Visit the UK for a Permitted Paid Engagement

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Overview

You may be able to visit the UK for a paid engagement if you’ve been invited as an expert in your profession by a UK-based organisation or client.

You can visit the UK for up to 1 month. You cannot extend your stay in the UK.

What you need to do

  1. Check if what you plan to do in the UK is allowed.

  2. Check you meet the eligibility requirements.

  3. Prepare your invitation and other documents.

  4. Check if you need to apply for a visa to visit the UK.

  5. Apply for a Permitted Paid Engagement Visitor visa online - if you need one.

What you can and cannot do

You can be invited and paid by a UK-based organisation or client:

  • as a professional artist, entertainer or musician
  • as a professional sportsperson
  • as a qualified lawyer - to represent a client
  • to give a lecture or series of lectures
  • as an academic - to be a student examiner or assessor
  • as an air pilot examiner

Check if what you’re being paid to do in the UK is allowed.

You cannot:

  • do paid work unrelated to your main overseas job or area of expertise
  • study
  • live in the UK for extended periods
  • claim public funds (benefits)
  • pass through the UK to another country (‘in transit’)
  • marry or register a civil partnership, or give notice of marriage or civil partnership - you’ll need to apply for a Marriage Visitor visa

Check you meet the eligibility requirements

You must be able to show that:

  • you’ve been formally invited by a UK-based organisation to attend a pre-arranged event or other permitted engagement
  • the event or engagement relates directly to your expertise, qualifications and main job in your home country
  • you’re 18 or over
  • you’re visiting the UK for no more than 1 month
  • you’ll leave the UK at the end of your visit
  • you’re able to support yourself during your trip (or have funding from someone else to support you)
  • you’re able to pay for your return or onward journey (or have funding from someone else to pay for the journey)
  • you’ll not live in the UK for extended periods through frequent or successive visits, or make the UK your main home

The rules on what you’ll need to enter the UK may be different if you’re travelling from Ireland, Jersey, Guernsey or the Isle of Man.

Prepare your invitation and other documents

You must have a passport or travel document to enter the UK. It should be valid for the whole of your stay.

You need a formal written invitation from a UK-based organisation. The invitation letter could be from:

  • an organisation in the creative arts or entertainment industries
  • a sports organisation, agent or broadcaster
  • a higher education institution
  • a research organisation
  • an aviation training organisation regulated by the UK Civil Aviation Authority
  • a client, if you’re a lawyer

You must show the event or engagement relates to your expertise, qualifications and main job in your home country. For example, you could show a letter from your employer.

You may need additional documents depending on what you’re being paid to do in the UK.

You need to provide a certified translation of any documents that are not in English or Welsh.

Check if you need a visa to visit the UK

Depending on your nationality, you’ll either:

  • have to apply for a Permitted Paid Engagement Visitor visa before you travel to the UK
  • be able to visit the UK for up to 1 month without needing a visa

You can check if you need a visa before you apply.

If you do not need a visa

You must get a stamp in your passport from a Border Force officer when you enter the UK. You cannot use the ePassport gates.

The Border Force officer will check that:

  • you meet the eligibility requirements
  • you have an invitation from a relevant UK-based organisation or client
  • the paid engagement relates to your expertise, qualifications and main job

If you’ve previously been refused entry to the UK or have a criminal record, you may want to apply for a Permitted Paid Engagement Visitor visa (even if you do not need one).

If you have to apply for a Permitted Paid Engagement Visitor visa

You must apply for a Permitted Paid Engagement Visitor visa online before you travel to the UK.

A Permitted Paid Engagement Visitor visa costs £115 for up to 1 month. The earliest you can apply is 3 months before you travel.