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UK-India Free Trade Agreement Business Mobility explainer

Published 23 July 2025

Summary

In order to promote growth, we want to make it easier for businesspeople to temporarily travel between the UK and India. This supports UK companies looking to increase trade with India.

As part of the UK-India Trade Agreement, we have agreed a chapter on business mobility, which will lock in access for short term business travel into India and the UK. This will give UK businesses and professionals a guarantee that existing access to the Indian market will continue.

Both countries have also expanded sectoral access (above the baseline World Trade Organization (WTO) commitments) for some routes. For example, UK businesses will have the opportunity to supply services in India across sectors such as engineering and accounting.

These commitments are commonly made in international trade agreements, including by the UK. In most areas what we have locked in is below what India can currently access.

Nothing in the agreement affects the UK’s right or ability to control our borders. It is not expected to have a long-term impact on net migration.

We have not created any new visa routes in this agreement. Nothing in this deal affects the UK’s point-based immigration system. All visa routes that have been locked in through the agreement are only available for temporary stays, and none of the routes provide a path to permanent settlement.

To qualify for these routes, workers will need to meet fair requirements, such as salary thresholds, qualification requirements, and a job offer or contract with a UK company, alongside sponsorship.

We have protected our ability to change thresholds such as the salary and sponsorship requirements, ensuring that the Home Office can retain control over migration. Indian workers will still need to pay any relevant existing or future surcharges. In 2024, the UK only granted a total of 25,117 visas under the Global Business Mobility route to applicants from across the world.

Any violation of the visa terms, such as overstaying, will face serious consequences from the Home Office. This can include re-entry bans, difficulty obtaining future visas, and deportation.

What is business mobility?

Business mobility is when professionals temporarily travel to another country to deliver services.  

It might involve a specialist travelling to network, providing expert advice, supporting another branch of the business, or helping a client solve a specific problem.

It is not a route to permanent migration or a substitute for hiring local talent. It enables businesses to access the right skills, in the right place, for a limited amount of time. 

Business mobility supports growth and encourages inward investment. Business mobility schemes help businesses expand their global reach, showcase world-leading expertise, and build international recognition in key sectors.

Reciprocal business mobility is fundamental in ensuring the UK remains globally competitive and is covered in trade deals by countries across the world, including the EU, New Zealand and Canada.

How does it work?

When a UK business wants to bring someone from another country to work here, they must apply for and be granted a sponsor license before an employee or contracted service supplier applies for a visa. That person requires sponsorship from the business in the UK, and either a job offer or a contract to supply a service with a UK-based company.

The Home Office then checks the application against a fair set of criteria, which can include the person’s skills, the role or contract they have been offered, and the salary. If approved, the person can come to the UK for the time allowed under that visa.

The UK’s Global Business Mobility scheme (GBM) includes 5 business mobility routes that skilled workers can apply for to come to the UK on a limited and temporary basis.

In 2024, a total of 25,117 visas were granted to professionals across the world under the global business mobility scheme. Businesspeople can also apply for a visa to visit the UK to share and build expertise or develop business relationships globally.

The Standard Visitor visa allows travellers to come to the UK for up to 6 months to participate in specific business activities, such as attending meetings or conferences, negotiating and signing contracts, or attending a trade fair. Visitors cannot be paid by a UK company or work in the UK, except for a limited number of professions such as musicians and professional athletes. In these circumstances, they must do this work within the first 30 days of being in the UK. To qualify, they must be considered an expert and have a written invitation.

What have we agreed to?

As part of this agreement, we have locked in some pre-existing business mobility rules covering short term, temporary and limited business travel. This is common practice for most trade agreements to provide certainty and boost economic growth.

‘Locking in’ routes and their rules means that the UK and India guarantee that specific business mobility routes will remain available under the trade agreement. As part of this agreement, we have locked in length of stay, giving businesses on both sides certainty.

For example, under the Global Business Mobility Scheme, the UK currently allows senior or experienced employees working for a company in India, to work in one of their UK branches for up to 5 consecutive years, and up to 9 years at the highest pay threshold. For the same category of worker, the trade agreement guarantees that Indian nationals would be able to apply to stay in the UK for at least 3 years, even if the length of stay changes under the Global Business Mobility Scheme. The rules that have been locked in mirror other UK trade agreements.

But the deal does not lock in all the requirements that an applicant must meet for temporary entry under these routes. The deal does not lock in any sponsorship processes or criteria – all professionals travelling to work for a UK company must have sponsorship from an employer approved by the Home Office, who can amend these rules at any time. The UK can also amend salary thresholds, and all workers and their dependents moving under the agreement are subject to UK immigration rules, including penalties on overstaying visas, and surcharges.

The deal locks in access for:

• business visitors who travel to the UK or India for certain activities, such as attending a conference or meeting with potential investors

• experienced employees and graduate trainees who transfer between a UK and Indian branch of their company. They are also referred to as intra-corporate transferees

• investors who are employees of a business in the UK or India looking to establish and manage an investment in the partner country

• Indian or UK professionals traveling to supply services on a contract for up to a year. This route is offered to all countries in the WTO for employees of a company for a limited number of sectors. They are also referred to as contractual service suppliers

Some access has also been expanded under this agreement

In this trade agreement, as well as locking in access for contractual service suppliers we have extended the route to some additional sectors. In these listed sectors or jobs, Indian companies will be able to send their employees to the UK for up to a year to supply services on a contractual basis. This additional access includes a quota for Indian chefs de cuisine, yoga teachers, and classical musicians – collectively limited to 1,800 people a year.

Separately, we have also extended access to independent professionals – this means that self-employed Indian nationals can also deliver contracted services in the UK in the listed sectors for up to a year. The sectors listed are in line with other UK trade agreements and include architectural and engineering services.

Business Mobility Routes – current arrangement and the Trade Deal

Business visitors

Current arrangement

The Standard visitor visa is for professionals to travel to the UK for up to 6 months to participate in specific business activities, such as attending meetings or conferences, negotiating and signing contracts, or attending a trade fair.

UK-India Free Trade Agreement

Business visitors and short-term business visitors will have locked in access to apply for a visa which will allow them to travel to the UK for these temporary business purposes.

Temporary visas for services suppliers

As part of the trade deal, we have agreed to commitments on categories of businesspeople. These categories correspond to the visa routes in the Global Business Mobility (GBM) scheme.

All these categories are subject to the current requirements for the visa route. The salary thresholds and sponsorship policy can also be updated by the Home Office at any time.

Intra-corporate transferees

Current arrangement

The Senior or Specialist Worker visa is for senior managers or specialists transferring to a UK branch. Maximum duration is up to 5 years in any 6-year period (or 9 years for high earners). Key requirements include employment by an overseas branch of the business, a graduate-level role, and earning at least £48,500.

UK-India Free Trade Agreement

Companies with a UK and Indian branch, and their employees, will have assurance that this visa route (including its relevant conditions on experience and qualifications) – will remain available for skilled workers in sectors covered by the Trade in Services and Financial Services chapters.

This deal will ensure that workers have access to apply for a visa that lasts for at least 3 years, which is lower than what is currently available under the UK system. This means that any changes made to reduce the duration of visas (down to the 3-year mark) will affect Indian workers in the same way it would without a trade agreement.

Intra-corporate transferees (graduate trainees)

Current arrangement

The Graduate Trainee visa is for recent graduates on structured training programmes for specialist or managerial roles. This allows workers to transfer to a UK branch of their company, for up to 12 months, for career development or to obtain training. They must meet a salary threshold of at least £25,410.

UK-India Free Trade Agreement

Companies with a UK and Indian branch, and their graduate trainees, will have assurance that this visa route, and the qualifications and experience requirements will remain available in the sectors covered by the Trade in Services and Financial Services chapters.

Investors (Expansion Worker)

Current arrangement

The UK Expansion Worker visa is for senior employees of overseas businesses setting up a UK branch. Maximum duration is up to one year and is renewable to a maximum stay of 2 years. The worker must be paid the going rate for their job, which must be at least £48,500.

UK-India Free Trade Agreement

Overseas businesses that have not yet started trading in the UK will be assured that this visa route, including its conditions on experience and qualifications, will remain available. This route allows senior managers or specialist employees operating in the sectors covered by the Trade in Services and Financial Services chapters to apply for a visa to travel to the UK for up to 12 months to set up the company’s first UK branch.

Contractual service supplier and independent professionals

Current arrangement

The Service Supplier visa is for employees or self-employed professionals delivering services under UK trade commitments. Maximum duration is up to 6 or 12 months, depending on the service. To qualify for the visa, the service supplier must have a contract to supply services in the UK and meet qualification and experience thresholds.

Employees of companies based in 166 member countries in the WTO, including India, can apply for this visa route if they have secured a contract in the listed sectors, such as engineering and accounting.

UK-India Free Trade Agreement

This deal will expand the number of sectors that are eligible to apply for a visa to travel to the UK to deliver services. The sectors that are eligible for this mobility category are in line with what the UK has agreed in other trade agreements.

Contractual service suppliers

Employees from companies who are contracted to deliver services for specific sectors or professions listed will be able to apply for a visa to travel to the UK for up to 12 months to deliver their services. The workers must have the necessary expertise and at least a year of relevant experience outside of the UK.

The sectors that are eligible for this mobility category are in line with what the UK has agreed in other trade agreements, except for a limited collective quota (1,800 per year) for Indian chefs de cuisine, yoga teachers, and classical musicians.

Independent professionals

As part of this deal, self-employed professionals will also be able to apply for a visa to fulfil services contracts in the UK, for a more limited number of sectors than for Indian companies and their employees. To qualify for the visa, the service supplier must have a contract to supply services in the UK and meet qualification and experience thresholds.

What impact will it have?

Improved business mobility will support UK business and economic growth

Closer collaboration with India gives UK businesses a competitive edge in global markets. Sharing ideas and expertise helps businesses adopt new technologies, follow market trends, and meet customer needs.

By ensuring that visa routes remain available for specific services sectors, such as finance and engineering, the agreement provides businesses with the confidence and stability needed to plan long-term strategies. This provides certainty which enables companies to invest in their operations, expand their workforce, and access global expertise, thus driving economic growth.

Nothing in the deal is expected to have a long-term impact on net migration.

This trade agreement will not be creating or ringfencing jobs for Indian professionals. Any increased access to temporary work assignments will simply give UK businesses a greater pool of global talent to pull from.

No UK mobility visa routes offer a path to settlement and this deal does not change that. Any time spent living in the UK under commitments taken in a trade agreement, via the Global Business Mobility route, will contribute towards meeting the residence requirement for settlement in the UK.

Also, overstayers will face serious consequences from the Home Office – including re-entry bans, difficulty obtaining future visas, and deportation.

This deal will not affect the UK’s points-based immigration system. While some new sectoral access has been offered, this does not provide a substitute for hiring local talent. All the access covered in the deal is for short-term routes, with all but one visa route limited to a year or less.

We have protected the UK’s ability to manage these routes

We have reserved the UK’s ability to set total length of stay in the UK on a mobility visa, as long as it isn’t lower than the minimum duration of the visa route, set at a maximum of 3 years for intra-corporate transferees. We have ensured that the Home Office will retain the ability to regulate these routes through measures such as adjusting salary thresholds or sponsorship fees.

Under this trade agreement we have not made any changes to the UK’s surcharges. All Indian workers, and their dependents, will need to pay the immigration health surcharge, set at £1,035 per year for adults, and £776 per year for those under 18.

Also, UK sponsors will need to pay the Immigration Skills Charge of £1,000 for the first 12 months (£364 for small or charitable sponsors) and £500 for each additional 6-month period for any worker on the intra-corporate transferee route, if they are coming to the UK for over 6 months.

There is also a £525 fee that must be paid by the employer to issue a certificate of sponsorship.