Intra-Company Transfer: Now the Senior or Specialist Worker Visa

How the Route Works

The intra-company transfer route was replaced in 2022. Its successor is the Senior or Specialist Worker visa, one of the Global Business Mobility routes. GOV.UK describes it as a visa to “come to or stay in the UK to do an eligible job at your employer’s UK branch”. The published requirements:

• The UK employer must hold a sponsor licence covering the route, and must assign a certificate of sponsorship
• The job must be on the list of eligible occupations for the route
• Pay must be at least £52,500 a year, or the going rate for the occupation code, whichever is higher
• Anyone paid less than £73,900 a year must have worked for the same employer outside the UK for at least 12 months. At £73,900 or more there is no minimum time requirement
• The visa must be applied for within 3 months of the certificate of sponsorship being assigned
• £1,270 must have been held in a bank account for 28 consecutive days, unless the sponsor certifies maintenance

There is no English language requirement on this route. That is one of the differences from the Skilled Worker visa, which does have one.

Check the GOV.UK Senior or Specialist Worker page for full eligibility details.

No Path to Settlement

GOV.UK states plainly that on this visa you cannot “apply to settle permanently in the UK (also known as ‘indefinite leave to remain’)”. Length of stay makes no difference: the route has no settlement application at the end of it.

The Skilled Worker route does lead to settlement after 5 years. A change from 5 years to 10 years has been proposed but is not law, so the published qualifying period remains 5 years.

There are also caps on total time on the route:

• Each grant lasts the length of the certificate of sponsorship plus 14 days, up to 5 years
• 5 years in any 6-year period if pay is under £73,900 a year
• 9 years in any 10-year period if pay is £73,900 a year or more

Switching to the Skilled Worker Route

Switching from the Senior or Specialist Worker visa to the Skilled Worker visa is allowed from inside the UK. What changes:

• New sponsorship: You need a new certificate of sponsorship under the Skilled Worker category.
• The qualifying period starts on the new route. Time on the Senior or Specialist Worker route does not count towards the 5-year qualifying period for settlement on the Skilled Worker route.
• A different salary rule. Skilled Worker requires £41,700 a year or the going rate, whichever is higher, with a lower threshold of £33,400 in defined cases. The Senior or Specialist Worker figure of £52,500 does not carry across.
• An English requirement appears. Skilled Worker requires English at level B2 for applications made on or after 8 January 2026. There is no English requirement on the Senior or Specialist Worker route.
• The immigration skills charge. The employer pays the immigration skills charge, and may not pass it to the worker.

Senior or Specialist Worker Compared With Skilled Worker

• Settlement: Skilled Worker leads to settlement after 5 years. Senior or Specialist Worker does not lead to it at all.
• Salary: £52,500 or the going rate on Senior or Specialist Worker; £41,700 or the going rate on Skilled Worker, with a £33,400 lower threshold in defined cases.
• English: no requirement on Senior or Specialist Worker; B2 for new Skilled Worker applications from 8 January 2026.
• Prior employment abroad: normally 12 months for Senior or Specialist Worker; none for Skilled Worker.
• Immigration skills charge: payable on both, with one exemption specific to this route — an EU or Latvian national sponsored as a Global Business Mobility Senior or Specialist Worker on a transfer of 36 months or less.
• Maximum stay: capped on Senior or Specialist Worker at 5 years in 6, or 9 years in 10 above £73,900. Skilled Worker permission can be extended without a total cap.

For more on the Skilled Worker route, see our Skilled Worker requirements guide.

Employer Costs

The published figures for this route:

• Application fee from outside the UK: £819 for up to 3 years, £1,618 for more than 3 years, per person
• Application fee inside the UK, to extend or switch: £943 for up to 3 years, £1,865 for more than 3 years, per person
• Healthcare surcharge: usually £1,035 a year, per person
• Certificate of sponsorship: £525, paid by the employer on a Worker licence
• Immigration skills charge: £480 for the first 12 months and £240 per further 6 months for a small or charitable sponsor; £1,320 and £660 for a medium or large one

The sponsor pays the certificate fee and the skills charge, and GOV.UK says a licence may be revoked if a sponsor asks the worker to pay the skills charge. For a wider breakdown see our cost of hiring overseas workers guide, and the Home Office fee table for every current fee.

Questions and answers