Generally, the standard visitor visa will allow foreign national to enter the UK to perform certain business engagements. Such Visas are issued for a period of six months, and some conditions are attached with these visas.
It is absolutely important that you understand the conditions attached to your visa and the business activities that are you are permitted to engage in while you are in the UK on this visa type.
Permitted activated include:
- Attending meetings, conferences, seminars and interviews
- Give a one-off series of talks and speeches, provided these are not for commercial purposes and the organisers are not making profit from such.
- You can negotiate deals and sign contracts
- Attend trade fair from promotional work only
- Carry out site visit or inspections
- Gather information for your employment oversea.
- Taking Exams, eg Professional and Linguistic Assessment Board (PLAB ) or Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE)
However, there are some activities that you are allowed to conduct as a Business Visitor, they falls under, the tier 2 work visa which allows you to come to the UK for paid work, and the tier 1 entrepreneur visa will enable you to come to the UK for the purpose of starting and running a business.
You are not allowed to:
- Taking employment in the UK
- Doing work for an organisation or business in the UK
- Establish or running a business as a self-employed person
- Doing work placement or internship
- Direct selling to the public
- Providing goods and services.
There are some exceptions to what you can do in the UK to get paid as a Business Visitor:
- You are allowed to claim reasonable expenses to cover the cost of travelling and subsistence, including fees for directors attending meeting at a load-level.
- Prize money can be taken
- Billing UK client
- Paid performance at a permit-free festival
- Multinational companies who, for administrative reasons, handle payment of their employee’s salaries from the UK.
To discuss and get clarity about which Visa you may required as a Business Person visiting the UK, please call our team to get advice.
