Senior or Specialist Worker Visa

The Senior or Specialist Worker Visa replaced the Intra-Company Transfer (ICT) Long-term Staff route when the Points-Based System was introduced in December 2020. It is designed specifically for employees of multinational companies who are being transferred to the UK entity of the same corporate group — for example, a senior manager from a US parent company being posted to a UK subsidiary, or a specialist engineer from a Japanese manufacturer working at its UK plant.

The route is reserved for genuinely senior or specialist roles. The Home Office requires that the worker is either in a senior management position with direct responsibility for significant operations, or possesses specialist technical expertise that is not available in the UK labour market to the same standard. The route is not intended for junior employees simply being moved between offices for convenience or general experience.

A key requirement is that the worker must have been employed by the overseas entity of the same corporate group for at least 12 months before the date of the UK visa application. This requirement ensures the route is used for genuine transfers of established employees rather than as a back door for overseas workers to enter the UK without meeting Skilled Worker salary and skill thresholds. New recruits, regardless of their seniority, cannot use this route.

The route is separate from the Skilled Worker route and has different conditions — importantly, it does not lead to settlement and the maximum stay is capped. Workers who wish to build a long-term career in the UK should consider whether the Skilled Worker route would be more appropriate for their circumstances.

The minimum salary for the Senior or Specialist Worker route is £48,500 per year gross, or the going rate for the specific occupation code (whichever is higher). The going rate is the standard salary level published by the Home Office for each occupation category and is updated periodically. If the going rate for the occupation exceeds £48,500, the higher going rate applies.

There is no new entrant rate and no Immigration Salary List discount for Senior or Specialist Workers — the full salary threshold always applies. This reflects the senior/specialist nature of the role and prevents the route from being used to bring in lower-paid workers.

The salary must be the worker's actual gross salary for their UK role. It can include certain guaranteed allowances (such as a guaranteed location allowance), but cannot include discretionary bonuses or uncertain income. The full salary must be paid to the worker — an employer cannot pay below the threshold and make up the shortfall through accommodation or other benefits.

Dependent family members (spouse, civil partner, unmarried partner, and children under 18) can accompany or join a Senior or Specialist Worker. Dependants have the right to work and study in the UK, subject to standard conditions. The main applicant's salary must be sufficient to support themselves and any dependants, unless the dependants are themselves earning.

The Senior or Specialist Worker Visa is explicitly a temporary route — there is no pathway to indefinite leave to remain (ILR) through this visa. This is a fundamental distinction from the Skilled Worker route, under which workers can apply for ILR after five continuous years. Time spent on the Senior or Specialist Worker Visa does not count towards the qualifying period for settlement.

The maximum total time a worker can spend in the UK on this route is:

• Five years for workers earning between £48,500 and £73,899 per year
• Nine years for workers earning £73,900 or more per year

These are lifetime maximums — they apply to the total time spent on this visa (and its predecessor ICT route) across all applications, not just a single visa grant. Workers who reach their maximum stay must leave the UK and cannot apply for further Senior or Specialist Worker leave until they have spent a continuous period of at least twelve months outside the UK.

Workers who wish to remain in the UK beyond the maximum stay, or who want to build towards settlement, must apply to switch to another route — typically the Skilled Worker route — before their Senior or Specialist Worker leave expires. Switching requires meeting all the conditions of the new route, including having a job offer from a licensed Skilled Worker sponsor at the required salary and skill level. This is not always straightforward if the worker's employer is only licensed for the Senior or Specialist Worker category.

The sponsoring UK employer must hold a sponsor licence for the Senior or Specialist Worker route. This is a separate licence category from the Skilled Worker route, and employers who sponsor both types of worker must be licensed for each category. Many large multinationals hold a comprehensive sponsor licence covering multiple routes, but smaller UK entities of overseas groups may need to apply specifically for Senior or Specialist Worker sponsorship.

Sponsor duties are similar to those under the Skilled Worker route. The sponsor must:

• Only assign a Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) for a role that genuinely meets the eligibility criteria (senior/specialist, employed overseas for 12+ months)
• Keep up-to-date contact details and employment records for each sponsored worker
• Report to the Home Office if the worker leaves employment, does not turn up to work, or their circumstances change
• Comply with all Home Office sponsor guidance and cooperation with inspections

Failure to comply with sponsor duties can result in the sponsor licence being downgraded, suspended, or revoked — which would prevent the employer from sponsoring further workers and could affect the leave of existing sponsored workers. UKVI conducts compliance visits (announced and unannounced) to check that sponsors are meeting their duties.