On 31 January 2024 some changes to the Visitor visa routes were introduced. Our template invitation letters, training, and guidance, have been updated to reflect these changes:
Academic Visitors
Visitors applying for a Standard Visitor – Academic Visitor visa for a visit over 6 (up to 12) months must be on sabbatical leave from their university and are only permitted to carry out their own private (not collaborative) research.
Following a rule change, however, visitors applying for a visa, or entering the UK, under the Standard Visitor – Academic Visitor route for a visit of up to 6 months can now undertake collaborative research and/or their own private research.
This means that the Academic Visitor visa route should now be appropriate more often for visits of 6 months or less, avoiding the need for a short Tier 5 visa application.
While an Academic Visitor visa may be more convenient it is worth noting that if the visitor’s partner and children are accompanying them they will apply for, or enter under, tourist visas and will not be permitted to work in the UK. If instead they applied for a Tier 5 visa their partner and children would apply for Dependant visas and their partner would be permitted to work in the UK during the visit.
As only those employed by an academic institution outside the UK are eligible under the Standard Visitor – Academic Visitor route, visitors who are not academics will still need to apply for a Tier 5 visa, and students should be using the Student visa or student visitor routes.
With collaborative research only being permitted for Academic Visitors coming for up to 6 months, visitors must decide from the outset whether they are coming to the UK for up to 6 months, or over 6 (up to 12) months and cannot change this later.
Permitted Paid Engagement (PPE) Visitors
The Permitted Paid Engagement (PPE) Visitor rules and requirements have not changed, but instead of being a separate Visitor visa route this has now become one of the subcategories of the Standard Visitor visa route. This means that PPE Visitors no longer need to specifically ask for and receive a PPE Visitor stamp when they enter the UK, and can use the eGates instead (if applicable).
PPE Visitors, whether they need to apply for a visa in advance or just enter the UK under this route, can come for up to six months but their PPE activities must be completed within the first 30 days after they arrive in the UK.
Remote working for their overseas employer
Visitors under any of the Standard Visitor routes are now permitted to undertake activities relating to their employment overseas remotely whilst they are in the UK (such as responding to emails, answering phone calls or participating in remote meetings) but this cannot be the main purpose of their visit, so they cannot be coming specifically intending to work remotely from the UK.
Important points for all visitors:
• All visitors (apart from British and Irish nationals, and those who already hold an appropriate visa) will need to be advised of the correct Visitor visa route for their activities, and issued an invitation letter based on our templates. They will either submit the invitation letter with their visitor visa application, or (if they do not need to apply in advance) have it with them when entering the UK in case they are asked about the purpose of their visit;
• As the Academic, Business, and PPE Visitor, routes are subcategories of the Standard Visitor visa route, visitors can carry out a combination of activities under these and other Standard Visitor subcategories, but the invitation letter issued should be based on the main purpose of their visit. Please email SIT for advice where a visitor wishes to carry out any more complex mix of activities.
• As there is a Visitor visa rule specifically prohibiting ‘frequent and successive’ visits it is not possible to leave and return straight away under another visitor visa to try to stay longer than an Academic Visitor visa granted for six months, or to try to avoid the PPE Visitor rule that activities must be carried out in the first 30 days of the visit. A gap of several months at least would normally need to be left between visits;
• The ATAS requirements will always need to be considered several months in advance for any visitor coming to carry out research, as if an ATAS application is required this can commonly take two or three months and may delay the visit.
