Global Business Mobility – Service Supplier

Introduction of the New Global Business Mobility routes

The Global Business Mobility routes are a new category of sponsored routes for overseas businesses seeking to establish a presence in, or transfer staff to, the UK for specific business purposes.

There will be five new routes that correspond to different assignment types which are listed below:

• Senior or Specialist Worker
• Graduate Trainee
• UK Expansion Worker
• Service Supplier
• Secondment Worker

Below you will find the detailed information on one of them.

Global Business Mobility – Service Supplier

Updates as per the new amendments of 18 October 2022

According to the new amendments, residents of Australia and New Zealand can now qualify under the Service Supplier route where the services they provide are covered by the free trade agreement with those countries.

Australian nationals and permanent residents of Australia providing services under the free trade agreement with Australia will be able to stay for 12 months at a time in the Service Supplier route.

A. General overview

The Global Business Mobility – Service Supplier route is for overseas workers who are undertaking temporary work assignments in the UK, where the worker is either a contractual service supplier employed by an overseas service provider or a self-employed independent professional based overseas, and they need to undertake an assignment in the UK to provide services covered by one of the UK’s international trade agreements.

B. Immigration requirements

A person seeking to come to the UK as a Service Supplier must apply for and obtain entry clearance as a Service Supplier before their arrival in the UK.

A person applying for entry clearance as a Service Supplier must provide a valid medical certificate confirming that they have undergone screening for active pulmonary tuberculosis and that this tuberculosis is not present in them.

C. Points requirement for a Service Supplier

The applicant must be awarded 40 points from the table below:

Points requirements	Points
Sponsorship	20
Job at an appropriate skill level (option A) or Job at an appropriate skill level (option B)	20

D. Nationality requirement for a Service Supplier

The applicant must be:

(a) a national of the country or territory in which the overseas service provider is based; or

(b) where the service that the applicant will provide is covered by a commitment in the General Agreement on Trade in Services and the applicant’s employer is established in a country or territory that has made a notification of that agreement, a permanent resident of that country or territory; or

(c) where the service that the applicant will provide is covered by a commitment in the Temporary Agreement between the Swiss Confederation and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland on Services Mobility, a permanent resident of Switzerland; or

(d) where the service that the applicant will provide is covered by a commitment in the United Kingdom-European Union Trade and Cooperation Agreement, a national of any Member State of the European Union or any other person included in the definition of “natural person of a Party” for the European Union of that agreement; or

(e) where the service that the applicant will provide is covered by a contractual service supplier commitment in the CARIFORUM-United Kingdom Economic Partnership Agreement, a national of any CARIFORUM State that has provisionally applied or brought into force that agreement.

E. Overseas work requirement for a Service Supplier

The applicant must:

(a) be currently working as or for an overseas service provider that will provide services to the sponsor; and

(b) have worked as or for the overseas service provider outside the UK for a cumulative period of 12 months.

The 12 months’ work outside the UK can have been accumulated over any period provided that:

(a) the applicant was either:

(i) continuously working for the overseas service provider, whether in or out of the UK, from the start of the 12 months to the date of application; or

(ii) if the applicant is a self-employed overseas service provider, continuously working in the same sector as the service they will provide to the sponsor, whether in or out of the UK, from the start of the 12 months to the date of application; and

(b) any breaks in the continuous work

(a) were only for the following reasons:

(i) statutory maternity, paternity, parental, or shared parental leave; or

(ii) statutory adoption leave; or

(iii) sick leave; or

(iv) assisting with a national or international humanitarian or environmental crisis, with the agreement of the sponsor group; or

(v) taking part in legally organised industrial action.

F. Financial requirement for a Service Supplier for the main applicant

If the applicant is applying for permission to stay and has been living in the UK with permission for 12 months or longer on the date of application, they will meet the financial requirement and do not need to show funds.

If the applicant is applying for entry clearance or has been living in the UK for less than 12 months on the date of application either:

(a) the applicant must have funds of at least £1,270; or

(b) the applicant’s A-rated sponsor must confirm on the Certificate of Sponsorship that they will, if it is necessary, maintain and accommodate the applicant up to the end of the first month of their employment up to a maximum amount of £1,270.

The applicant must show that they have held the required level of funds for a 28-day period and as set out in Appendix Finance.

G. Maximum length of assignments requirement for a Service Supplier on the Global Business Mobility route

The grant of permission must not lead to the applicant being granted cumulative periods of permission on the Global Business Mobility route and Intra-Company routes totalling more than 5 years in any 6-year period.

H. Period and conditions of visa as a Service Supplier

The grant will be subject to all the following conditions:

(a) no access to public funds; and

(b) the only work permitted is:

(i) the job for which the applicant is being sponsored; and

(ii) voluntary work; and

(c) study is permitted, subject to the ATAS condition in Appendix ATAS; and

(d) the applicant will be required to register with the police.

If the application is for entry clearance, permission will be granted for a period which is the shortest of the following:

(a) 14 days after the end date of the job detailed in the Certificate of Sponsorship; or

(b) the date at which the applicant will have had cumulative permission on the Global Business Mobility routes and Intra-Company routes totalling 5 years in any 6-year period.

If the application is for permission to stay, the permission will be granted for a period which is the shortest of the following:

(a) 14 days after the end date of the job detailed in the Certificate of Sponsorship; or

(b) the date at which the applicant will have had cumulative permission on the Global Business Mobility routes and Intra-Company routes totalling 5 years in any 6-year period.

I. Dependent Partner (“partner”) and dependent child (“child”) of a Service Supplier

A person applying as a partner must be aged 18 or over on the date of application.

A person applying for permission to stay as a partner or child of a Service Supplier must be in the UK on the date of application and must not have, or have last been granted, permission:

(a) as a Visitor; or

(b) as a Short-term Student; or

(c) as a Parent of a Child Student; or (d) as a Seasonal Worker; or

(e) as a domestic worker in a private household; or

(f) outside the immigration rules.

A person seeking to come to the UK as a partner or child must apply for and obtain entry clearance as a partner or child of a Service Supplier before they arrive in the UK.

A person applying for entry clearance as the partner or child of a Service Supplier must provide a valid medical certificate confirming that they have undergone screening for active pulmonary tuberculosis and that this tuberculosis is not present in them.

The applicant must be the partner of a person (P) where one of the following applies:

(a) P has permission on the Global Business Mobility – Service Supplier route; or

(b) P is, at the same time, applying for (and is granted) entry clearance or permission on the Global Business Mobility – Service Supplier route.

If the applicant and their Service Supplier partner are not married or in a civil partnership, all of the following requirements must be met:

(a) they must have been living together in a relationship similar to marriage or civil partnership for at least the two years before the date of application; and

(b) any previous relationship of the applicant or their Service Supplier partner with another person must have permanently broken down; and (c) the applicant and their Service Supplier partner must not be so closely related that they would not be allowed to marry or form a civil partnership in the UK.

The relationship between the applicant and their Service Supplier partner must be genuine and subsisting.

The applicant and their Service Supplier partner must intend to live together throughout the applicant’s stay in the UK.

The applicant’s parents must each be either applying at the same time as the applicant or have permission to be in the UK (other than as a Visitor) unless:

a) the parent applying for or with entry clearance or permission to stay as a Service Supplier or as the partner of a Service Supplier is the sole surviving parent; or

(b) the parent applying for or with entry clearance or permission to stay as a Service Supplier or as the partner of a Service Supplier has sole responsibility for the child’s upbringing; or

(c) the parent who does not have permission as a Service Supplier:

(i) is a British citizen or a person who has a right to enter or stay in the UK without restriction; and

(ii) is or will be ordinarily resident in the UK; or

(d) the decision maker is satisfied that there are serious and compelling reasons to grant the child entry clearance or permission to stay with the parent who is applying for or has entry clearance or permission on the Global Business Mobility - Service Supplier route

J. Financial requirement for a partner or child of a Service Supplier

If the applicant is applying for permission to stay and has been living in the UK with permission for 12 months or longer on the date of application, they will meet the financial requirement and do not need to show funds.

The required funds are:

(a) £285 for a partner in the UK or applying for entry clearance; and

(b) £315 for the first child in the UK or applying for entry clearance; and

(c) £200 for any other child in the UK or applying for entry clearance.

K. Settlement Prospects

The Global Business Mobility – Service Supplier route is not a route to settlement.

L. Administrative Review (Entry clearance and extension applications)

If the entry clearance or extension application is refused by the ECO in the British Diplomatic post or by the Home Office, the applicant will be given a right to make a request for a review of the decision that must be exercised within 28 days of the date of service of the decision if application was submitted outside the UK or 14 days if application is made inside the UK. The applicant will only be able to rely on the information/documents already submitted with the application and will not be allowed to provide or submit any fresh evidence with the review request.

It is therefore strongly advised to take professional help while making grounds for making review request.

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