Overview of Work Visa Routes to the UK

If you’re planning to hire international talent for your UK company, a certain type of work visa is required.

The category of visa is determined by your sponsored worker’s circumstances: 

• They should either have a job offer or a potential employer. If this is the case, then they can only work for the sponsoring company and keep to the conditions of their leave to remain; the available routes are skilled worker visa and global business mobility routes (senior or specialist worker, graduate trainee, UK expansion worker, service supplier, and secondment worker)
• Being in the category that allows them to work for any organisation in the UK. This includes the graduate route, high potential individual, or global talent visa
• If they will be running and developing their own business. Start-up and innovator visas will allow them to stay in the UK by developing their own business

Conditions that apply if they work for a sponsoring organisation in the UK: 

• They cannot work at any other role except the one you hired them for, otherwise, a new application for a visa is required
• They can only change employment if they find another sponsor in the UK or are eligible to switch to other immigration categories
• Their activities are monitored and reported to the Home Office where necessary
• In most cases they can switch to other immigration routes within the UK

Graduate route, high potential individual or global talent visa allows them to:

• Work for any employer in the UK
• Change employment if they get a better offer from any other employer
• Start and develop their own business with the possibility to switch immigration routes, if necessary
• Switch to other immigration routes within the UK

Start-up and innovator visas require approval from the endorsement bodies and allow them to:

• Run a business of their own
• Start-up visa also gives the right to have additional employment
• Switch to other immigration routes within the UK

Overview of the work visas to the UK: