Guide to UK Business visit visas

If you are going to the UK for a trip which will last for up to 6 months, you will be able to use a visit visa where the work to be undertaken is limited; below you can see the official guidelines which state that the following may come to the UK as business visitors.

i) Advisers, consultants, trainers, trouble-shooters etc, providing they are employed abroad, either directly or under contract, by the same company (or group of companies) to which the client firm in the United Kingdom belongs. Their involvement must not extend to actual project management or to providing advice or consultancy services direct to clients of the United Kingdom company. Training should be for a specific, "one-off" purpose (for example, training in the use of products manufactured overseas or training specific to the operation of a group of companies of which the United Kingdom firm is a member). The training should not go beyond classroom instruction and should not otherwise be readily available in the UK;

ii) Representatives of computer software companies coming to install, debug or enhance their products.

iii) Representatives of computer software companies coming to be briefed as to the requirements of a United Kingdom customer. HOWEVER if they are to provide a service involving the use of their expertise to make a detailed assessment of a potential customer's requirements this should be regarded as consultancy work for which a work permit is required;

The out- come of these regulations is that (i) allows considerable flexibility for an in-house training/roll-out team, and (ii) gives considerable freedom to employees of such companies as Oracle, SAP, etc. who are rolling out their own products at client sites. As the majority of IT roll-outs are conducted by consultancies who are using products manufactured by a third party, such activities will require a work permit.

Different classes of UK visas

Can the work be performed by someone on a different class of UK Visa?

If it is the case that the person in question is not allowed to work in the UK without a work permit, you may have a number of other options:

A business visit visa – For trips to the UK of up to 6 months, a visit visa can be used where the work to be undertaken is limited; the official guidelines state that the following may come to the UK as business visitors:

Advisers, consultants, trainers, troubleshooters etc, provided they are employed abroad, either directly or under contract, by the same company (or group of companies) to which the client firm in the United Kingdom belongs. Their involvement must not extend to actual project management or to providing advice or consultancy services direct to clients of the United Kingdom company. Training should be for a specific, "one-off" purpose (for example, training in the use of products manufactured overseas or training specific to the operation of a group of companies of which the United Kingdom firm is a member). The training must not go beyond classroom instruction and must not otherwise be readily available in the UK;
Representatives of computer software companies coming to install, debug or enhance their products.
Representatives of computer software companies coming to be briefed as to the requirements of a United Kingdom customer. HOWEVER if they are to provide a service involving the use of their expertise to make a detailed assessment of a potential customer's requirements this should be regarded as consultancy work for which a work permit is required;

These regulations allow considerable flexibility for an in-house training/roll-out team, and give considerable freedom to employees of such companies as Oracle, SAP, etc. who are rolling out their own products at client sites. As the majority of IT roll-outs are conducted by consultancies who are using products manufactured by a third party, such activities will require a work permit.

A Sole Representative visa – if you do not yet have a UK branch/subsidiary, you can send someone to set up a UK office.

A Student visa – students are entitled to work for up to 20 hours per week in term time, and up to 40 hours per week during vacations.

A Training/Work Experience permit