There are several advantages of hiring skilled workers from abroad for your business: you get new talent, you become more competitive, and you can increase your market share. Work with foreigners in the UK through different visa routes so you can hire international workers and expand your business. Learn about acquiring foreign workers and how to get started.
Why Hire Foreign Workers?
There are a few reasons why you need to hire international workers (ITWs):
- To fill skill gaps, ITWs actively take on specialized roles in sectors that require technical expertise, foreign language skills, or other abilities that are in short supply in the UK labor market.
- Specializing in New Markets: Skilled immigrants also often possess foreign cultures and languages, and so can bring your company to new local or international markets.
- Steady Competition: When you invest in skilled foreign talent, you can make your business more competitive in the global marketplace by adding innovation and efficiency.
- Bring New Perspectives: Working abroad can bring innovative ideas and methods to your business that will develop your company and make it better.
- Networking: Incoming workers may have good contacts in the UK and abroad, which may result in new business or collaboration.
How to Hire International Workers
You need a sponsor license if you wish to employ foreign workers in the UK. This license allows you to employ skilled staff who aren’t based in the UK but could be here temporarily.
What is a Sponsor Licence?
Sponsor license: This is a UK government approval for you to hire foreign labour. You will need it for employing professional staff abroad or in the UK under some visa types. It’s 4 years long, after which you can get the license renewed.
Requirements for a Sponsor Licence
Your business must be as follows to qualify for a sponsor license:
- UK Physical / Legal Presence: You need to be physically based in the UK and legally trading or conducting business there.
- Proper Documents: Your company has to register with the concerned authorities if needed. You may have to establish that you hold proper planning or a license to work in the UK.
- Real Jobs: You will need to show that you can provide a real job in a skilled profession and that you will receive the standard of pay prescribed by the Home Office.
- Acceptance of Responsibilities: By applying for a sponsor license, you accept the responsibility of sponsoring, including following immigration regulations.
- Exemptions: Private persons will usually not be allowed to apply for a sponsor license except for single traders wanting to sponsor a worker themselves.
Global Business Mobility Routes
UK – The UK launched the Global Business Mobility route in 2022, which has five subcategories for sponsoring qualified overseas employees for part-time periods. This route allows employers to hire foreign talent for work placements or projects.
The five subcategories are:
- Senior or Specialist Worker: This route is available for seniors or specialists who are being ported from an outbound company office. There are certain point thresholds (the candidate should be in salary). Employees can stay in the UK for 5 years, but this visa does not result in long-term residency.
- Graduate Trainee: For graduate trainees based in the UK on a training scheme for a senior management or specialist role. The job should pay at least £23,100 a year, and trainees can remain for up to 5 years.
- UK Expansion Worker: Foreign workers come to the UK to assist a foreign company with establishing a UK office. This pathway is not permanent residency but is the best for companies entering the UK market.
- The Secondment Worker route allows individuals to temporarily work in the UK on high-value jobs or investments. To qualify, their employer must have operated with their overseas company for at least 12 months, and a UK company must sponsor them.
- Service Supplier: This is the group for foreign employees that come to the UK temporarily to provide services on a contract. This work needs to be covered by one of the UK’s export arrangements.
How to Apply for a Global Business Mobility Visa?
It’s very easy to get a visa through the Global Business Mobility route, but the applicant has to meet specific conditions under the subcategory. They can apply from outside or within the UK, provided they don’t have visitor status or one of the other categories of visa that is not valid.
Important Notes
- No Road to Home: Not all the Global Mobility routes lead to a permanent home in the UK. But those visas also let skilled workers come and work temporarily in the UK and play a part in the success of your business.
- Sponsor Requirements: You must have a sponsor license for your company, and the worker must meet the minimum salary and job requirements of that visa subcategory.
There are many advantages of hiring talented international workers for your business, ranging from capacity expansion to skills replacement. Once you have a sponsor license, you can attract global talent to your business and recruit foreign workers using the different routes in Global Business Mobility.
If you’re a company looking to sponsor overseas workers or want assistance with visas, Law and Visas can help you get the right licenses and meet UK immigration rules.
