One of the important determinant of traveling abroad for either study or work is a having a Visa. If you wish to work, train, study or visit in the United Kingdom for a short period, you can obtain UK short term visa. What is a short term visa? A short term visa is a permit for a short period or on a temporary basis, it could be for a term of 6 to 12 months, or a maximum period of 12 to 24 months. It is also known as the UK Temporary Workers Visas. A short term visa can be acquired for different purposes, either for a training or study purpose, visiting, and health purposes and many other reasons.
Main Categories of UK Short Term Visa for Work
UK Creative and Sporting Visa.
This visa is for personnel offered work in the UK as a creative worker or sportsperson. A creative worker is an individual who works in the creative industry. These include but are not limited to dancers, actors, musicians, or film crew members.
UK Government Authorized Exchange Visa
This visa is for the people who want to come to the UK for work experience, training, research, overseas government language program, or fellowship with an approved government authorized exchange scheme.
UK Charity Worker visa
This visa is for the individuals who want to do voluntary work without pay, working for a charity in the UK, for up to one year. You can enter the UK 14 days before your first day at work.
UK Youth Mobility Scheme visa
This is a visa for individuals between the ages of 18 and 40 who have certain types of British Nationality. With a UK Youth Mobility Scheme, you can work and live in the UK for up to 24 months.
UK Religious Worker visa
This visa is for those who want to relocate to the UK only for a short term and do religious work such as preaching and any other non-pastoral roles. A UK Religious visa holder will live and work in the UK for up to 2 years, and your stay can be extended by 28 more days than the time indicated on your certificate of sponsorship. You might be sponsored only for a shorter period. You can enter the UK up to 14 days before the date you will start working.
UK International Agreement
This visa is for the people who have a contract to work for a foreign government, independent professional, or those who work as private servants for diplomats in the UK but are covered by the international law or treaty. You can stay up to 24 months in the UK.
UK Seasonal Worker Visa
Those that want to travel to the UK and do farm-related jobs for up to 6 months can apply for this visa.
To apply for any of these categories, you need to obtain a certificate of sponsorship from a licensed UK employer. This COS is a the main requirement for all the short term visas for work.
Different kinds of Short Term Visa for Work you can Obtain
- Visiting Visa: This visa is obtained in order to access private health care or partake in any sporting or recreational activity. If you acquire this kind of visa you can’t work and you can only undergo a study program with this visa for a period of 30 days.
- Study Visa: You can obtain a study visa for a temporary period. This kind of visa operates for a duration of 6-11 months. You can’t work paid or unpaid jobs or study full time with this visa.
- Transit Visa: This is issued when you want to stay in the U.K to get to another country or for a layover. A layover is a stop at a certain point to change aircraft and continue the journey on a different aircraft. If you want to go through the U.K to get to a destination state. This visa can be used for a period of 48 hours.
- Marriage Visitor Visa: This is issued to those who want to get married in the U.K for a period of 6 months. This visa cannot be used to get a job in the U.K.
- A visa can be issued to a parent of a child who is studying at an independent school in U.K.
Necessary Requirements for Short Term Visa Application
To obtain a U.K short term visa, you have to meet with these requirements. These are the documents which must be presented during an application for a short term visa.
- Visa application form
- Two recent passport photographs
- A valid international passport
- Your Bank Statement of Account for a period of 6 months before the application
- You have to submit a document that shows your intended place of residence in the U.K
- A detailed travel plan must be submitted. It shows all what you are planning to do in the U.K and where you are planning to visit in the U.K
- You must submit the result of a medical examination on Tuberculosis, to ensure you are eligible for a U.K visa.
- You will be required to submit your biometric data. e g Fingerprints.
- A proof of payment of visa fees
- An invitation letter by a host resident, including documents that proves his status as a U.K resident
- Letter of appointment or employment; it must be accompanied with the job position and the duration of employment.
All these documents must be the original document and must be credible. They must be written in English language and it should be translated to English where in its original form is a foreign language. Evidence supporting the documents where it has been translated should be provided during an application.
Eligibility Criteria for the UK Short Term Visa Application
Before you can apply for this visa. you must:
- be above 18 years of age when you apply
- have a certificate of sponsorship reference number.
- have enough money to support yourself in the UK: meaning you must have at least £1,270 in your bank account to show you can support yourself in the UK. You will need to have had the money available for at least 28 days in a row of which day 28 must be within 31 days of applying for this visa.
- have a certificate of English Language test Based on the type of work that you intend to do.
- Your sponsor may get an on-site visit from the compliance officers at any time, to ensure that migrant workers, as well as the company, are complying with their duties.
UK Short Term Visa for Work Processing Time
Non-EU citizens
It is necessary for Non-EU applicants to submit their photos and fingerprints at the application center because they cannot register online.
EU, EEA, and Swiss citizens
Unlike Non-EU citizens, citizens from any of these countries will not be required to submit their fingerprints because most visas will require them to provide a digital photo of their face using a smartphone app. While some visas will require the applicant to travel to an overseas visa application Centre to take their pictures.
The processing time for the short-term visa is not fixed, but its possible to get a quicker response on your visa application depending on the country you are applying from. It should be noted that it takes up to three weeks to get a response on an application for a short term visa in the U.K. Therefore it is advisable to process your short term visa at least a month before you intend to travel.
Application fee
Each of the application fee for one person is £259 which is approximately 132,117.38 naira. the application fee is the same whether you’re applying from inside or outside the UK.
In Conclusion
On a final note, you will also need a work permit relating to the type of work you are applying for and you must have secured a job and sponsorship before applying for a U.K work visa. A working visa can be obtained to the U.K on a short term basis, either as a charity worker, or it could be based on an international agreement, where you are contracted to work under an international law or treaty, or as a religious worker or for countries covered by the youth mobility scheme, or a government authorized exchange or for an individual who wants to undertake research programs. However, you cannot work in the U.K with a study short term visa, a visiting visa, except you are permitted to work for designated purposes. For example as stated earlier either as a Charity worker (volunteer), a religious worker, a seasonal worker.