Permitted Paid Engagement Visa

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

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

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 are 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 have 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 are 18 or over 
  • you are visiting the UK for no more than one month 
  • you will leave the UK at the end of your visit 
  • you are able to support yourself during your trip (or have funding from someone else to support you) 
  • you are able to pay for your return or onward journey (or have funding from someone else to pay for the journey) 
  • you will not live in the UK for extended periods through frequent or successive visits, or make the UK main home 

Check if you need a visit visa 

Depending on your nationality, you will 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 one month without needing a visa 

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

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 £100 for up to one month. The earliest you can apply is three months before you travel.