This article provides an overview of the permissible activities as a standard visitor in the United Kingdom.

The United Kingdom

A foreigner may enter the UK as a Standard Visitor to perform one or more of the following activities under the following categories:

General Business Activities:

• 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; and (h) undertake activities relating to their employment overseas remotely from within the UK, providing this is not the primary purpose of their visit.

Intra-corporate Activities

• An employee of an overseas based company may: (a) advise and consult; and (b) trouble-shoot; and (c) provide training; and (d) share skills and knowledge; on a specific internal project with UK employees of the same corporate group.

• An employee of an overseas based company may also undertake the activities in PA 5.1. directly with clients, providing: (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.

• An internal auditor may carry out regulatory or financial audits at a UK branch of the same group of companies as the Visitor’s employer overseas.

Manufacture and Supply of Goods to the UK

• An employee of an overseas company may install, dismantle, repair, service or advise on machinery, equipment, computer software or hardware (or train UK based workers to provide these services) where there is a contract of purchase, supply or lease with a UK company or organisation and either: (a) the overseas company is the manufacturer or supplier; or (b) the overseas company is part of a contractual arrangement for after sales services agreed at the time of the sale or lease, including in a warranty or other service contract incidental to the sale or lease.

Overseas Roles Requiring Specific Activities in the UK

• Individuals employed outside the UK may visit the UK to take part in the following activities in relation to their employment overseas: (a) a translator and/or interpreter may translate and/or interpret in the UK as an employee of an enterprise located overseas; or (b) personal assistants and bodyguards may support an overseas business person in carrying out permitted activities, provided they will attend the same event(s) as the business person and are employed by them outside the UK. They must not be providing personal care or domestic work for the business person; or (c) a tour group courier, contracted to a company with its headquarters outside the UK, who is entering and departing the UK with a tour group organised by their company; or (d) a journalist, correspondent, producer or cameraman gathering information for an overseas publication, programme or film; or (e) archaeologists taking part in a one-off archaeological excavation; or (f) a professor from an overseas academic institution accompanying students to the UK as part of a study abroad programme, may provide a small amount of teaching to the students at the host organisation providing this does not amount to filling a permanent teaching role for that institution; or (g) market researchers and analysts may conduct market research or analysis for an enterprise located outside the UK

Work-related Training

• Employees of an overseas company or organisation may receive training from a UK based company or organisation in work practices and techniques which are required for the Visitor’s employment overseas and not available in their home country.

• An employee of an overseas based training company may deliver a short series of training to employees of a UK based company, where the trainer is employed by an overseas business contracted to deliver global training to the international corporate group to which the UK based company belongs.