When visiting the UK for business activities, you need to
You can visit the UK for up to 6 months to do the following business activities:
You can do certain additional activities in the UK as a Standard Visitor, if you’re employed overseas as:
Check the Visitor Rules for details of what you can do as a Standard Visitor in these job roles.
You can be invited and paid by a UK-based organisation or client:
The activities you can carry out depend on the area of your expertise. These can be found at
These are in addition all the permitted activities allowed as a Standard Visitor, except for studying and transiting to another country.
You cannot do paid or unpaid work for a UK company or as a self-employed person as a visitor. You’ll need to apply for a work visa.
If you’re being paid by a UK organisation as an expert in your profession, you may get permission to visit the UK for a Permitted Paid Engagement.
The UK Permitted Paid Engagement is a UK short stay visa for foreign experts seeking to serve through your expertise in the UK. You can apply and visit the UK with a Permitted Paid Engagement Visa if you have been invited as an expert in your profession by a UK-based organisation or client not requiring a prior sponsoring employer.
You cannot:
To qualify for the UK Permitted Paid Engagement visa you must be able to show that:
Once you have applied, it takes up to 3 weeks for a UK Permitted Paid Engagement Visa to process. For a faster visa decision, you have to pay £212 or £956 to get a visa response in 5, or 1 working day.
You cannot stay in the UK with a Permitted Paid Engagement Visa more than 1 month. Likewise, you are not eligible to switch into a different UK visa type. With this visa, your relatives cannot accompany you, neither to join you after you arrive in the UK.
You’ll get an email or a letter containing the decision on your application. This will explain what you need to do next.
Once you have decided you need to apply for a UK Permitted Paid Engagement visa, you can apply online.
A Permitted Paid Engagement Visitor visa costs £95 for up to 1 month. The earliest you can apply is 3 months before you travel.
The application process is similar to that of the Standard Visitor visa. The following is further required for a UK Permitted Paid Engagement visa:
Once you have submitted the application form online, you will be required to book an appointment at a visa application centre. At your appointment, you will be required to:
The documents provided in support of your application must be translated in English by a certified translation services providers if they are not already in English or Welsh. There may be further documentation that you will be required to submit depending on the specific circumstances of your purpose to visit.
Copyright © 2023 Adam Bernard Solicitors. This Firm is Authorised & Regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority SRA NO: 598171, 656730.
