Global Talent pathways for eligible leaders and emerging leaders.
Route map, corporate transfers, talent and founder routes, family, compliance, timelines and a mobility capital analysis, in one guide with official sources.
Each service area leads to its own programme selection and detailed guidance.
Global Talent is an achievement-led route in academia or research, arts and culture, and digital technology. Endorsement and eligible-prize pathways each require evidence specific to the field.
Explore WG Signature ↗Programme guides with eligibility, evidence, steps and a mobility capital analysis.
Explore WG Corporate ↗Programme guides with eligibility, evidence, steps and a mobility capital analysis.
Explore WG Private ↗Flexible permission for recognised leaders and emerging leaders in eligible research, arts and culture, and digital-technology fields. Most applicants first need an endorsement; winners of a specifically listed prestigious prize can use the prize route. The visa can support employment, self-employment and company leadership without a sponsoring employer.
Available · endorsement or eligible prizeRequirements, process & FAQsSkilled Worker is the route through which a UK employer holding a sponsor licence employs a worker from overseas, or keeps a worker already in the UK, in a role that meets the skill and salary rules in Appendix Skilled Worker. Since 22 July 2025 the skill threshold for new entrants to the route is degree level (RQF 6), the general salary threshold is £41,700, and sub-degree roles qualify only through the Immigration Salary List or the time-limited Temporary Shortage List. Permission is normally granted for up to five years and may lead to settlement where the requirements are met at that stage.
Established sponsored work route with a settlement routeRequirements, process & FAQsThe Senior or Specialist Worker route within Global Business Mobility (GBM) allows a UK business that is linked by common ownership or control to an overseas business to transfer an established senior manager or specialist employee into a UK role. The worker must normally have worked for the group overseas for 12 months, unless paid £73,900 or more, and must be paid at least £52,500 or the going rate. The route does not lead to settlement and time on it is capped at five years in any six, or nine in any ten for high earners.
Established temporary transfer route; no settlementRequirements, process & FAQsUK Expansion Worker exists for an overseas business that has not yet started trading in the UK and needs to send senior staff to set up the UK branch or subsidiary. The sponsor licence is granted with a provisional rating until the first worker, usually the Authorising Officer, has permission, and no more than five workers may be sponsored at a time. Permission is granted for 12 months, extendable once to a maximum of two years, after which the UK business should be trading and able to sponsor under Senior or Specialist Worker or Skilled Worker.
Established new-office route; temporary and cappedRequirements, process & FAQsInnovator Founder is the UK route for a person who will establish and run a new business that an approved endorsing body assesses as innovative, viable and scalable. There is no minimum investment figure in the Rules; the test is the quality of the business plan and the founder's role in it. Permission is granted for three years at a time, the founder must attend contact-point meetings with the endorsing body, and settlement may be sought after three years where the business meets at least two of the growth criteria in Appendix Innovator Founder.
Established founder route with a three-year settlement routeRequirements, process & FAQsThe High Potential Individual (HPI) route gives a recent graduate of a university on the Home Office Global Universities List two years of unsponsored permission (three years for a PhD or other doctorate) to work, look for work or start a business in the UK. The qualification must have been awarded in the five years before the application and the university must appear on the list for the month and year of award. The route cannot be extended and does not lead to settlement, so its value lies in what the holder switches to before it ends.
Established unsponsored route; time-limited, no settlementRequirements, process & FAQsScale-up Worker allows a UK business that qualifies as a scale-up (annualised growth of at least 20 per cent in employment or turnover over three years from a base of at least ten employees, or endorsement) to sponsor a graduate-level worker for an initial two-year grant. The sponsorship lasts only six months; after that the worker may change employer without a new sponsor. Extensions are unsponsored and require PAYE earnings at the threshold, and settlement may be sought after five years where the earnings conditions are met.
Established route with a settlement route; sponsor eligibility is restrictiveRequirements, process & FAQsIndefinite leave to remain (ILR) is the UK's settled status: permission to live, work and study without time limit. Most work routes lead to it after five years' continuous residence, Global Talent and Innovator Founder after three. British citizenship by naturalisation normally follows at least 12 months after ILR, with its own residence and absence tests. Because the immigration and tax tests count days differently, an internationally mobile family must plan both at once.
Permanent status and nationality; proposals under consultationRequirements, process & FAQs