Intra-Company Transfer Visas

You can apply for this visa if you are:

Eligibility

You need to:

• have a valid certificate of sponsorship for your job
• be paid an ‘appropriate salary’ for your job
• have personal savings so you can support yourself when you arrive in the UK
• show you can travel and your travel history over the last 5 years
• have tuberculosis test results if you’re from a listed country
• be able to show you have worked for your employer outside the UK

Certificate of sponsorship

A certificate of sponsorship holds your personal details and information about the job you’ve been offered. It’s an electronic record, not a paper document. Your sponsor will give you a certificate of sponsorship reference number to add to your application.

You can only use your certificate of sponsorship reference number once. You must use it 3 months after getting it.

Appropriate salary

You usually need to be paid at least the minimum salary for your type of visa or the appropriate rate for the job you’re offered - whichever is higher.

The minimum salary is:

• £41,500 for Long-term Staff
• £23,000 for Graduate Trainee

Check the guidance - the salary you need might be different, for example if:

• you’re extending your Tier 2 (Intra-company Transfer) visa
• you’re working in the UK for less than a year
• you’ll be paid at an hourly rate
• you’ll work a set number of hours

Personal savings

You must have £945 in your bank account for 90 days before you apply. This is to prove you can support yourself.

You don’t need to prove this if you have a fully approved (‘A-rated’) sponsorwho can give you at least £945 to cover your costs for a month if you need it. Your sponsor must confirm this on the certificate of sponsorship.

a graduate trainee under a structured training programme which involves progression towards any kind of managerial or specialist role;

under a skills transfer which allows the transfer of new employees to learn the skills and knowledge required to perform their job overseas; or

being employed in order to impart your specialist skills or knowledge to the UK workforce.

In order to apply under any of the four ICT subcategories, you must score a minimum of 60 points across the below criteria:

Certificate of Sponsorship must equate to 30 points

Salary must equate to 20 points

Maintenance must equate to 10 points

If your employer is listed as an A-rated licensed sponsor, you could request a written letter which stipulates that you are eligible to work for them in the specified role and for the specific period of time you have written in your application.

What are the alternatives to an Intra Company Transfer Visa?

Alternatively, you can apply for a Tier 2 Visa as a skilled member of staff provided you are filling a post which cannot otherwise be filled by a new recruit from the resident workforce.

You must apply online for a Tier 2 (Intra-company Transfer) visa.

You’ll need to have your fingerprints and photograph taken at a visa application centre (to get a biometric residence permit) as part of your application.

You’ll have to collect your biometric residence permit within 10 days of when you said you’d arrive in the UK.

You may be able to get your visa faster or other services depending on what country you’re in - check with your visa application centre.You can’t apply online if you’re living in North Korea.

You can come to the UK with a Tier 2 (Intra-company Transfer) visa for up to the maximum stay allowed for your visa type, or the time given on your certificate of sponsorship, whichever is shorter.

The maximum stay for each type of Tier 2 (Intra-company Transfer) visa is:

• Long-term Staff (if you earn more than £120,000 a year): 9 years
• Long-term Staff (if you earn less than £120,000 a year): 5 years, 1 month
• Graduate Trainee: 12 months

You can start your stay up to 14 days before the start date on your certificate of sponsorship.

After you apply you might be asked to prove you’ve worked for your employer for a certain amount of time.

The length of time depends on what visa you’re applying for:

• Long-term Staff earning £73,900 or less - 12 months
• Long-term Staff earning more than £73,900 - no minimum time
• Graduate Trainee - 3 months

If you’re asked, you’ll need to show you’ve been paid by your employer over this time period. You can provide:

• original printed payslips
• copies of online payslips supported by a letter from your sponsor signed by a senior staff member
• bank or building society statements
• a building society pass book