How to apply for an International Sportsperson visa

The international sportsperson route was introduced in 2021 for elite and internationally established sportspeople and sports coaches to enter the UK. It replaced the previous system which involved applying under the now abolished Appendix T5 (Temporary Worker) Creative or Sporting Worker and Appendix T2 Sportsperson routes.

The immigration rules for this route can be found in Appendix International Sportsperson. The guidance can be found here.

There is also an Appendix Sports Governing Bodies which lists the sporting organisations that can issue endorsements to certify that a sportsperson or coach is elite. The criteria for endorsements are agreed separately between the Home Office and the various sporting bodies. 

What are the main International Sportsperson visa rules?

Sportspersons must opt for entry clearance or permission to stay for one of two periods:

• 12 months or less, or
• between 12 months and three years.

The longer period can be sought only if the person can meet an English language requirement (level A1 in speaking and listening).

A sportsperson can enter the UK with a visa for the shorter period and, on meeting the English requirement (for example, by sitting a qualifying English test), can extend their permission to stay in the country for the longer period. If extending in this way, a new certificate of sponsorship and governing body endorsement will be required. This extension process can be undertaken from within the UK.

For either period, the sportsperson must have an endorsement, a certificate of sponsorship and meet the other eligibility requirements.

To meet the endorsement requirement, the applicant must provide a letter from the relevant Sports Governing Body listed in Appendix Sports Governing Bodies, confirming the applicant is elite, internationally established and will make a significant contribution to the development of their sport at the highest level in the UK. The letter will contain the unique endorsement number issued to them.

The sponsoring club must also issue the sportsperson with a short-term certificate of sponsorship or a long-term certificate of sponsorship to support the individual application.

The applicant must also meet a genuineness requirement. The applicant must genuinely intend and be able to undertake the role for which they are being sponsored, and they must not intend to take up employment other than in the role for which they’re being sponsored (although supplementary employment and voluntary work is permitted).

Applicants can meet the financial requirement in one of three ways:

• where they are applying for permission to stay and have been living in the UK with permission for 12 months or longer on the date of application; 
• where their A-rated sponsor has confirmed on the certificate of sponsorship that they will, if necessary, maintain and accommodate the applicant up to the end of the first month of their employment, for an amount of at least £1,270; or 
• where they provide evidence showing they have held funds of at least £1,270 for a 28- day period as set out in the financial requirement guidance.

If the applicant is under the age of 18, they must also meet the parental consent requirement. Applicants must be aged 16 or over on the date of application.

Is a visa always required in advance?

Sportspeople based outside the UK must undertake a visa application process overseas before travelling to the UK.

That said, sportspeople can, under limited circumstances, still enter the UK as visitors to undertake specific permitted activities as a sports person and subsequently switch to the work route from within the UK.

The application should be made online via the gov.uk website on the specified form, as follows:

Applications can be submitted up to three months before the date the applicant’s employment in the UK begins. This date is listed on the certificate of sponsorship. Decisions take around three weeks for those applying from outside the UK, and eight weeks for those applying inside the UK.

The application fees are different depending on whether the sportsperson or coach is applying for up to 12 months or longer than 12 months, and whether they are applying from within or outside the UK. The current fees can be found here.

Settlement as an International Sportsperson

There is no upper limit on how long an International Sportsperson can stay in the UK in this category; the visa can be extended for up to three years at a time and visa holders can keep extending it as long as they are still eligible.

Previously, a T2 sportsperson could spend up to six years on that visa, and a T5 sportsperson was limited to periods of 12 months. This change removed a few pressures. Sportspeople were no longer pressured into applying for settlement between Year 5 and the end of Year 6. The prospect of having to leave the UK for failing to settle within six years was therefore removed.

Those who do wish to settle must, among other criteria, be paid £35,800 a year. Whilst many will achieve this, a number of those playing in the lower leagues, including in newly emerging professional sports, will not be earning this sum. Many women’s sports do not in fact reach this threshold, putting this particular group at a disadvantage.

Whilst the salary threshold remains problematic insofar as some sportspeople might never be able to settle, the fact that there is no limit on time spent in this category means that sportspeople can continue to submit applications for permission to stay (keep extending their visa, in other words).

Any time spent in the International Sportsperson route, or its T2 and T5 predecessors can be counted toward the five years needed to qualify for settlement. Previously, time spent in the T5 category did not count, but Home Office guidance explicitly reverses the position.

This is important, since getting players to the UK quickly is often the club’s priority. It is now possible to bring a sportsperson to the UK without having to delay the process through arranging English language testing, and to extend that permission from within the UK, whilst at all times accruing residence towards settlement.

This article was originally published in October 2021 and has been updated by Rachel Whickman so that it is correct as of the new date of publication shown.