICT visa acted as a safety valve to let global companies move overseas talent to the UK.

The fact that employers, with workers on Tier 2 – ICT visas, saved £1,000 per year from Immigration Skills Charge (which applied to Tier 2 – General visas), was a bonus.

However, the Tier 2 General visa was soon replaced by the Skilled Worker visa.

Skilled Worker Visa vs. Global Business Mobility - Senior or Specialist Worker Visa

Moving forward to 2022, the Skilled Worker visa does not have quotas and, at the moment, does not require a Resident Labour Market Test.

So, this begs the question: why not use a Skilled Worker visa instead of a GBM – Senior or Specialist worker visa?

The main advantage that the GBM – Senior or Specialist Worker visa now offers over a Skilled Worker visa is that it has no English language skill requirement. But if proving English language skills is not a problem, then the Skilled Worker route offers the most advantages.

The following table illustrates the differences between these 2 routes.

The levelling of the cost playing field (since the Immigration Skills Charge must now be paid for GBM – Senior or Specialist Workers visas), as well as the removal of quotas and 28-day advertising from Skilled Worker visas, mean that there are very few reasons not to choose a Skilled Worker visa over a GBM – Senior or Specialist Workers visa.

The Path Leading to Settlement

There are lots of senior and well-paid roles that could fit into either a Skilled Worker visa or a GBM – Senior or Specialist Workers visa. In almost every case, a Skilled Worker visa is the better option because it provides a path to settlement in 5 years (and nationality/passport a year later), while routes under the Global Business Mobility visa do not.

Tier 2 - ICT visas used to lead to settlement until the rule changes in 2010, wherein the price of avoiding quotas in a Tier 2 ICT visa was making settlement impossible, thus allowing the coalition government to argue that ICTs did not affect net migration.

Now that the government is not trying to cut net migration and has abolished quotas on Skilled Worker visas, it is hard to see why a senior executive posted to the UK (possibly with their family) should be kicked out after 5 years (or after 9 years of paying £73,900+ per annum). The 9-year limit, even for the most senior staff, is there to prevent the ’10 year-long residence-based’ settlement eligibility.

Fortunately, the issue is largely theoretical. Employers/individuals can opt for a Skilled Worker visa and have that path to settlement in 5 years.

English Language Skills Requirement

The Skilled Worker visa has an English language skill requirement, while the GBM – Senior or Specialist Worker visa does not.

If proving English language skill is a problem, an individual can use a Global Business Mobility Visa to get to the UK quickly, take an English language test while there, and then switch to a Skilled Worker visa.

Lots of people don’t even need to take an English language test and can take the Skilled Worker route for their initial application. This applies to the following individuals:

• For nationals of English-speaking countries: USA, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Malta, and most of the Caribbean (Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobago).
• For those with a degree (Bachelor’s, Masters, or Doctorate), or degree-level qualification awarded in the UK.
• For those with a degree (Bachelor’s, Masters, or Doctorate), or degree-level qualification that is proven by ECCTIS confirmation to be UK-equivalent and awarded in Ireland or in an English-speaking country (other than Canada, which has some French-speaking areas).
• For those with a degree (Bachelor’s, Masters, or Doctorate), or degree-level qualification that is proven by ECCTIS confirmation to be UK-equivalent and taught in English (teaching in English to be evidenced by an official letter, transcript, or certificate from the awarding body).

Conclusion

Both the Skilled Worker visa and Global Business Mobility - Senior or Specialist Worker visa help employers bring their workers into the UK and thus, open the UK for more business.

The Skilled Worker visa is more often the best option to take due to its advantages including cost, educational requirement, and path to settlement. This visa however, has an English language skill requirement, while the Global Business Mobility - Senior or Specialist Worker visa does not.

Regardless of you or your employee’s level of English language skill, Global Expansion can help you move your workers to the UK, or hire from overseas.