There are many companies in the U.K. that have an overseas branch or joint venture in Jordan. If you are one of them and have an employee you would like to transfer to your U.K. office, your employee will need a Senior or Specialist Worker visa (Global Business Mobility). This visa was previously called the intra-company transfer (ITC) visa.
The ITC visa is typically issued to specialist workers or senior manager-level employees who want to work temporarily in your company’s U.K. branch. One of the major requirements for this visa is that the worker should be employed in the Jordan branch of your company. A worker from any joint venture your company has in Jordan is also eligible for this visa. An individual who holds this visa cannot permanently settle in the U.K. as per immigration laws. There are also certain conditions that regulate the extension of the visa. An applicant’s partner or any dependent children can also join them while they relocate to the U.K. from Jordan.
Transferring workers from Jordan to the U.K.
If you want to transfer an employee from Jordan to the U.K., there are certain eligibility conditions that must be fulfilled both from your side and the employee’s side.
Employer eligibility conditions
Your company should have a sponsor licence issued for the Home Office to be eligible for sponsoring workers from abroad. The sponsor licence needed for sponsoring an individual applying for a Senior or Specialist Worker visa (Global Business Mobility) is the “worker” licence. This licence allows multinational companies to transfer their established staff into the country.
Your company can obtain a sponsor licence if you are a registered business doing legitimate business in the UK. Your company also needs appropriate systems or procedures to keep an eye on sponsored people and employees. The UKVI (UK Visas and Immigration) department will inspect your workplace to determine whether you are dependable and competent to perform your responsibilities before issuing the licence.
Steps after getting the licence
After you have obtained the “worker” license, you can choose the employees you want to transfer from Jordan to the UK. During the process, it is necessary that you provide valid documents to prove that there are no resident people qualified to work in the position in the United Kingdom. Only in such a case can you transfer a special officer from Jordan to the UK. Similarly, when you transfer an employee from Jordan to the UK, they should be given proper remuneration. The minimum annual remuneration for a specialist employee from overseas is set at £42,400. You will also be in charge of paying the skill charges for the employee.
When the employees who are coming to the U.K. submit visa applications, they will be asked to submit documents indicating their financial status. This is done so that the Home Office can assess whether they will be able to sustain themselves in the UK. But as an employer, you can always choose to support the worker your company is transferring from your Jordan office.
Other important things to consider
A UK employer should also prepare for numerous other aspects before transferring an employee from Jordan to the UK.
Eligibility to work
The first aspect to consider is the eligibility of the employee you are transferring to work in the UK. This is very important since hiring someone who is not authorised to work in the country is a punishable offence. Carefully check all the required original documents of the employee and make copies of them. You should also record the date on which the check was done. You should make sure that they are not banned from entering or being employed in the country.
CoS requirements
Your company should give a CoS generated by the Sponsor Management System and approved by the Home Office to the employee applying for the Senior or Specialist Worker visa (Global Business Mobility). The employee will be required to submit the CoS reference number to the Home Office when they submit the visa application.
The CoS should contain crucial information, like:
- Important details such as their name, employment details like job code, and compensation
- Proof that you haven’t revoked or the Home Office hasn’t rescinded the CoS after it was utilised in a prior application that was either approved or rejected
- A commencement date that is no later than three months from the date of submission of the visa application
- Proof that the individual has been employed with your organisation for a minimum of 12 months in Jordan. Or proof that the individual is making annually £73,900 or more
Any and all employees you are planning to transfer from Jordan to the UK should have worked in your overseas branch for a period of not less than a year. Otherwise, they should be occupying a position with a payment equal to or greater than £73,900. In that case, the only condition is that they should be a current employee in your Jordan branch. If you hold a joint venture instead of an independent company in Jordan, you can still transfer employees from Jordan to the UK following the same procedures.
Employee side
Your employee in Jordan should also satisfy certain eligibility criteria before they can come to the UK on a Senior or Specialist Worker visa (Global Business Mobility). These include:
- They should be over the age of 18
- They should possess a skill level of RQF 6
- They possess bank statements to prove their financial capability to live in the UK
The individual applying for a Senior or Specialist Worker visa (Global Business Mobility) should submit documents proving their nationality and identity along with the application. They can also bring their children and partner along with them. They only need to provide documents proving their relation with them.
The Senior or Specialist Worker visa (Global Business Mobility), previously called the intra-company visa, is an excellent way to bring skilled individuals employed in your Jordan branch to your UK office. This will give you a talented pool of workers who are already well-versed in the different important operations in your country. This will be helpful in taking your company to new heights.
