• VAT11.1 What are the key requirements for business visitors?
• VAT11.2 What types of people can be treated as business visitors?
• VAT11.3 Is entry clearance mandatory for business visitors?
• VAT11.4 Maximum stay in the UK?
• VAT11.5 Can business visitors switch into PBS employment?
• VAT11.6 Entry clearance endorsement
• VAT11.7 Examples of refusal wording
• VAT11.8 Entry clearance for spouses/partners and dependants
• VAT11.9 Who cannot be accepted as a business visitor?

See other guidance information VAT01 Visitors: General VAT02 Visitors: Visiting family; friends; as a tourist VAT03 Special Visitor: Child visitors VAT04 Special Visitor: Child visitors sponsored by charities VAT05 Special Visitor: Parents with children under 12 at school in UK VAT06 Special Visitor: Marriage/Civil partnership visit (not settlement) VAT07 Special Visitor: Private medical treatment VAT08 Special Visitor: Visitor in transit VAT09 Special Visitor: Student visitor VAT10 Special Visitor: Prospective student VAT12 Business Visitor: Academic Visitor VAT13 Business Visitor: Visiting Professors VAT14 Business Visitors: Religious Workers VAT15 Business Visitor: Doctors coming for PLAB test VAT16 Business Visitor: Doctors undertaking clinical attachments VAT17 Sports Visitor VAT18 Entertainer Visitor VAT19 Visitors under the Approved Destinations Status MoU with China VAT20 Foreign armed forces (not NATO/Commonwealth) VAT21 Archaeological excavations VAT22 Appellants seeking admission VAT23 Parents with access rights to children in the UK VAT24 Child minders for relatives VAT25 Visitors seeking visas or settlement visas for other countries VAT26 Persons coming for job interviews VAT27 Court reporters VAT28 Witnesses attending trials in the UK  

VAT11.1 What are the key requirements for business visitors?

The intention behind the business visitor rules is to facilitate genuine 'business to business' relationships. A business professional working for an international company is not necessarily a business visitor and may need to qualify under the employment rules or the student rules where training is needed.

Business visitors must meet the Immigration Rules for business visitors: Paragraphs 46G-L in addition to the Rules for general visitors: Paragraph 41.

A business visitor is defined as a person who is employed abroad but who intends to visit the UK for short periods in order to undertake certain business related activities as outlined in Paragraph 46G and in this guidance.  As well as meeting the normal requirements for leave to enter as a visitor those coming for this purpose must:

• be based  abroad and not intend to transfer their base to the UK, even temporarily;
  
• receive their salary from abroad, although it is acceptable for them to receive reasonable travel and subsistence expenses whilst in the UK;
  
• not be involved in selling goods or services direct to members of the public;
• not be replacing someone in the UK, including for temporary leave periods;
• not be coming to the UK to do work placements or internships.
  
  

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VAT11.2 What types of people can be treated as business visitors?

Paragraph 46G provides for the following to be considered as business visitors:

• Film crews (including Actors, Producers, Directors and Technicians) on locations shoots only, provided they are employed or paid by an overseas company;
• Representatives of overseas news media provided they are employed or paid by an overseas company and are gathering information for an overseas publication or programme;
• Academic visitors (see VAT12);
• Visiting professors accompanying students on study abroad programmes (see VAT13);
• Secondees from overseas companies who have a contract with a UK company, provided they are being paid by the overseas company*;
• Religious workers undertaking preaching or pastoral work during a business visit (eg to attend a conference), provided their base is abroad and they are not taking up an office, post or appointment;
• Advisers, consultants, trainers or trouble shooters employed abroad by the same company to which the client firm in the UK belongs, provided this does not amount to employment paid or unpaid for the UK branch**;
• To undertake specific, one-off training in techniques and work practices used in the UK, provided this is not on-the-job training.  The person does not have to be employed by an overseas branch of the same company/group of companies he is visiting and it is not required that his company has a contract with the company being visited.  Where the person is receiving tuition or training that is not delivered by the company being visited, entry should be sought under the student rules***.

* Requirement  46G (iii) (f) of the Immigration Rules provides for persons to be seconded from overseas companies to UK companies as business visitors.  This provision relates specifically and only to the situation where a UK company is to provide goods or services to an overseas company on a direct contractual basis, not vice versa; and where there is no corporate relationship between the two companies (i.e they are not part of the same group of companies).  The individual will be seconded in a supernumerary capacity for the purpose of assisting the UK company to deliver the contract, for example to clarify his company’s specifications.  The secondee must remain employed and paid by the overseas company throughout his visit.  Where a person is employed by an overseas company and is being seconded to a UK company which is related to the overseas employer, he must qualify to do so under the Intra-Company Transfer (ICT) arrangements of Tier 2 of the Points Based System.   Therefore those who meet the ICT rules should not be granted leave under these arrangements for secondees.  Persons coming to work in the UK in any other circumstances must qualify to do so under the relevant Tier of the Points Based System.

Secondees coming to the UK for the specific purpose provided by  46G (iii) (f) should be granted leave to enter for a maximum of six months at any one time.  In some cases such secondment arrangements can continue legitimately for longer than 6 months.   Therefore, some secondees will wish to return to the UK for further periods.   If the  Entry Clearance Officer is satisfied that they are returning for the same purpose for which they were originally granted leave to enter and that they continue to meet the general visitor requirements,  further entry clearance may be issued.

**Rule 46G (iii) (h) provides for advisers, consultants, trainers and trouble shooters to come to the UK as business visitors.   The provision relates only to persons who are employed by an overseas company and who are coming to provide advice, consultancy, training or trouble shooting services to its UK branch.  They cannot conduct work, paid or unpaid, for or on behalf of the UK branch, including, but not limited to providing services for the UK branch to other companies, working in a supernumerary capacity e.g. internship, project managing or by way of short term temporary cover for the UK branch, or having direct involvement in producing goods for the UK company’s clients. The person must remain employed and paid by the overseas company throughout the visit and typically their visit would be of a one-off short term nature.  Where a person is employed by an overseas company and is being transferred to fill a skilled post in a UK entity that is related to the overseas company, he must qualify to do so under the Intra Company Transfer (ICT) arrangements of Tier 2 of the PBS.  Persons coming to work in the UK in any other circumstances must qualify to do so under the relevant Tier of the Points Based System.

***Rule 46(iii)(i) provides for persons to come to the UK as business visitors for specific, one-off training in techniques and work practices used in the UK. The training could typically be classroom based and/or involve familiarisation or observation.  The provision applies in the following circumstances:

• where the visitor is an employee from the same group of companies overseas as the UK company and the training is to be provided in-house.  Example: where an overseas branch send an employee to find out about the UK branch’s marketing systems;
• where it relates to a product or service that has been sold by a UK company under contract to the overseas company and the latter is to receive training on its use.  In this instance the two companies do not need to be related corporately.                   Example: training on how to use a piece of computer software that has been purchased; or
• where a company has contracted to provide training facilities only and no tuition, to an overseas company, the trainees and the trainers from the overseas company will be business visitors.                                                                                                 Example: Provision of a classroom or piece of equipment; or
• where the visitor is an employee from the same group of companies overseas as the UK company and participating in a corporate training exercise provided to the UK company by an outside provider.

Those coming for training other than in the above circumstances e.g English language training must qualify to do so under the Student or Student Visitor category of the Immigration Rules.

In addition, those intending to carry out any of the following 'permissible activities' are to be considered as  business visitors:

• Attending meetings (including interviews that have been arranged before coming to the UK), or conferences;
• Attending Trade Fairs provided this is restricted to promotional work and does not involve selling direct to members of the public;
• Arranging deals, negotiating or signing trade agreements, contracts, etc;
• Undertaking fact-finding missions, e.g. journalists on a short assignment to cover a story;
• Conducting site visits;
• Purchasing, checking details of or examining goods;
• Delivering goods from abroad, such as lorry drivers and coach drivers provided they are genuinely working an international route;
• Attending interviews, where prior arrangements for interview have been made;
• Tour group couriers contracted to a firm outside the UK seeking entry to accompany a tour group and who intend to leave with that tour group;
• Speaking at a conference where this is not run as a commercial concern and it is a 'one-off' event;
• Interpreters or translators who are existing employees of an overseas company and who are accompanying and solely providing a service for business visitors from the company;
• Representatives of computer software companies coming to install, debug or enhance their products. Representatives coming to be briefed on a UK customer’s requirements is also acceptable.  But representatives who intend to provide a detailed assessment of a potential customer’s needs should enter under the Points Based System (PBS)  (Tier 2) because this is regarded as consultancy;
• Representatives of foreign manufacturers coming to service or repair their company’s products within their initial period of guarantee;
• Representatives of foreign machine manufacturers coming to erect and install machinery too heavy to be delivered in one piece, as part of the contract of purchase and supply;
• Monteurs - representatives of foreign companies coming to erect, dismantle, install, service, repair or advise on the development of foreign-made machinery;
• Board level Directors attending board meetings in the UK provided they are not employed by a UK company, although there may be a fee for attending the meetings;

It is reasonable to expect those coming to the UK as Business Visitors (to attend meetings etc) to want to make use of their laptop/Blackberry whilst here.  Provided this is solely to enable the Business Visitor to keep up to date with their own workload abroad, or to liaise with contacts in the UK, the UK Border Agency would not consider this as ‘work’for the purposes of the Immigration Rules.

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VAT11.3 Is entry clearance mandatory for business visitors?

Entry clearance is only mandatory for visa nationals.

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VAT11.4 Maximum stay in the UK?

In line with general visitors the maximum permitted stay as a business visitor is six months.

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VAT11.5 Can business visitors switch into PBS employment?

No. A person who obtains leave to enter or remain as a business visitor is not permitted to switch into PBS employment.

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VAT11.6 Entry clearance endorsement

Entry clearance should be endorsed:
C:  Visitor – Business, LTE 6 months, code 3

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VAT11.7 Examples of refusal wording

Wording for refusals: Section 1-5

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VAT11.8 Entry clearance for spouses/partners and dependants

Entry clearance is only mandatory for non-visa national family members.  All family members applying for entry clearance must meet the general visitor provisions in Paragraph 41.

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VAT11.9 Who cannot be accepted as a business visitor?

An important question to ask is whether there is evidence of a business to business link between the applicant and the UK entity. Examples:

1. An applicant who works for a multi-national company wishes to undertake training in the UK. She has enrolled on a training course provided by a private company that has no links with her overseas company. Her company has not hired the UK college's premises for company training and she is not engaging with the training provider to develop a relationship between her company and the UK entity. Importantly, she is not coming to do in-house training and the course is not mandatory or required for all staff. This applicant is not a business visitor. She is coming to undertake a course of study or training course and will therefore need to meet the student or student visitor rules.
   
   
2. An overseas student is looking to come to the UK to do work experience in a multi-national company. He doesn't meet the requirements of PBS tier 2 or 5 and therefore seeks entry as a business visitor based on the fact that he will not be paid in the UK. He cannot be considered under paragraph 46G as he is not employed by a company overseas that is looking to do or develop business with a UK company. Importantly, any paid or unpaid work is not permitted. Work placements and internships fall under PBS tier 2, 4 and 5.
   

The following are employment related applications and may not be considered as business visitors.  They should be considered under the Points Based System (PBS): 

Tier 1

• Those intending to set up a business in the UK - T1 Entrepreneur.
• Those intending to produce goods or provide services in the UK- Tier 1 General / Tier 2 / Tier 5 Temporary Worker (depending on the circumstances of the applicant, existence or not of a UK sponsor, nature of the intended work, length of employment).
• Those intending to sell goods or services in the UK- Tier 1 General / Tier 2 / Tier 5 Temporary Worker (depending on the circumstances of the applicant, existence or not of a UK sponsor, nature of the intended work, length of employment).
• Consultants who are self-employed, other than those contracted abroad by an overseas firm with a UK subsidiary- Tier 1 General.
• Those offering training, unless such training involves products manufactured overseas, or is specific to the operation of a group of companies of which the UK firm is a member -  Tier 1 General.

Tier 2

• Employees of overseas firms whose involvement with a UK subsidiary amounts to employment here – Tier 2 Intra-Company Transfer.
• Those undertaking productive work which could be undertaken by someone recruited from the local labour force or by an EEA national -  Tier 2 General (but only if employment is either in an officially designated shortage occupation or has passed the Resident Labour Market Test(RMLT)).
• Those employed full-time on a salary as a director or participant in an archaeological dig.

Tier 5

• Sportspersons playing in a one-off match or tournament may qualify in a new visitor category, otherwise - Tier 5: Temporary Worker: Cultural & Sporting.
• Entertainers appearing in a concert or film etc; Tier 5: Temporary Worker: Cultural & Sporting.

 

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