The Temporary Work – Government Authorised Exchange route is for individuals coming to the UK on a Home Office-approved exchange scheme designed to promote the sharing of knowledge, experience and best practice. It is commonly used for work experience, job shadowing, training, internships, research, fellowships and certain overseas government language programmes, depending on the scheme.
This route is the successor to the former Tier 5 (Temporary Worker) Government Authorised Exchange category. It remains a temporary route and does not lead to settlement (ILR). The maximum period of stay depends on the specific scheme, but is generally up to 12 months for schemes on the Work Experience Programme and up to 2 years for other GAE programme types.
A key feature of the route is that sponsorship is provided by an approved overarching sponsor administering a scheme (rather than by the individual host organisation). In addition, GAE placements must be supernumerary, meaning they must not be used to fill a vacancy in the UK workforce.
To qualify under the Government Authorised Exchange route, an applicant must meet the requirements set out in the immigration rules, which include:
English language is not a requirement under the Government Authorised Exchange 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.
A core requirement of the Government Authorised Exchange (GAE) route is that the placement must be supernumerary. This means the role must be additional to the host organisation’s normal staffing requirements and must not be used to fill a vacancy in the UK labour market.
In Home Office terms, a supernumerary role is one that is in addition to the employing or host organisation’s regular, required or standard number of staff and does not fill a permanent position or an ongoing vacancy, even on a temporary basis. The route is intended to support structured exchange programmes that deliver work experience, training or knowledge transfer, rather than recruitment to meet an operational staffing need.
When a Certificate of Sponsorship is assigned, the sponsor must confirm the role is supernumerary and provide a clear explanation of why this is the case. In practice, this often involves explaining the purpose of the placement, how it sits alongside the host team, and why the host organisation would continue to operate without the placement being filled by the sponsored individual.
Switching into the GAE route from within the UK is not generally permitted. In most cases, a person who wishes to take part in a Government Authorised Exchange scheme must apply for entry clearance from outside the UK.
There is a limited exception for certain applicants who were last granted permission as a Student (formerly Tier 4). The exception applies only where the applicant:
Outside this narrow Student exception, a person in the UK will normally need to leave the UK and apply from overseas.
The length of permission under the Government Authorised Exchange (GAE) route is determined primarily by the approved scheme and the work dates recorded on the Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS).
The maximum period a person can be sponsored for depends on the specific scheme:
The Temporary Work – Government Authorised Exchange route is not a route to settlement (indefinite leave to remain). Time spent in the UK with permission under the GAE route does not count towards the qualifying residence period for settlement.
Where longer-term residence in the UK is an objective, an onward immigration strategy is usually required. This may include switching into another immigration route from within the UK (where permitted and where the individual meets the requirements), but any onward application should be planned carefully to ensure continued compliance with the conditions of GAE permission, including the requirement that the GAE placement is genuinely supernumerary.
If the application is for entry clearance, permission is granted for the period of sponsorship stated on the CoS, plus up to 14 days before and 14 days after that period.
If the application is for permission to stay (for example, an extension), permission is granted for the shortest of:
These rules mean that even where a scheme allows up to 2 years, the overall time a person can hold continuous permission on the GAE route is capped, and CoS dates need to be planned carefully to match the scheme limit.
The Government Authorised Exchange route is built around approved schemes, and the practical steps can vary significantly depending on the scheme, the overarching sponsor, and the host organisation’s role. In many cases, the most time-consuming aspect is not the visa application itself but ensuring the placement is eligible under the correct scheme, the role is genuinely supernumerary, and the host organisation can satisfy the onboarding, monitoring and reporting expectations that overarching sponsors may impose. For some host organisations, registering with an overarching sponsor and meeting scheme compliance requirements can be as resource-intensive as obtaining a sponsor licence, particularly where schemes are sector-specific or have tightly defined programme criteria.
Services typically include:
Yes, there can be an inherent risk, not because switching is prohibited (it is generally permitted if the Skilled Worker requirements are met), but because the two routes are designed for fundamentally different purposes and the Home Office may scrutinise whether the GAE placement was used appropriately.
The core issue is the supernumerary requirement. GAE placements must be genuinely additional to the host organisation’s staffing needs and must not fill a vacancy in the UK workforce, even temporarily. A move from GAE to Skilled Worker, especially where it involves the same host organisation and similar duties, can prompt questions about whether the placement was, in reality, a way to bring someone into the workforce to meet an operational need and then convert them into a long-term sponsored worker.
Factors that can increase the risk of scrutiny include where the Skilled Worker role is effectively a continuation of the GAE placement (same job title/duties/team), where there was a clear intention from the outset to employ the individual in the UK after the placement, where the host relied on the individual as part of normal staffing (for example, covering a gap or performing core business functions), or where documentation suggests the “training/work experience” label did not reflect the reality of what the person was doing day to day. In these scenarios, the Home Office may take the view that the original placement was not supernumerary, which can have implications beyond the individual application, including sponsor compliance concerns for the organisations involved.
That said, switching does not automatically imply misuse. The risk is generally lower where the Skilled Worker role arises later as a separate genuine vacancy (for example, due to business growth, a new budgeted headcount, a restructuring, or a different role profile), and where there is clear evidence separating the GAE placement from the later employment. Practical mitigation usually involves keeping robust documentation of the placement objectives and supervision/training structure, ensuring the placement is not used to cover core staffing needs, ending the placement cleanly in line with the scheme, and evidencing a genuine recruitment/business rationale for the Skilled Worker role (including why the role exists now and why it is not simply the continuation of the GAE position).
In most cases, the sponsor is the overarching sponsor that administers the approved scheme, not the host organisation where the participant will actually carry out the placement. The overarching sponsor holds the sponsor licence, assigns the Certificate of Sponsorship and remains responsible for the key sponsorship duties, even where the participant is placed day-to-day with a host employer. Some schemes allow an “eligible endorsed sponsor” (for example certain higher education or research bodies) to sponsor directly, but this is the exception rather than the rule.
This depends on the specific scheme and how the placement is set up. Many GAE schemes can accommodate structured work experience elements such as job shadowing or volunteering, but these activities must remain within the scope of what is endorsed by the relevant government department and approved for the scheme. In practice, any material activity that forms part of the placement should be clearly described and authorised through the scheme and reflected appropriately in the sponsorship documentation. If additional activities fall outside the approved scope of the scheme, this can create compliance issues for the sponsor and the host organisation.
