Tier 5 visa
Tier 5 of the Points Based System (PBS) is designed to allow temporary workers and 18-30 year olds in the Youth Mobility Scheme (YMS) come to the UK to undertake short-term, temporary work for a licensed sponsor.
To qualify for entry to the UK under tier 5 you must have a valid certificate of sponsorship and you must pass the PBS points requirements.
There are five sub-categories of tier 5 within tier 5 of the PBS:
- Creative and sporting workers - migrants coming to the UK as sportspeople, entertainers or creative artists for short periods of time, primarily to perform, compete or otherwise take part in one or a series of events.
- Charity workers - migrants coming to work temporarily in the UK as voluntary workers for a charity.
- Religious workers - migrants coming to work temporarily in the UK either as a religious worker in a non-pastoral role, where the duties include performing religious rites but not preaching to a congregation, or as a visiting religious worker.
- Government authorised exchange workers - migrants coming through approved schemes aimed at sharing knowledge, experience and best practice.
- International agreement workers - migrants who are coming to the UK under contract to provide a service that is covered under international law, including GATS, similar bilateral agreements, employees of overseas governments and international organisations, and the provision for private servants in diplomatic households.
In addition to these 5 sub categories there is also the Youth Mobility Scheme (YMS). The YMS has different qualification criteria to those for tier 5 temporary workers, details of which can be found by viewing our information about the Tier 5 Youth Mobility Scheme.