In the last few months, the Government has introduced a whole host of changes to the Immigration Rules, including to the Visitor visa rules which are spread across a number of "Visitor appendices": notably, Appendix V: Visitor, Appendix Visitor: Visa national list, and Appendix Visitor: Permitted Activities.
This post will examine four specific changes in relation to the Visitor visa rules: (1) the clarifications regarding remote working, (2) the lifting of the ban on client-facing work for intra-corporate employees, (3) the greater scope for research and collaboration by scientists, researchers and academics, and (4) the expansion of permitted activities for legal professionals. This post also serves as an update for our previous posts: UK Visit Visa: What Activities Are Permitted? and Dos and don'ts of conducting business on a visit visa.
This is the first of two posts regarding changes to the Visitor visa rules; the new rules around "permitted paid engagements" will be examined in a subsequent blog post.
Greater Clarity on Remote Working as a Visitor
The default position, both under the old and new rules, is that Visitors must not intend to work while in the UK, unless this work is one of the "permitted activities" that is expressly allowed in the Visitor appendices. Under the old rules, the list of permitted "General Business Activities" allowed Visitors to:
(a) attend meetings, conferences, seminars, interviews; and
(b) give a one-off or short series of talks and speeches provided these are not organised as commercial events and will not make a profit for the organiser; and
(c) negotiate and sign deals and contracts; and
(d) attend trade fairs, for promotional work only, provided the Visitor is not directly selling; and (e) carry out site visits and inspections; and
(f) gather information for their employment overseas; and
(g) be briefed on the requirements of a UK based customer, provided any work for the customer is done outside of the UK.
There was previously no mention of remote working in any of the Visitor appendices, whether as a permitted activity or otherwise. Given the overarching rule of "no work", this seemed to indicate that Visitors were not allowed to work remotely in the UK.
However, the new rules have added a new activity to the list of permitted "General Business Activities", such that Visitors are now also able to:
(h) undertake activities relating to their employment overseas remotely from within the UK, providing this is not the primary purpose of their visit.
The corresponding Home Office policy document confirms that Visitors can therefore undertake remote activities relating to their overseas employment such as responding to emails, answering phone calls, or participating in remote meetings.
Caveats to Remote Working as a Visitor
Though this change is a welcome and timely nod to the increase in remote working, particularly post-pandemic, there are three caveats to keep in mind.
First, remote working must not be the primary purpose of your visit. The primary purpose of your visit must therefore be a different permitted activity – whether this is tourism, visiting friends and family, attending conferences, signing deals, or some other permitted activity listed in the Visitor appendices.
The Home Office will check whether you are attempting to enter the UK specifically to work remotely from the UK, as this is not permitted. The Home Office will consider the length of your proposed stay, and whether a stay of that length is only financially viable via ongoing remote work. Thus, if the viability of your visit relies "substantially" on supporting yourself through remote work, the guidance states that work should be considered the "primary" purpose of your visit.
Further, the rules prohibit Visitors from living in the UK for extended periods through frequent or successive visits; this is true whether or not the Visitor is undertaking remote work while in the UK. The guidance notes that, where an applicant intends to spend a large proportion of their time in the UK and will be doing some remote work during their visit, the application will be scrutinised to ensure that the individual is genuinely employed overseas and is not seeking to work in the UK.
In short, the new reference in the rules to remote working does not amount to the introduction of a "digital nomad"-style Visitor visa in the UK.
Second, the remote work must relate to the Visitor's overseas employment; Visitors cannot work for UK employers or fill a role within a UK organisation, even on a remote or "work from home" basis. The general prohibition on "work in the UK" encompasses employment in the UK, work for an organisation or business in the UK (including work while seconded to a UK company, or for a UK branch of an overseas employer), establishing or running a business as a self-employed person in the UK, doing a work placement or internship in the UK, and providing goods and services in the UK. All of these activities require some form of business visa, short-term work visa, or long-term work visa, and cannot be undertaken as a Visitor.
Given that Visitors undertaking remote work in the UK must be employed overseas, the guidance states that such Visitors are likely to stay for less than one month in the UK (presumably on the basis that the Visitor will need to return to their overseas employment). The guidance indicates that visits of over one month will be scrutinised to check that work is not the "primary" purpose, and states that activities lasting more than 90 days may lead to questions about the nature of the Visitor's remote work.
Third, the fact that remote work must relate to a Visitor's overseas employment ties into an existing rule: Visitors must not receive payment from a UK source for any activities undertaken in the UK (other than some narrowly defined exceptions, such as reasonable travel expenses, prize money, and certain "permitted paid engagements"). Thus, the expectation is that the payment for any remote work undertaken in the UK will not come from a UK source, but rather from the overseas employer for whom the remote work is being undertaken.
Intra-Corporate Activities: Direct Client Work
Under the previous rules regarding permitted "Intra-corporate Activities", an employee of an overseas-based company could, while in the UK as a Visitor, undertake particular activities for a "specific internal project with UK employees of the same corporate group" (e.g. advising and consulting, troubleshooting, providing training). However, the old rules explicitly stated that Visitors could only undertake these activities "provided no work is carried out directly with clients".
The new rules have removed this prohibition on working directly with clients, meaning an overseas-based employee can now also undertake the permitted "Intra-corporate Activities" directly with clients. However, direct client work is only allowed if:
(a) the employee's movement is in an intra-corporate setting and any client facing activity is incidental to their employment abroad; and
(b) these activities are required for the delivery of a project or service by the UK branch of the Visitor's employer overseas, and are not part of a project or service that is being delivered directly to the UK client by the Visitor's employer overseas.
As clarified by the guidance, any direct client work undertaken by the Visitor should not be the "primary purpose" of their visit to the UK, but "incidental" to their overseas employment.
The guidance states that it is therefore acceptable for an applicant to travel to the UK to support their UK-based colleagues on a project led from the UK branch, where this naturally leads to the Visitor undertaking direct client work. Conversely, the guidance states that, if an applicant travels to the UK to undertake direct client work, independently of a project led from the UK branch, the client-facing work would not be "incidental" to the applicant's overseas employment, and the application would likely be refused.
Research by Scientists, Researchers and Academics
Under the old rules, scientists and researchers were permitted to gather information and facts for a "specific project which directly relates to their employment overseas", or to conduct "independent research". Meanwhile, academics were permitted to carry out research "for their own purposes" only if they were on sabbatical leave from their home institution.
The new rules no longer distinguish between scientists and researchers on the one hand, and academics on the other; instead, they simply state that academics, scientists and researchers may "collaborate, gather information and facts, or conduct research, either for a specific project which directly relates to their employment overseas, or independently".
Thus, scientists and researchers can now collaborate and conduct research for projects relating directly to their overseas employment (beyond merely fact-gathering), while academics can now conduct research without being on sabbatical leave.
However, it is important to note that these changes relate only to "Standard" Visitors who are visiting the UK for up to 6 months. Academics applying for 12-month Visitor visas are subject to a number of additional requirements, and are still required to be on sabbatical leave from their home institution if they wish to carry out research for their own purposes.
Permitted Activities for Legal Professionals
Under the previous rules, an overseas lawyer was only able to "advise a UK-based client on specific international litigation and/or an international transaction". The new rules have greatly expanded this category of permitted activities, such that overseas lawyers can now "provide legal services" while in the UK as a Visitor. This is a very broadly defined permitted activity, which includes but is not limited to:
(a) advice; and
(b) appearing in arbitrations; and
(c) acting as an arbitrator or mediator; and
(d) acting as an expert witness; and
(e) appearing in court in jurisdictions which allow short term call or where qualified in that jurisdiction; and
(f) conferences, teaching; and
(g) providing advocacy for a court or tribunal hearing; and
(h) litigation; and
(i) transactional legal services, including drafting contracts
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.