If a UK business has contracted your overseas company to deliver a service and someone needs to travel over to do the work, the Service Supplier visa is the route you are looking for. Whether you qualify turns on one question, and it is not seniority, salary or company size. Your contract has to be covered by one of the UK’s international trade agreements, in a sector that agreement lists as eligible. Everything else in the application is secondary to that.
This article covers the trade agreement test, the rules for self-employed independent professionals, what the worker and the UK sponsor must prove, current Home Office costs, processing times, and what happens when the visa ends.
It does not cover the other four Global Business Mobility routes in detail, and it is not a route-selection tool. If your contract is worth £50 million or more, or if there is a corporate ownership link between the overseas and UK entities rather than a services contract, you are likely looking at the wrong route. Start with our Global Business Mobility comparison.
KeyTakeaways
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The Service Supplier visa only works where a qualifying international trade agreement covers the contract. No version of this route is available for services outside that list.
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Maximum stay is 6 or 12 months per assignment; set by the trade agreement the contract falls under rather than by a single limit across the route.
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Both employees of an overseas provider and self-employed independent professionals can apply, which is unusual among sponsored UK work routes.
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The application fee is £340, plus the Immigration Health Surcharge at £1,035 for each year of stay.
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The de minimis rules can hand back everything, but only if you pass both limbs of the test. Missing by a few hundred pounds costs you the full amount.
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Quarterly figures are provisional. The annual adjustment is where a year of over-claimed VAT becomes payable in one hit.
What Is Service Supplier Visa?
The Service Supplier visa is one of five routes under Global Business Mobility, the framework introduced in April 2022. It applies in a single situation: a UK business holds a contract with an overseas service provider, and someone must come to the UK temporarily to deliver the contracted service.
The person coming can be an employee of the overseas provider or a self-employed professional contracted directly. Both are covered, which sets this route apart from most sponsored UK work routes.
Within the framework, this route absorbed the contractual service supplier and independent professional provisions that previously sat under the old International Agreement visa. The wider Global Business Mobility framework replaced arrangements formerly available under the Intra-Company Transfer route. The governing rules sit in Immigration Rules Appendix Global Business Mobility routes.
What separates this route from the other four is its eligibility test. The others turn on corporate structure, contract value, or expansion plans. This one turns on trade agreement coverage, which is why an applicant with impeccable credentials and a well-documented contract can still be refused.
Service Supplier or Secondment Worker: Which Route Applies?
This is the distinction overseas businesses get wrong most often, because both routes involve sending someone to the UK under a contract with a UK organisation.
If the contract falls outside every qualifying agreement but is worth £50 million or more, check the Secondment Worker visa route. Where neither fits, Senior or Specialist Worker is the remaining common Global Business Mobility option. However, that depends on a qualifying ownership link between the overseas and UK entities rather than a services contract.
What Does the Visa Allow (and Not Allow)?
Once granted, the visa permits you to:
- work for your sponsor, strictly in the job described on your Certificate of Sponsorship
- study
- bring your partner and children as dependants, if eligible
- travel abroad and return to the UK
- do unpaid voluntary work for a registered charity, voluntary organisation or similar body
It does not permit you to:
- claim public funds or the State Pension
- change jobs or sponsors without first updating your visa
- take a second job
- apply for settlement (indefinite leave to remain)
This is not a general UK work permit. You deliver the contracted service described on the Certificate of Sponsorship and nothing else. If the scope of work changes, you must update the visa before the new work starts, which requires a formal application rather than a notification.
How Long Can You Stay on a Service Supplier Visa?
You can stay for whichever is shorter: the maximum period set by your trade agreement (either 6 or 12 months) or the period shown on your Certificate of Sponsorship plus 14 days.
A cumulative limit sits behind that and catches businesses running repeat assignments. Time spent on a Service Supplier visa, on any other Global Business Mobility route, or on the predecessor Intra-Company Transfer and Intra-Company Graduate Trainee visas all counts towards a maximum of five years in any six years. If the same person returns for multiple contracts, track this from the first assignment rather than discovering it at the fourth.
Which Trade Agreements Qualify for the Service Supplier Visa?
Your contract qualifies only if it covers a service under one of the trade agreements below, and the specific sector is listed as covered under that agreement. An agreement appearing on the list is not enough on its own. Sector coverage varies between agreements, and a “no” against your sector closes the route regardless of everything else about the application.
This section decides the outcome. Most refused or abandoned Service Supplier visa applications fail here, not at the document stage.
The qualifying agreements, as at the Home Office’s most recent update to the published list:
|
Code |
Agreement |
Open to |
|
GTS |
General Agreement on Trade in Services |
Employees only |
|
CHL |
UK-Chile Association Agreement |
Employees only |
|
VNM |
UK-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement |
Employees only |
|
CAR |
CARIFORUM-UK Economic Partnership Agreement |
Employees and self-employed |
|
GEO |
UK-Georgia Strategic Partnership and Cooperation Agreement |
Employees and self-employed |
|
UKR |
UK-Ukraine Political, Free Trade and Strategic Partnership Agreement |
Employees and self-employed |
|
MDV |
UK-Moldova Strategic Partnership, Trade and Cooperation Agreement |
Employees and self-employed |
|
COL / ECU / PER |
UK-Andean Countries Trade Agreement (Colombia, Ecuador, Peru) |
Employees and self-employed |
|
CAN |
UK-Canada Trade Continuity Agreement |
Employees and self-employed |
|
JPN |
UK-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement |
Employees and self-employed |
|
SWI |
UK-Switzerland Services Mobility Agreement |
Employees and self-employed |
|
EUT |
EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement |
Employees and self-employed |
|
ILN |
UK-Iceland/Liechtenstein/Norway Free Trade Agreement |
Employees and self-employed |
|
AUS |
UK-Australia Free Trade Agreement |
Employees and self-employed |
|
NZL |
UK-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement |
Employees and self-employed |
|
IND |
UK-India Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement |
Employees and self-employed |
|
LDC |
Least Developed Country services waiver |
Employees and self-employed |
|
CPTPP |
Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership |
Employees and self-employed, plus nationality and location conditions |
Two agreements carry conditions that catch people out. CPTPP applicants must work for a business established in a country that has ratified the UK’s accession – all eleven members have now ratified: Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam and must be a national of one of those countries.
Permanent residents of Australia and New Zealand also qualify. CARIFORUM covers entertainment services in general but specifically excludes audio-visual services, which is the clearest example of why the agreement-level answer is never the final answer.
How Do You Check Whether Your Contract Is Covered?
- Identify the sector precisely. “IT consulting” and “computer-related services” can fall under different rows in the official sector table, with different answers.
- Identify where the overseas business or self-employed professional is established, and find the trade agreement that applies to that country.
- Check the sector table for that specific agreement. A listed sector confirms coverage. No entry means that route is closed for that combination, regardless of what the agreement covers elsewhere.
- If it is not covered, consider the Secondment Worker route where the contract value threshold is met, or a standard visitor visa if the activity genuinely falls inside permitted business visitor rules. That last category is far narrower than most people assume and does not cover delivering contracted services.
Ask your UK sponsor to confirm the trade agreement and sector coverage in writing before anyone commits time to an application. Establishing coverage is the sponsor’s responsibility under the sponsor guidance, not yours to guess at.
Can Self-Employed Professionals Use the Service Supplier Visa?
Yes. A self-employed independent professional based overseas, with no commercial presence in the UK, can be sponsored directly by the UK business they are contracted to serve. Most sponsored UK work routes require an employer-employee relationship. This route does not, making it the practical option for consultants and specialists contracted directly.
To qualify as self-employed on this route, you need to show:
- a genuine contract directly with the UK business, or that you are subcontracted to deliver services to it by another qualifying overseas business
- that your business is established outside the UK with no UK commercial presence
- that the contract is for a service covered by a trade agreement your country is party to
- at least 12 months of relevant self-employed work immediately before applying, in the same sector as the contracted service
Evidence looks different from the employee equivalent. Instead of payslips, you should be able to provide invoices, business accounts, an accountant’s letter confirming trading activity and profits, business bank statements, and marketing material showing the business has been actively trading.
Sponsorship still runs through the UK business. You cannot sponsor yourself. The UK company needs the same Temporary Worker sponsor licence and the same Certificate of Sponsorship process it would use for an employed applicant. What differs is the supporting evidence, not who holds the licence.
Self-employed applicants underestimate this evidence burden more than any other group. A contract and a handful of invoices rarely carry a 12-month trading claim on their own.
What Are the Requirements for the Worker?
Beyond trade agreement coverage, the applicant has to clear five further tests: occupation and skill level, salary, work experience, financial maintenance, and any sector-specific qualification rule.
Occupation and skill level. The job needs a four-digit occupation code, checked against the Home Office’s published table of occupation codes and salary rates for the route. The role must sit at or above RQF Level 6, broadly graduate level. A formal degree is not always needed if the alternative qualifications and experience route applies.
Where the occupation code is not listed as eligible, an applicant can still qualify with:
- a bachelor’s degree or higher in any subject, or an equivalent technical qualification, and
- three years’ professional experience relevant to the service (employees), or six years’ (self-employed)
Some services carry different rules entirely:
|
Service |
Qualification/experience needed |
|
Advertising or translation |
Relevant qualifications |
|
Chef de cuisine |
Advanced technical qualification and 6 years’ experience |
|
Entertainment services (excluding audio-visual under CARIFORUM) |
No qualifications required |
|
Fashion and modelling |
No qualifications required |
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Management consulting |
Bachelor’s degree |
|
Technical testing and analysis |
Bachelor’s degree or relevant technical qualification |
Salary. The role must be paid at least the going rate for its occupation code, as set out in Appendix Skilled Occupations. Some trade agreements exempt the role from the standard salary and skill rules, so check the agreement and the occupation table.
Work experience. Employees need 12 months of work for their overseas employer outside the UK. Self-employed applicants need 12 months of relevant self-employed activity in the same sector, immediately before applying.
Financial requirement. The applicant needs at least £1,270 available for 28 consecutive days, with that period ending within 31 days of the application date. Two exemptions apply: where the sponsor certifies maintenance on the Certificate of Sponsorship, or where the applicant has already held a UK visa for 12 months or more.
Sector exclusions. The CARIFORUM audio-visual exclusion is the clearest example. Check the sector tables for each agreement rather than assuming a sector is universally covered because it appears under one.
This route has no English language requirement. That surprises applicants who have read about the Skilled Worker rules, and it becomes relevant later if they want to switch.
What Are the Requirements for the UK Sponsor?
The UK business needs a Temporary Worker sponsor licence, must register the underlying contract with the Home Office before assigning any Certificate of Sponsorship, and must confirm that the contract genuinely falls under a qualifying trade agreement.
Sponsor licence. The Temporary Worker licence covers all five Global Business Mobility routes. The fee is a flat £611, regardless of sponsor size. This matters because the Worker licence sitting next to it is size-banded at £611 for small or charitable sponsors and £1,682 for medium or large ones, and businesses routinely budget the wrong figure. If you already hold a Worker licence, adding the Temporary Worker category costs nothing. Our guide to applying for a UK sponsor licence covers the process; we will not repeat it here.
Contract registration. You must register the contract with the overseas provider with the Home Office through the Sponsor Management System before assigning a Certificate of Sponsorship. Getting this order wrong is a sponsor-side error that produces an applicant-side refusal.
A-rated status. New sponsors generally need A-rated status to use this route. An exception applies to applicants continuing to work for the same sponsor that previously sponsored them.
Before assigning a Certificate of Sponsorship, the sponsor must confirm the role and occupation code, the trade agreement and sector the contract falls under, that the applicant meets the qualifications and experience test where the occupation code route does not apply, and whether it will certify maintenance.
Ongoing duties apply exactly as on every other sponsored route: reporting changes through the Sponsor Management System within the deadline, keeping prescribed records, and complying with licence conditions. Licences are lost on ongoing sponsor duties far more often than on the initial application. When a first licence application and a first Global Business Mobility assignment happen at the same time, most businesses want the compliance framework reviewed before submission, not after a Home Office visit.
How Do You Apply for a Service Supplier Visa?
The application runs in five steps, and the total Home Office cost for a first 12-month assignment with a new licence is £2,041 split between sponsor and applicant.
- The UK sponsor registers the contract with the Home Office and confirms the trade agreement and sector it falls under.
- The sponsor assigns a Certificate of Sponsorship, confirming the occupation code, the trade agreement, and the qualifying evidence for self-employed applicants.
- The applicant applies online, within three months of the Certificate of Sponsorship being issued and no earlier than three months before the start date shown on it.
- The applicant proves identity, either through the UK Immigration: ID Check app or by giving biometrics at a visa application centre.
- The applicant submits supporting documents.
What Documents Do You Need?
- Certificate of Sponsorship reference number
- Valid passport
- Job title and occupation code
- Sponsor’s name and sponsor licence number
- Evidence of £1,270 in personal savings, unless the sponsor is certifying maintenance
- Evidence of 12 months’ work outside the UK — payslips, bank statements or a signed sponsor letter for employees; invoices, business accounts or an accountant’s letter for the self-employed
- Proof of degree or qualifications, where the qualifications route applies
- A valid ATAS certificate, if the role involves PhD-level research into a sensitive subject
- A tuberculosis test certificate, if applying from a listed country
- Certified translations of any documents not already in English or Welsh
- Proof of relationship, for any accompanying partner or children
How Much Does a Service Supplier Visa Cost?
The Immigration Skills Charge, a high cost on other sponsored routes, does not apply to the Service Supplier route. It currently applies only to the Skilled Worker and Senior or Specialist Worker routes. See our separate guide to the immigration health surcharge for how that charge is calculated across multi-year stays and dependants.
Worked Example: Total Cost for a 12-Month Assignment
An overseas employee applies for a Service Supplier visa for a 12-month assignment, with no dependants. The UK sponsor is applying for its first Temporary Worker sponsor licence. Set against the same hire routed through Skilled Worker with a large sponsor, to show where the saving sits.
|
Cost item |
Paid by |
Service Supplier |
Skilled Worker (large sponsor) |
|
Visa application fee |
Applicant |
£340 |
£819 |
|
Immigration Health Surcharge (12 months) |
Applicant |
£1,035 |
£1,035 |
|
Sponsor licence (one-off) |
Sponsor |
£611 |
£1,682 |
|
Certificate of Sponsorship |
Sponsor |
£55 |
£525 |
|
Immigration Skills Charge (12 months) |
Sponsor |
£0 (not applicable) |
£1,320 |
|
Total Home Office fees |
— |
£2,041 |
£5,381 |
The gap is £3,340 on a single 12-month assignment, and most of it is the Immigration Skills Charge and the Certificate of Sponsorship fee. The Certificate of Sponsorship fee is £55 on Temporary Worker routes against £525 on the Worker routes, a difference the Home Office actively polices — misdescribing a role as a Temporary Worker role to reach the lower fee invites scrutiny and delay.
Two exclusions. The figures exclude the £1,270 the applicant must hold rather than spend, and exclude priority services, translation and professional fees. The licence fee is a one-off covering every future Certificate of Sponsorship the business assigns under any Global Business Mobility route, so it drops out of the arithmetic on repeat assignments.
These figures are illustrative and reflect the Home Office fee table current at publication. Fee orders change without notice. Always confirm the live figure before finalising a client quote.
How Long Does It Take?
Applications made from outside the UK usually receive a decision within 3 weeks. Applications made from inside the UK, meaning extensions and switches, usually take 8 weeks. The clock starts once you submit the online application, prove your identity, and provide all documents. It can take longer if documents need verifying, an interview is required, or personal circumstances need further checking.
Priority service costs an additional £500 for a decision within 5 working days, and super priority £1,000 for a decision by the end of the next working day. Availability depends on the country applied from.
Can Dependants Join You on a Service Supplier Visa?
Partners and children can apply to join the main applicant, or to stay in the UK with them, if they meet the eligibility rules for dependants. A partner needs £285 in savings, a first child £315, and each further child £200, held for the same 28-day period as the main applicant’s funds. Dependants can work, other than as a professional sportsperson or coach, and can study. They cannot claim public funds.
For example. A 6-month assignment with a partner and one child would need £285 + £315 = £600 in dependant savings, on top of the applicant’s own £1,270, plus a separate visa fee and health surcharge for each family member. Given how short most Service Supplier assignments are, it is worth weighing that total against the practical benefit before committing to a dependant application.
For the full detail on eligibility and evidence, see dependants on a Global Business Mobility visa.
What Happens at the End of a Service Supplier Visa?
Can You Extend the Visa?
Yes, if the applicant is still contracted to the same sponsor, has not reached the five-year-in-six-years cumulative cap, and still meets the eligibility requirements. You must apply before your current visa expires, and you must be in the UK to apply.
What If Your Role, Sponsor or Contract Changes?
If your job changes, you need to update your visa before the new work starts; this is a formal application, not a notification. If the sponsor or underlying contract changes entirely, you’ll need a new Certificate of Sponsorship and, in most cases, a new application. What needs reporting and by when is covered in our guide to ongoing sponsor duties.
Can You Switch to Another Route?
In-country switching into a Service Supplier visa is possible from some categories but not from a visit visa, short-term student visa, Parent of a Child Student visa, seasonal worker visa, domestic worker visa, immigration bail, or leave granted outside the Immigration Rules. Switching from a Student visa is possible only if the course is finished, the job starts after the course ends, or the applicant has completed at least 24 months of a full-time PhD.
The more common question runs the other way. The Skilled Worker visa route is the standard onward path. It is available in-country, provided the applicant meets Skilled Worker’s own requirements in full: a Certificate of Sponsorship from a Skilled Worker-licensed sponsor, a salary of at least £41,700 a year or the going rate for the occupation if higher, and an eligible occupation.
From 8 January 2026, Skilled Worker applicants must also meet an English language requirement at CEFR level B2. Because the Service Supplier visa imposes no language test, this is often the first time a client encounters it, and it is the most common reason an otherwise viable switch stalls.
Does the Service Supplier Visa Lead to Settlement?
No. Time spent on a Service Supplier visa does not count towards indefinite leave to remain, regardless of how many extensions are granted or how long the cumulative stay runs. This is a structural feature of the route rather than an oversight — Global Business Mobility routes exist for temporary assignments, not immigration. Anyone thinking beyond the current contract needs to plan a switch to a settlement-route visa, most realistically Skilled Worker, well before the five-year cumulative cap is reached, because reaching the cap removes the option.
Common Service Supplier Visa Mistakes
Applications fail most often because the trade agreement test was checked at the wrong level, because the sponsor and applicant each assumed the other had verified coverage, or because the contract registration and Certificate of Sponsorship were done in the wrong order.
Checking the agreement but not the sector table. A trade agreement can cover dozens of sectors without covering yours. The agreement-level answer tells you almost nothing on its own.
Assuming any UK services contract qualifies. It does not. Nothing about seniority, salary or contract size substitutes for coverage.
Registering the contract after assigning the Certificate of Sponsorship. The registration comes first. Reverse the order, and the worker’s application can be refused for an error the sponsor made.
Treating contract evidence as a formality. A contract that exists on paper without evidence of genuine ongoing trading activity — invoices, correspondence, delivery records — invites scrutiny.
Relying on informal invoicing as evidence of self-employment. Twelve months of genuine trading activity takes more documentation than most self-employed applicants expect.
Getting the occupation code wrong. The role described on the Certificate of Sponsorship must match the work being done and meet the required skill level.
Submitting untranslated qualification evidence. Degree certificates and professional qualifications not in English or Welsh need a certified translation. An informal one does not satisfy the requirement.
Discovering the five-year cap on the fourth assignment. Cumulative time across all Global Business Mobility routes and their Intra-Company Transfer predecessors is easy to lose track of and impossible to argue away.
Illustrative Scenario: A Contract That Didn't Qualify
The following is an illustrative scenario, not a specific client matter.
An overseas engineering consultancy won a two-year maintenance contract with a UK manufacturer and planned to send a senior engineer over for a 9-month commissioning phase.
The assumption. The consultancy was established in a country with a comprehensive UK trade agreement, the engineer held a relevant degree and 11 years of experience, and the contract was properly documented. The UK client applied for a Temporary Worker sponsor licence on that basis.
The problem. The agreement covered engineering services, but the sector table listed the specific category as available to employees only under that agreement, and the consultancy engaged the engineer as a self-employed subcontractor rather than an employee. The engineer had 12 months of relevant self-employed trading, which could be evidenced. The route was still closed, because the agreement did not extend to self-employed independent professionals in that sector.
The outcome. The consultancy engaged the engineer as an employee for the duration of the assignment, which changed the contractual position and the evidence pack but not the commercial arrangement in substance. The application proceeded. Had the licence application, contract registration and Certificate of Sponsorship gone ahead on the original basis, the refusal would have landed after roughly £1,000 of sponsor-side fees and three months of lead time.
The lesson is narrow and worth stating plainly: the sector table answer depends on employment status, sector, and country, and all three have to line up.
Is the Service Supplier Visa Right for You?
Use this as a quick self-check, not a final answer.
A Service Supplier visa is likely the right route if you:
- Hold a services contract with a UK business, and the sector is listed as covered under a trade agreement your country is party to
- Need someone in the UK for 12 months or less, on a defined piece of contracted work
- Are a self-employed independent professional contracted directly to a UK business, with no UK commercial presence
- Want to avoid the Immigration Skills Charge and the Skilled Worker English language requirement
- Can evidence 12 months of relevant work or trading immediately before applying
It is probably the wrong route if you:
- Cannot find your sector listed under the relevant agreement, in which case check Secondment Worker or Senior or Specialist Worker instead
- Need the person in the UK for longer than 12 months in one continuous stretch
- Are near the five-year-in-six-years cumulative cap across Global Business Mobility routes
- Want a path to indefinite leave to remain, in which case plan the Skilled Worker switch now rather than later
- Need the worker to do anything beyond the specific service on the Certificate of Sponsorship
Frequently Asked Questions
Eligible agreements currently include the CARIFORUM-UK Economic Partnership Agreement, the UK-Switzerland Services Mobility Agreement, the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement, the UK-Japan and UK-Australia agreements, the UK-India CETA, and several others listed on GOV.UK. Coverage depends on both the agreement and the specific sector, so check the sector tables before assuming a contract qualifies.
Yes, where the relevant agreement extends to self-employed independent professionals. The applicant must be established overseas with no UK commercial presence, be contracted directly to the UK business or subcontracted through another qualifying overseas business, and evidence 12 months of relevant self-employed activity in the same sector immediately beforehand.
Yes. The UK sponsor needs a Temporary Worker sponsor licence, currently £611 flat regardless of sponsor size, and must register the contract with the Home Office before assigning a Certificate of Sponsorship. Adding the Temporary Worker category to an existing Worker licence carries no fee.
The Service Supplier visa depends on the contract being covered by a qualifying UK trade agreement, and is open to both employees and self-employed independent professionals. The Secondment Worker visa depends on the contract being worth at least £50 million and is only open to employees. Both involve a UK contract, which is why they get confused.
The visa is tied to the specific job and sponsor described on the Certificate of Sponsorship. If the contract ends before the visa does, the sponsor has reporting obligations to the Home Office, and the worker will generally need to leave the UK or switch to another route rather than continue on the Service Supplier visa.
No. This route does not lead to indefinite leave to remain, regardless of how long the applicant stays on it or how many extensions are granted. Time also counts towards a five-year-in-six-years cap across all Global Business Mobility routes, so plan any switch to a settlement route well before you reach that cap.
How Sterling & Wells Can Help
Service Supplier applications turn on whether the contract is genuinely covered by a qualifying trade agreement, in a sector that agreement lists as eligible, for your worker’s employment status. Get that wrong and nothing else about the application matters.
Our Global Business Mobility visa services cover coverage assessment before you commit to a licence application, contract registration with the Home Office, and the Certificate of Sponsorship and visa application end-to-end, for both employed and self-employed applicants. Our UK business immigration solicitors also advise sponsors on licence applications, ongoing compliance and Home Office audits.
