What are the Global Business Mobility visa categories?

The Global Business Mobility (GBM) visa categories were introduced in April 2022, primarily to replace the old Tier 2 (Intra-Company Transfer) routes but also to bring several other legacy categories within the Points Based System:

This article will focus on the options for UK employers to bring employees of overseas branches of their own company to the UK. These are the GBM: Senior or Specialist Worker and GBM: Graduate Trainee visa categories.

In December 2020, when the Tier 2 (General) route became the Skilled Worker route, the requirement to advertise the role was abolished, as was the time-consuming process of requesting RCoS...

Why would employers use the GBM options?

Under the old Points Based System, before December 2020, employers looking to sponsor migrant workers generally had to conduct a Resident Labour Market Test – advertising the role for 28 days to show that there were no settled workers who could do the job. Employers also had to contend with the often unpredictable and always slow process of requesting a Restricted Certificate of Sponsorship (RCoS).

UK branches of international companies could instead use the Intra-Company Transfer routes (as they were then known) to transfer staff to the UK, bypassing the need to advertise the job and the dreaded RCoS process. The downside of using the Intra-Company Transfer routes was that they normally came with a higher salary threshold and the visa holder would never qualify for Indefinite Leave to Remain in the UK.

But hasn’t the Skilled Worker route done away with the need to advertise?

Exactly! In December 2020, when the Tier 2 (General) route became the Skilled Worker route, the requirement to advertise the role was abolished, as was the time-consuming process of requesting RCoS and waiting for the monthly panel.

So if the disadvantages of the Skilled Worker route have been removed (or at least significantly lessened), does that mean the disadvantages of the Intra-Company transfer routes now render them pointless?

In many cases, yes! The GBM: Senior or Specialist Worker and GBM: Graduate Trainee routes still have more restrictive criteria than the Skilled Worker route and still don’t lead to Indefinite Leave to Remain in the UK. So in most cases, a international employer looking to move an overseas employee to the UK branch is better served by the Skilled Worker route.

Aren’t we supposed to use the Global Business Mobility routes if we’re transferring staff to the UK?

No – there’s no reason why you have to use the GBM routes. You should decide what works best for the employer and the employee.

What are other employers doing?

Since the rule changes in December 2020, employers have used the Skilled Worker route significantly more than the ICT routes.

There was a significant drop in all types of sponsored work applications in the first half of 2020 due to the pandemic, but since the rules changed in December 2020, use of the non-ICT sponsored work routes – Skilled Worker – increased significantly, while use of the ICT routes has remained fairly flat.

Intra-Company Transfer certificates of sponsorship (CoS) have significantly reduced by overall share in previous years.

Exceptions to the rule

Nevertheless, there are few scenarios in which it might make sense to use ICT:

• - Genuine vacancy
• - If you have an assignee who cannot (or will not) meet the English Language requirement
• - If you have an assignee who can only meet the salary threshold by including allowances
• - If you run an international graduate trainee programme and want to avoid paying the Immigration Skills Charge
• - If for internal policy reasons, you need to use the immigration rules to manage assignees’ expectations about the length of time they will stay in the UK