UK Business Visit Visa

Business Visit Visa to UK is for the purpose of conducting business on behalf of the overseas employers. There are certain restrictions on the work that Business visitors are allowed to conduct while remaining on the Business visit visa, which we shall discuss in detail. In order to be eligible to apply successfully for a Business Visitor visa one has to complete certain requirements of the immigration rules.

Rule And Regulations:

a) Intention To Leave
A person requirements to establish his intention of leaving the UK after a particular period of time which can be done by showing strong financial, social and family ties in his / her home country.

The following documents are normally acceptable to establish strong ties of a person in his / her home country.

• Evidence of ownership of property
• Evidence of an established business oversees
• Evidence that the candidate has got family living in his / her home country. The entry clearance officer normally takes into a/c only close family members of the candidate (e.g. spouse, other children) while ascertaining strength of family ties.
• Personal or employer’s Bank Statements showing sufficient amount of money.
• Evidence that the applicant has got memberships of professional bodies or social groups would be sufficient to prove social ties.
• Letter from the employer which confirms his official visit to the UK
• Senior position with the existing employer
• Length of period with the existing employer

b) No Intention to Study
Business Visitors are not allowed to study or switch their immigration status to any other status.

c) Not Intention to take employment
Business visitors are in fact paid workers of their existing employer and are not expected to involve in any act / representation which constitutes employment in the United Kingdom. The candidate needs to prove that he neither needs nor intends to take employment whether full time or on a part time basis. Business visit visa is normally issued on the basis of the assumption that the candidates would not take employment during their stay in the UK and if such persons engage themselves in any sort of employment whether paid or unpaid, full time or part time then their leave to remain may be shortened by the Immigration Authorities and they may be removed from the country.

d) No Intention to Produce Goods / Provide Services to public
The candidate needs to prove that he neither needs to nor intends to produce goods or provide services directly to public whether full time or on a part time basis. Business visit visa is normally issued on the basis of the assumption that the applicants would not engage themselves in these business activities during their stay in the UK and if such persons do take such risks their leave to remain may be curtailed by the Immigration Authorities and they may be removed from the country. 

e) Able to maintain & accommodate himself and any dependants without option to public funds
The applicants need to establish that they can maintain and accommodate without recourse to public funds or any employment. It can be proved by providing sufficient availability of funds either in Bank Statements or by some other form of evidence.
Able to meet the costs of the return or onward journey It can be proved by providing sufficient availability of funds either in Bank Statements or by some other form of evidence like purchase of a return ticket.

Duration of Visa
A Business visit visa is normally issued for a maximum period of six months. Visas issued for longer than 6 months does not mean that the person has got leave to remain till the end of their visa. This is in fact leave to enter for 6 months from the date of arrival/influx in the UK and permission to make any following visit to the UK for another period of six months till the validity of visa.

As a Business visitor one may

You should treat as business visitors:

• Those going to attend meetings, conferences, trade fairs, seminars etc including guest speakers provided the conference or seminar is a single event, i.e. not part of a commercial venture;
• Those going to purchase, check details of or examine goods;
• Those delivering goods from abroad, such as lorry drivers;
• Those going to negotiate or sign trade agreements, contracts, etc;
• Those attending interviews including sports persons going for “trials”, entertainers going for auditions (see separate section below);
• Those coming to undertake fact-finding missions, e.g. journalists on a short assignment to cover a story;
• Advisers, consultants, trainers, trouble shooters etc, provided that they are employed abroad, either directly or under contract, by the same company (or group or companies) to which the UK client firm belongs, but,
• The involvement of such advisers must not extend to actual project management or providing consultancy services direct to clients of the UK company
• Training should be for a specific, one-off purpose, should not go beyond classroom instruction, and should not be otherwise readily available here
• Tour group couriers contracted to a firm outside the UK, who are seeking entry to carry out short- term duties and are not seeking to base themselves in the UK;
• Tnterpreters or translators who are existing employees of an overseas company and who are accompanying and solely providing a service for business visitors from the company;
• Rpresentatives of computer software companies coming to install, debug or enhance their products. A trip to be briefed on the requirements of a UK customer is also acceptable. However, if representatives are to provide a detailed assessment of a potential customer’s needs, this is regarded as consultancy for which a work permit is required;
• Representatives of foreign companies coming to erect, dismantle, install, service or repair their company’s products;
• Those coming for training in techniques and work practices employed in the UK, provided that the training is confined to observation, familiarisation and classroom instruction only;
• Discretion may also be exercised where an applicant proposes a visit for business purposes which might be seen as the provision of a service such as taking instructions or giving professional advice. In such cases a short (see Paragraph 10.15 below) visit may be authorised.

Works Not Allowed
Business Visitors are not allowed to take any employment, enter self-employment, set-up a business or join another business as a director or partner while remaining in the UK on this visa.