The Global Business Mobility (GBM) Service Supplier route is a sponsored route for overseas service providers that need to send personnel to the UK to deliver services under a qualifying international trade commitment. It covers both (i) employees of an overseas contractual service supplier and (ii) overseas self-employed independent professionals, provided the relevant trade agreement requirements are met.
This route replaced the former provisions for contractual service suppliers and independent professionals under the Temporary Work – International Agreement route (and its predecessor Tier 5 provisions). It is designed for temporary assignments and does not lead to settlement (ILR).
A key feature is that sponsorship is provided by the UK organisation receiving the services (the UK sponsor), rather than the overseas service provider. The UK sponsor must hold a sponsor licence for the Service Supplier route and must register the underlying services contract with the Home Office before sponsoring workers against it.
To qualify under the GBM Service Supplier route, an applicant must meet the requirements set out in the immigration rules, which include:
English language is not a requirement under the Global Business Mobility Service Supplier route. Applicants are therefore not required to take an approved English language test or provide evidence of an English-language qualification as part of the application.
The Service Supplier route is designed for overseas-based service delivery. As a result, most applicants must show they are already established with the overseas service provider and have relevant overseas work experience.
Contractual service suppliers (employees of an overseas service provider)
Where the applicant is employed by an overseas service provider, the applicant must be currently working for that overseas service provider on the date of application and must normally have completed 12 months’ work outside the UK for that provider. The 12 months does not need to be continuous, provided it is accumulated during a qualifying period of continuous employment with the overseas service provider before the application.
Independent professionals (self-employed overseas service providers)
Where the applicant is applying as a self-employed independent professional, they must be currently established as an overseas service provider and must normally have worked for at least 12 months immediately before the application in the same sector as the service they will provide in the UK. For independent professionals, the relevant 12-month period can include a mix of self-employment and work for other businesses, provided it is in the same sector.
Permitted absences and client work
As a general principle, time spent working for clients does not break continuity and overseas client work can count towards time spent working outside the UK. Certain absences (for example statutory parental leave, adoption leave, sick leave, agreed humanitarian/environmental crisis work, lawful industrial action, jury service and attendance at court as a witness) may be treated as permitted absences for continuity purposes, although periods of absence do not count towards the minimum period of work outside the UK.
Service Supplier applicants must meet the route’s skill requirement. There are two ways to do this, depending on the type of service being supplied and how the role is classified.
Under the standard approach, the applicant is sponsored to do a role in an eligible occupation code for the Service Supplier route. In practice, this generally means the role is at RQF Level 6 (graduate level). The individual does not necessarily need to hold a degree, but the role itself must be pitched at that level and the sponsor must select an appropriate occupation code. Where the Home Office considers the occupation code has been selected incorrectly (for example, to make the job appear eligible), the application can be refused.
If the role is not eligible under Option A, some applicants can instead meet the skill requirement through an alternative test based on qualifications and professional experience. This typically requires:
The professional experience requirement is:
For some service types, the qualification requirements differ (for example, some categories do not require a degree, while others require a specific type of qualification). The applicable requirements depend on the trade agreement and the service category the applicant is being sponsored to provide.
The Service Supplier route is tied to the UK’s international trade commitments. As a result, eligibility is not based solely on the job and the contract: the applicant must also meet a nationality or residence requirement that depends on the trade agreement under which the services are being supplied.
In practical terms:
Common scenarios include the following:
Applicants should be prepared to evidence nationality or qualifying residence status (for example, by passport and/or a valid permanent residence document), and the sponsor should ensure the correct trade agreement basis is reflected in the sponsorship documentation and contract registration.
It may be possible to apply from within the UK to switch into the Global Business Mobility Service Supplier route. Switching can be useful where a person is already in the UK lawfully and a UK-based sponsor is able to register an eligible services contract and assign a Certificate of Sponsorship for the service assignment.
Switching is not normally permitted where the applicant was last granted permission as:
In those situations, the individual will usually need to leave the UK and apply for entry clearance as a GBM Service Supplier.
Where the applicant has, or last had, permission as a Student, switching is only permitted if one of the student-specific conditions is met on the date of application. Broadly, this requires course completion (or an eligible course change) or that the course will have finished before the start date on the Certificate of Sponsorship; for PhD students, the rules include a specific requirement linked to the period of PhD study completed.
Even where switching is permitted, the applicant must still meet the substantive Service Supplier requirements, including the overseas work requirement, the nationality/residence requirement linked to the relevant trade agreement, and the skill requirement (under either occupation code eligibility or the qualification/experience route). These can be the main practical constraints on an in-country switch and should be checked before the CoS is assigned.
The Service Supplier route is a temporary assignment route. Permission is granted by reference to the work dates on the Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS), but it is capped by both the maximum assignment length permitted under the relevant trade agreement and the wider cumulative limits across the Global Business Mobility routes.
Entry clearance (applying from outside the UK)
If the application is for entry clearance, permission will normally be granted until the earliest of:
The maximum single assignment period is:
Permission to stay (applying from inside the UK)
For in-country applications, the maximum single assignment period is assessed by taking into account time already spent in the UK since the applicant’s last grant of permission as a Service Supplier under the relevant trade agreement. Permission will be granted until the earliest of:
Maximum cumulative stay across GBM routes
Most applicants are subject to the broader GBM cap of 5 years in any 6-year period, counting time spent on any GBM route and the predecessor Intra-Company routes.
The GBM Service Supplier route is a temporary route and does not lead to settlement (indefinite leave to remain). Time spent in the UK with permission as a Service Supplier does not count towards the qualifying residence period for settlement.
Where longer-term UK residence is required, it is usually necessary to consider an onward immigration strategy and, where permitted under the Immigration Rules, switching into a route that can lead to settlement. Whether switching is possible will depend on the individual’s circumstances, the UK role and the requirements of the route being considered.
The Service Supplier route is one of the most technical GBM categories. Successful applications depend on aligning multiple moving parts, including the sponsor licence position, contract eligibility and registration, the relevant trade agreement and sector commitments, nationality or residence criteria, and the correct approach to skill level (either through occupation code eligibility or qualification and experience requirements). Distinct Law supports both UK service recipients and overseas service providers to structure applications in a compliant way and to reduce the risk of refusals or delays.
Services typically include:
The Service Supplier route is often a good fit where the UK business is not recruiting a long-term employee but instead needs overseas personnel to come to the UK temporarily to deliver services under an international trade agreement contract. Unlike routes such as Skilled Worker, it is not designed around permanent UK employment and does not require the worker to meet an English language requirement or a general salary threshold/going rate test (although pay must still comply with UK employment law). It can therefore be a practical option for project-based delivery, specialist overseas service teams, and repeat short assignments, provided the UK business has an eligible contract with an overseas service provider that can be registered with the Home Office and the worker meets the trade agreement nationality/residence and skill requirements. Where the commercial objective is service delivery under a qualifying contract rather than hiring into the UK labour market, the Service Supplier route can offer a compliant and more targeted alternative.
The visitor route permits a wide range of business activities, but they must remain genuinely short-term and must not amount to taking employment in the UK, filling a role for a UK business, or providing services in the UK labour market. The Home Office guidance recognises some specific scenarios that can look like “work” but are still permitted as visitor activities when they are clearly linked to the person’s overseas employment and are ancillary to it. These include intra-corporate activities of short duration linked to a specific project (where any client-facing work is incidental and the visitor is not effectively filling a UK role), certain manufacturing and supply of goods scenarios such as installing, servicing, repairing or providing after-sales services for machinery, software or equipment supplied under a contract (where the arrangements are clear at the time the contract is concluded), oversight activities by employees of overseas clients of UK export companies (where there is a contract between the companies and the overseas staff are overseeing delivery rather than doing the delivery work themselves), and work-related training that is mainly classroom-based, familiarisation or observation and does not become “training on the job” or the visitor filling a role.
The GBM Service Supplier route should be considered where the activity goes beyond these limited visitor permissions and the individual is coming to the UK to deliver the substantive contracted service (rather than attending meetings, overseeing delivery, carrying out limited installation/repair activities permitted under the visitor rules, or undertaking short observation-based training). It is particularly relevant where the UK business needs an overseas provider (or its staff/independent professionals) to come to the UK to perform services under an eligible international trade agreement, under a contract that can be registered with the Home Office and supported by sponsorship. Unlike a visitor, a Service Supplier is on a work route, can be paid in the usual way for their services, and can be granted permission for a single assignment period of up to 6 months or up to 12 months (depending on the trade agreement), with the ability to return for further assignments, subject to the wider GBM maximum cumulative stay limits.
No. The GBM Service Supplier route does not require the applicant to meet a general salary threshold or a going rate requirement, and there is no English language requirement. However, pay arrangements must still comply with UK employment law (including National Minimum Wage requirements where applicable), and the applicant must meet the other route-specific requirements, including the eligible contract, overseas work requirement, skill requirement, and the trade agreement nationality or residence criteria.
