Sponsor licences · IAA-regulated advice
UK Expansion Worker Sponsor Licence Advice in Birmingham & London
Setting up a UK branch or subsidiary of your overseas business? This licence lets you send senior managers and specialists to establish it before you start trading here. We check your UK footprint, your trading history and your expansion plan, and prepare your licence application with you, for a fixed fee agreed in writing.
Last checked 11 October 2026 · Reviewed by Vishal Gautam, IAA-regulated adviser
Overview
What is a UK Expansion Worker sponsor licence?
The UK Expansion Worker route is part of Global Business Mobility, and it’s the only sponsor licence for a business that isn’t trading in the UK yet. Instead of a UK trading presence, you show a UK ‘footprint’, such as UK premises or a Companies House registration. The licence is issued to your business; each person you send then applies for their own UK Expansion Worker visa.
It’s a way to launch, not a permanent arrangement. You can hold it for 4 years at most, and the Home Office expects you to be trading in the UK within 2 years. Once you’re trading, you add other routes, such as Skilled Worker or Senior or Specialist Worker, and your workers can switch to them if they qualify.
✓This is the right licence if…
- Your business trades overseas, usually for at least 3 years, and isn’t an investment-only business
- You haven’t started trading in the UK, but you have UK premises or a Companies House registration
- The UK business will be in the same line of business, and owned or controlled by the overseas business
- You need senior managers or specialists who already work for you to set it up
→Look at another route if…
- Your business already trades in the UKGlobal Business Mobility licence →
- You want to recruit new staff for UK jobsSkilled Worker licence →
- You’re the manager or specialist being sent to the UKUK Expansion Worker visa →
- You’re starting a new business of your own, not expanding oneInnovator Founder visa →
Quick check
Can you sponsor? Six questions, one minute
Answer honestly. Nothing is saved or sent: this is a general guide, not advice on your case.
Has your business been actively trading overseas for at least 3 years?Japanese and Australian businesses, and companies listed on the London Stock Exchange or an equivalent market, can qualify without proving 3 years.
Have you not yet started trading in the UK?Limited pre-trade steps, such as employing the person who’ll be your Authorising Officer, don’t count as trading.
Do you have a UK footprint: premises, or a branch or subsidiary registered at Companies House?A signed lease or proof of purchase counts, or simply the Companies House reference number.
Will the UK business be owned by, or part of, the overseas business, in the same line of work?Some holding company and sister company structures also qualify. Joint ventures and new business ventures don’t.
Do you have a credible plan to start trading in the UK within 2 years?You’ll send a business plan with your reasons, your planned investment, at least 12 months of projected costs and the jobs you’ll fill.
Will the people you send earn at least £52,500, or the going rate if higher?They must usually have worked for your business outside the UK for 12 months, unless they earn £73,900 or more.
Eligibility
UK Expansion Worker licence requirements
You must meet the general sponsor licence rules plus the expansion rules: a UK footprint, an established overseas business and a credible plan to trade in the UK within 2 years.
A UK footprint, but no UK trading
- Show UK business premises, such as a signed lease or proof of purchase, or register your UK branch or subsidiary with Companies House
- You must not already have an active trading presence in the UK
- Limited pre-trade activity, such as employing the person you’ll name as Authorising Officer, doesn’t count as trading
- No footprint evidence means the application is rejected; evidence that you’re already trading means it’s refused
If your UK business has a website, give its address with your application.
An established overseas business
- Your overseas business must be trading now, and have traded throughout the 3 years before you apply
- Investment-only businesses, such as private equity or venture capital funds, can’t use this route
- Japanese and Australian businesses can send just 12 months’ evidence, but can then sponsor only one worker at a time
- Businesses listed on the London Stock Exchange or an equivalent regulated market don’t normally need to prove their trading
The UK business must be in the same type of business as the overseas one: it can’t be a new venture.
A credible plan to trade within 2 years
- A business plan for the UK: why you’re expanding, your sector, your planned investment and at least 12 months of projected costs
- Information about the overseas business: its sector, a hierarchy chart, its staff numbers and its last 12 months of activity
- The jobs you plan to fill, with job titles, occupation codes and salaries, and any workers you’ve already chosen
- At least one supporting document, such as market research, shareholder approval, or advice from formation, tax or relocation firms
If a third party prepared part of your evidence, such as market research, you also send your contract with them.
Your Authorising Officer and first certificate
- Your Authorising Officer can be someone already in the UK, or a senior employee of the overseas business if there’s no one suitable here
- If they’re overseas, they must also be your Level 1 User, and the licence starts with a provisional rating and one certificate, for them
- Once they have their visa, they update the sponsorship management system and ask for an A-rating; you can then request up to 9 more certificates
- If your Authorising Officer is already in the UK, you get an A-rating at once, and your Level 1 User must be UK-based and settled
If an overseas Authorising Officer’s visa is refused, the Home Office will normally revoke the licence.
What happens after 2 and 4 years
- Two years after the licence is granted, your UK Expansion Worker certificate allocation drops to zero: no new workers and no extensions on this route
- Each worker gets up to 1 year at first, and can extend to 2 years in a row on this route
- Once you’re trading and A-rated, add routes such as Skilled Worker or Senior or Specialist Worker; your workers can switch if they qualify
- You can’t hold a UK Expansion Worker licence for more than 4 years, and you can’t renew it
The Home Office may visit to check you’re still on track to trade in the UK. If you’re not, it’s likely to revoke the licence.
Documents
UK Expansion Worker licence documents: the easy part
This route asks for more business evidence than any other licence, under four headings: your UK footprint, your link to the overseas business, its trading history and your expansion plan.
What everyone needs
- Proof of your UK footprint: a Companies House number, or a signed lease or purchase
- Evidence the UK business is owned or controlled by the overseas business
- £At least 12 months of the overseas business’s bank statements
- Certified accounts or annual reports for 3 years, with registration and constitutional documents
- A UK business plan with your investment, sector and first-year costs
- Details of the jobs you’ll fill and the people you’ll send
Plus contracts or advertising showing 12 months of trading, at least one supporting document such as market research, and certified translations of anything not in English or Welsh. Listed companies need much less trading evidence.
Costs & timeline
UK Expansion Worker licence cost and processing time
The licence costs £611 whatever your size, and each certificate of sponsorship costs £55. There’s no Immigration Skills Charge and no priority service on this route. Most licence applications are decided in under 8 weeks.
Paid by you, the sponsor
| Licence feethe Temporary Worker licence fee, the same for every size | £611 |
| Certificate of sponsorship£55 for each worker; the first is usually for your Authorising Officer | £55 |
| Immigration Skills Chargenot charged on the UK Expansion Worker route | £0 |
| Home Office totallicence plus your Authorising Officer’s certificate | £666 |
Home Office fees from the fees table in force from 8 October 2026, checked 11 October 2026. The licence fee isn’t refunded if you’re refused, and you must not pass the licence or certificate fees on to your workers. The pre-licence priority service isn’t available for UK Expansion Worker applications. Each worker also applies for a visa: £340, plus the health surcharge of £1,035 a year, and they need £1,270 in savings unless exempt, because you can’t certify their maintenance on this route. Adding a Worker route later, such as Skilled Worker, costs £1,071 if you’re medium or large. Our consultation fees →
Set up your footprint
Before you applyRegister your UK branch or subsidiary at Companies House, or take UK premises, without starting to trade.
Apply with your evidence
Week 0You submit the form and pay £611, then send your footprint, link, trading and expansion evidence within 5 working days.
Decision
Usually under 8 weeksThere’s no priority service on this route. With an overseas Authorising Officer, you get a provisional licence and one certificate.
Upgrade to an A-rating
After the first visaYour Authorising Officer gets their visa, updates the system and asks for an A-rating. You can then request up to 9 more certificates.
Trade and add routes
Within 2 yearsStart trading and add routes such as Skilled Worker. After 2 years there are no new expansion certificates, and after 4 the licence ends.
Avoid a refusal
Common UK Expansion Worker licence refusal reasons
Expansion licences fail on the business evidence more than anything else. These are the issues we check first.
Already trading in the UK
If your evidence shows a UK trading presence, the Home Office refuses: this route is only for businesses that haven’t started. Another route will fit instead.
We check: whether anything you’ve done counts as trading.
No UK footprint
Without premises evidence or a Companies House registration, the application is rejected without being considered.
We check: your lease, purchase or registration documents.
Not enough overseas trading
You need evidence of 3 years’ active trading unless an exception applies, in a set format. Investment-only businesses don’t qualify at all.
We check: your accounts, statements and contracts against the list.
A plan that isn’t credible
The Home Office looks at your business planning, finances, size and track record to decide whether you can really trade in the UK within 2 years.
We check: your business plan and projected costs.
The wrong ownership structure
The UK business must be wholly owned by, or part of, the overseas business, or fit the holding or sister company rules. Joint ventures aren’t accepted.
We check: your group structure before you register anything.
An unsuitable Authorising Officer
Your Authorising Officer must be the most senior person responsible for your sponsorship. If they’re overseas, a refusal of their own visa normally ends the licence.
We check: who should hold the role, and from where.
How we help
Our UK Expansion Worker licence services
Choose a one-off consultation, or let us prepare your licence application with you from start to finish, for a fixed fee.
Expansion consultation
We check whether you count as trading, your footprint and structure, and whether this route or another fits your plans.
Evidence review
We check your accounts, statements, link evidence and business plan against the Home Office list before you apply.
Licence application
We help you complete the online form and prepare your documents. The Home Office requires you to submit it yourself.
First visas and next routes
We help with your Authorising Officer’s visa, the A-rating request, and adding routes once you’re trading.
Our scope: we’re regulated by the Immigration Advice Authority at Level 1. There’s no right of appeal against a licence refusal. If you’re refused, we explain your options and help you reapply when you’re able to, and we refer you to a solicitor or higher-level adviser where your case needs a higher level of advice.
FAQs
UK Expansion Worker licence questions, answered
Does the licence cover our workers’ visas?
No. The licence lets you assign certificates of sponsorship, and each worker then applies for a UK Expansion Worker visa. They must usually be paid at least £52,500 or the going rate, if higher, and have worked for your business outside the UK for 12 months, unless they earn £73,900 or more.
How many people can we send?
Only as many as you genuinely need to set up the UK business, up to 10 at any one time. You can replace someone who leaves, within that limit. A Japanese or Australian business that doesn’t show 3 years’ trading can sponsor only one worker at a time.
Our Authorising Officer is overseas. What happens?
They must also be your Level 1 User. If the licence is granted, it starts with a provisional rating and one certificate, which they assign to themselves to apply for their visa. Once they have it, they update the system and ask for an A-rating, and you can then request up to 9 more certificates.
What happens 2 years after the licence is granted?
The Home Office expects you to be trading in the UK by then, and reduces your UK Expansion Worker certificate allocation to zero. You can’t bring in new workers, or extend existing workers’ visas, on this route. Allocations on other routes you’ve added aren’t automatically changed.
We’ve started trading. What next?
Once you’re A-rated, apply to add other routes to your licence, such as Skilled Worker or Senior or Specialist Worker. Your UK Expansion Workers can then switch to those routes if they meet the requirements. A medium or large sponsor pays £1,071 to add a Worker route.
Can we renew the licence after 4 years?
No. You can only be licensed on the UK Expansion Worker route for 4 years, and GOV.UK says you can’t apply for another licence to sponsor these workers. Plan your move to other routes well before then.
What happens if our application is refused?
There’s no right of appeal. If the refusal came from a caseworker error, or evidence you sent wasn’t considered, you can send an error correction request within 14 calendar days. Otherwise, you can usually apply again after 6 months, once the problem is fixed.
Related routes
Other sponsor licence pages
UK Expansion Worker visa
What the people you send will need.
Read more →Global Business Mobility licence
Group transfers once you’re trading.
Read more →Skilled Worker sponsor licence
Recruit for your new UK business.
Read more →Compare sponsor licences
Every licence type, its fees and its routes.
Read more →Ready when you are
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