You can apply for a Tier 5 Temporary Worker – Government Authorised Exchange visa if you want to come to the UK for a short time for work experience or to do training, an Overseas Government Language Programme, research or a fellowship through an approved government authorised exchange scheme.
Click here to see all approved government authorised exchange scheme.
You must get sponsored and your work, training or research in the UK must relate to the work of your sponsor organisation.
Your sponsor can be any of the following:
- An organisation running an approved exchange scheme
- A higher education institution (if you are a sponsored researcher, visiting academic or examiner)
- Government department or agency
You can apply for a Tier 5 Temporary Worker – Charity Worker visa if you want to do unpaid voluntary work for a charity. The charity must be a licensed employer who can issue you a certificate of sponsorship for you to apply to come to the UK to work.
The work you do in the UK must relate to the work of your sponsor organisation.
You can stay for up to 12 months under this visa.
You can apply for a Tier 5 Temporary Worker – Creative and sporting visa if you’ve been offered work as a sports person or creative worker.
A creative worker is someone who works in the creative industry, eg an actor, dancer, musician or film crew member. You need to get a certificate of sponsorship from a licensed employer before you can apply to come to the UK to work. The work you do in the UK must relate to the work of your sponsor organisation.
You can stay for up to 12 months under this visa.
You can apply for a Tier 5 Temporary Worker – International Agreement visa if you’ll be contracted to do work covered by international law while in the UK, eg working for a foreign government or as a private servant in a diplomatic household.
You need to be sponsored (ie have a certificate of sponsorship from a licensed employer) before you can apply to come to the UK. The work you do in the UK must relate to the work of your sponsor organisation.
In most cases you’ll be able to stay for 2 years, or the time given on your certificate of sponsorship plus up to 28 days, whichever is shorter. In certain cases you can only stay for 6 months in any 12 month period, or the time given on your certificate of sponsorship plus 14 days. Please consult us for more details if you wish to apply for this visa type.
You can apply for a Tier 5 Temporary Worker – Religious Worker visa if you want to do religious work – e.g. preaching or working in a religious order. For this visa, you need to be sponsored – ie have a certificate of sponsorship from a licensed sponsor – before you can apply to come to the UK.
The work you do in the UK must relate to your sponsor organisation’s work. You’ll be given a visa to live and work in the UK for up to 24 months.
You can apply for a Tier 5 (Youth Mobility Scheme) visa if you’re aged 18 to 30 and you’re from:
- Australia
- Canada
- Japan
- Monaco
- New Zealand
- Hong Kong
- Republic of Korea
- Taiwan
You can also apply if you’re 18 to 30 and a:
- British overseas citizen
- British overseas territories citizen
- British national (overseas)
A Tier 5 Youth Mobility Scheme visa will allow you to live and work in the UK for up to 2 years should you meet the eligibility requirements.
You can study – for some courses you’ll need an Academic Technology Approval Scheme certificate or you can work in most jobs. You can also be self-employed and set up a company – as long as your premises are rented, your equipment isn’t worth more than £5,000 and you don’t have any employees.
Please note that you will need to be sponsored if you’re from Hong Kong, the Republic of Korea or Taiwan for this visa type.
You’ll be given a visa to live and work in the UK for up to 24 months.
The Representative of an Overseas Business is also called Sole Rep Visa. This immigration category allows an individual to come to the UK to set up a UK branch or subsidiary on behalf of an overseas company, where the overseas company does not already have a representative in the UK and will continue to have its principle place of business outside the UK.
To apply for this visa, you should be either:
- The sole representative of an overseas company planning to set up a UK branch
- A wholly owned subsidiary for an overseas parent company, or
- An employee of an overseas newspaper, news agency or broadcasting organisation posted on a long-term assignment to the UK
Applicants seeking to enter the UK in this capacity must first obtain entry clearance from a British diplomatic post overseas before travelling to the UK.
The individual who will represent the company in the UK as the Sole Representative must be:
- Be recruited and employed outside the UK by a company whose headquarters and principal place of business are outside the UK Have extensive related industry experience and knowledge
- Hold a senior position within the company (but not be a major shareholder) and have full authority to make decisions on its behalf
- Intend to establish the company’s first commercial presence in the UK, eg a registered branch or a wholly owned subsidiary
You may also be eligible if the company has a legal entity in the UK that doesn’t employ staff or transact business.
Sole Representatives of overseas companies are required to prove your knowledge of the English language when you apply. Your family members (‘dependants’) can come with you when you come to the UK on this visa.
You can come to the UK for an initial period of 3 years and can extend your visa for another 2 years if you meet other requirements. After you’ve been in the UK for 5 years, you can apply for permission to settle permanently in the UK.
If you are unhappy about the decision on your application, you may be able to submit an administrative review. You’ll be told in your application refusal letter if you can ask for the decision on your visa application to be reviewed.
An Administrative Review is different from an appeal. An administrative review is considered by the Home Office to review your case and see if the caseworker was following the immigration rules correctly in reaching the decision on your application.
You must apply for an administrative review within 28 days of getting the decision if your application if out of the country and within 14 days of getting the decision if you are in the country. Your refusal letter will tell you how to apply. This admin review usually costs £80.
The decision will be checked for the errors you point out. New information or documents will not be considered normally for review unless you’ve been asked to.
You’ll usually receive the result of the administrative review within 28 days.
If you believe your application decision is not correct and you would like our help on making an Administrative Review, please contact us as early as possible as the timeline is usually tight.