Visitor visas · IAA-regulated advice
UK Business Visitor Advice in Birmingham & London
Come to the UK for meetings, conferences, contract negotiations, site visits and other permitted business activities, for up to 6 months. There’s no separate business visa: you visit as a Standard Visitor. We check your plans are allowed and prepare your application, for a fixed fee agreed in writing.
Last checked 11 October 2026 · Reviewed by Vishal Gautam, IAA-regulated adviser
Overview
What is a UK business visit?
A business visit lets you come to the UK for up to 6 months for business activities linked to your work abroad, such as meetings, conferences, negotiating deals, site visits and training. You can’t take a job, fill a role or do work for a UK organisation. If you’re employed outside the UK, you must stay employed and paid there.
There’s no separate Business Visitor visa. You apply as a Standard Visitor under Appendix V: Visitor of the Immigration Rules, and what you can do is listed in Appendix Visitor: Permitted Activities. Visa nationals need a visit visa; most other nationals need an electronic travel authorisation (ETA).
✓This is your visa if…
- You’re coming for meetings, conferences, negotiations, site visits or training linked to your work abroad
- You work for, or run, a business outside the UK, and any UK payment is limited to expenses or a listed exception
- You won’t fill a role, cover for someone or sell directly to the public in the UK
- Your trip will last 6 months or less, and you’ll leave at the end of it
→Look at another route if…
- A UK employer wants to hire youSkilled Worker visa →
- Your overseas employer is sending you to work at its UK branchSenior or Specialist Worker →
- You want to set up and run an innovative new business in the UKInnovator Founder visa →
- You’re visiting for a holiday, family or study, not businessStandard Visitor visa →
Quick check
Could you visit on business? Six questions, one minute
Answer honestly. Nothing is saved or sent: this is a general guide, not advice on your case.
Is your trip linked to your job or business outside the UK?For example meetings, a conference, a deal, a site visit or training.
Will you avoid doing a job, filling a role or covering for someone in the UK?Advising UK colleagues in your own group on a specific internal project is allowed.
Will you be paid only from outside the UK?A UK source can cover reasonable travel and subsistence expenses.
If you’re promoting products, will you avoid selling directly to the public?Trade fairs are allowed for promotional work.
Can you, your employer or your host pay for the whole trip?A UK business contact can pay if they have a genuine professional relationship with you.
Will each trip last 6 months or less?Paid engagements must be completed within 30 days of arrival.
Eligibility
What business visitors can do: requirements
You must meet the general visitor requirements, and every business activity on your trip must be one the Rules allow.
General business activities
- Attend meetings, conferences, seminars, interviews, workshops and debates
- Negotiate and sign deals and contracts
- Attend trade fairs for promotional work, as long as you don’t sell directly
- Carry out site visits and inspections, gather information for your job abroad, and be briefed on a UK customer’s needs if the work for them is done outside the UK
- Do some of your usual work remotely while you’re here, as long as that isn’t the main reason for your trip
You can also give a one-off or short series of talks, as long as they’re not organised as a commercial event and don’t make a profit for the organiser.
Working with your own company
- Advise, consult, trouble-shoot, train and share skills on a specific internal project with UK colleagues in the same corporate group
- Do the same with clients only where it’s incidental to your job abroad and needed for a project your employer’s UK branch is delivering
- Carry out regulatory or financial audits at a UK branch, if you’re an internal auditor
- Install, dismantle, repair, service or advise on machinery, equipment or software that your overseas company supplied under a contract with a UK organisation
Client work isn’t allowed where your overseas employer is delivering the project directly to the UK client.
Training and specific roles
- Receive training from a UK organisation in work practices and techniques you need for your job abroad
- Deliver a short series of training to a UK company’s staff, if your overseas employer is contracted to deliver global training to its corporate group
- Some roles have their own permitted activities, for example translators, journalists, market researchers, overseas lawyers, drivers and religious workers
Each role has its own limits, so check the exact activities before you travel.
Payment and paid engagements
- You must not be paid by a UK source, except for reasonable travel and subsistence expenses (including fees for directors attending board-level meetings) and a few other listed cases
- Other exceptions include prize money, salaries paid from the UK by a multinational for administrative reasons, and billing a UK client for your time where your overseas employer is contracted to it, most of the work is done abroad and the payment is lower than your salary
- Invited experts can be paid for listed engagements, such as lectures, conference talks, examining students, performing, or advocacy by a qualified lawyer, arranged before you travel
Permitted paid engagements are no longer a separate visa. You do them as a Standard Visitor and declare them in your visa application, or at the border if asked.
What business visitors can’t do
- Take a job, or do work that fills a role or gives short-term cover in a UK organisation
- Do work for a UK organisation or business, a work placement or an internship
- Sell directly to the public, or provide goods and services, unless a permitted activity allows it
- Set up or run a business in the UK as a self-employed person
To do any of these, you need a work or business visa instead.
Documents
Business visitor documents: the easy part
Most people can list the documents. Refusals come from what they say about your trip, and whether the activities match what visitors can do.
What everyone needs
- Your passport, valid for your whole stay
- A letter from your employer or business explaining your role and the trip
- An invitation or agenda from the UK company or event
- £Evidence of who is paying for the trip
- Details of where you’ll stay
- Evidence of your work and life abroad
For a paid engagement, also the formal invitation and evidence of your expertise. Certified translations of anything not in English or Welsh.
Costs & timeline
Business visitor visa cost and processing time
A business visit uses the Standard Visitor visa: £135 for up to 6 months, with no health surcharge. If you don’t need a visa, an ETA costs £20. Most visa decisions are made within 3 weeks.
Applying from outside the UK
| Visit visa, up to 6 months | £135 |
| Immigration Health Surchargenot charged for visits | £0 |
| Home Office total, per applicantfor a 6-month visa; long-term visas cost more | £135 |
Home Office fees from the fees table in force from 8 October 2026, checked 11 October 2026. Frequent business travellers can apply for a long-term visit visa: £506 (2 years), £903 (5 years) or £1,128 (10 years), with each stay still up to 6 months. An ETA costs £20 and lasts 2 years, or until your passport expires if sooner. Our consultation fees →
Check your activities
Before you bookMake sure everything on your agenda is a permitted activity, and check whether you need a visa or an ETA.
Apply
Up to 3 months before you travelApply online, pay the fee and give your fingerprints and photo at a visa application centre. An ETA is applied for online or in the UK ETA app.
Decision
Visa: usually 3 weeksAn ETA decision usually comes within a day, but can take up to 3 working days. Wait for it before you travel.
At the border
Each time you arriveYou may be asked about your trip and what you plan to do, so keep your invitation and employer’s letter with you.
Leave
Within 6 monthsLeave at the end of your trip. Any paid engagement must be completed within 30 days of your arrival.
Avoid a refusal
Common business visitor refusal reasons
Most problems come from what the trip involves, not the paperwork. These are the issues we check first.
Activities that look like a job
If your plans amount to filling a role, covering for someone or doing work for a UK organisation, you can be refused a visa or refused entry.
We check: every item on your agenda against the permitted activities.
Payment from a UK source
Being paid by a UK company or client for your time here isn’t allowed, apart from expenses and a few listed exceptions.
We check: how you’re paid, and whether an exception applies.
Working directly for UK clients
Client-facing work is allowed only in a narrow intra-company setting. If your employer is delivering a project directly to a UK client, it isn’t covered.
We check: whether your client work fits the intra-company rules.
A vague purpose
A letter that doesn’t say who you’re meeting, why, and who pays makes it hard to show you’re a genuine business visitor.
We check: that your employer’s letter and the invitation tell the same story.
Long or frequent stays
Visitors must not live in the UK through frequent or successive visits. Regular long stays at the same UK office can suggest you’re really working here.
We check: your travel pattern, and whether a work route fits better.
An engagement that doesn’t qualify
Paid engagements must be a listed type, arranged before you travel, linked to your expertise and job abroad, and done within 30 days of arrival.
We check: the invitation, your expertise and the timing.
How we help
Our business visitor services
Choose a one-off consultation, or let us handle your application from start to finish for a fixed fee.
Activity check
We go through your agenda and tell you what’s allowed as a visitor, and what isn’t.
Evidence review
We check your employer’s letter, invitation and funding evidence against the Rules.
Full application
We prepare and submit your visa application, with a cover letter that explains your trip.
Frequent travel
We help regular business visitors apply for a 2, 5 or 10-year visit visa.
Our scope: we’re regulated by the Immigration Advice Authority at Level 1. A visit visa refusal can’t be challenged by administrative review, and there’s no right of appeal unless a human rights or protection claim was refused. If you’re refused, we explain your options and, where your case needs a higher level of advice, refer you to a solicitor or higher-level adviser.
FAQs
Business visitor questions, answered
Is there a separate Business Visitor visa?
No. You apply as a Standard Visitor and explain that your trip is for business. The same visa also lets you do other permitted activities, such as tourism, during your stay.
Do I need a visa or an ETA for a business trip?
Visa nationals need a visit visa before they travel. Most other nationals need an ETA, which costs £20 and covers business trips of up to 6 months. If you’ve been refused before or have a criminal record, applying for a visa may be the safer choice.
Can my UK host pay my expenses?
Yes. A UK source can pay reasonable expenses for your travel and subsistence, including fees for directors attending board-level meetings. A UK business contact can also pay for your trip if they have a genuine professional relationship with you. They can’t pay you for work you do here, except in the listed cases.
Can I work on a UK project for my overseas employer?
Only within limits. You can advise, consult, trouble-shoot, train or share skills on a specific internal project with UK colleagues in your own corporate group. You can’t fill a role or provide short-term cover, so longer hands-on assignments usually need a work route such as a Global Business Mobility visa.
Can I work remotely for my overseas employer during my trip?
Yes. You can do work for your overseas job remotely while you’re in the UK, as long as that isn’t the main reason for your visit.
What is a permitted paid engagement?
It’s paid work you can do as a visitor when you’re invited because of your expertise, for example giving lectures, speaking at a conference, examining students, performing, or advocacy by a qualified lawyer. You must be 18 or over, have the invitation before you travel, and complete the engagement within 30 days of arrival. It’s now part of the Standard Visitor route, not a separate visa.
Can I attend a job interview and then stay to work?
You can attend interviews as a business visitor. If you’re offered the job, you can’t switch to a Skilled Worker visa from visitor permission, so you’ll need to apply from outside the UK.
How long does a business visit visa take?
Most decisions are made within 3 weeks of giving your fingerprints and photo, and you can apply up to 3 months before you travel. An ETA usually takes a day, but allow up to 3 working days.
Related routes
Other visit and business routes
Standard Visitor visa
Tourism, family visits, short courses and more.
Read more →Skilled Worker visa
An eligible job with a Home Office-approved employer.
Read more →Global Business Mobility visas
Work at your overseas employer’s UK branch.
Read more →UK Expansion Worker visa
Set up a UK branch of an overseas business.
Read more →Ready when you are
Business, sorted.
Book a consultation, or start with the free quick check on this page.