The Overseas Domestic Worker Visa allows eligible domestic workers to accompany their overseas employer to the UK for a short stay of up to 6 months. Get professional help checking employment history, written work terms, employer evidence, financial position and worker protection issues before you apply.
Review whether your employment history, employer evidence and UK travel plan are strong enough before you apply.
The Overseas Domestic Worker Visa allows an eligible domestic worker in a private household to accompany their existing overseas employer to the UK for a short visit. It is commonly relevant to nannies, cleaners, cooks, chauffeurs, carers for the employer or family, and other household staff who have already worked for the same employer for at least 12 months.
This is a tightly controlled short-term route. It is not a general work visa, not a route for long-term residence and not a route for bringing dependants. The application normally turns on whether the worker, the employer, the previous employment history, the written employment terms, the worker protection requirements and the short UK stay all fit the rules.
At Access Global, we help domestic workers and employers check the route before travel, review the evidence, identify refusal risks and prepare a clear application strategy without turning the process into guesswork.
The Overseas Domestic Worker Visa is suitable only where the domestic worker is already employed by the overseas employer and is accompanying that employer or their close family to the UK for a temporary stay. The worker must normally be outside the UK when applying and must obtain permission before travelling.
Eligibility is fact-sensitive. The decision is likely to depend on the worker’s age, employment history, household arrangement, evidence of salary or employment records, written employment terms, employer travel plans and whether the proposed UK work is genuinely domestic work in a private household.
The employer must be either a British citizen who usually lives outside the UK and is not planning to remain in the UK for more than 6 months, or a foreign citizen visiting the UK temporarily. The domestic worker should be travelling with the employer, the employer’s partner or the employer’s child where the route rules allow it.
The employer’s evidence should show an existing employment relationship, the role and duties, how long the worker has been employed, that the employment is ongoing, and that the UK arrangement will respect pay, working conditions and welfare requirements.
An Overseas Domestic Worker can work as a domestic worker in a private household during the permitted stay. The worker can travel abroad and return to the UK to complete the stay, and can change employer to another domestic-worker job in a private household, provided they do not stay beyond the 6-month permission.
The worker cannot take other work outside domestic work in a private household, cannot access public funds and cannot use this route to live in the UK for long periods through frequent or successive visits. Employment rights remain important: the worker should be paid at least the National Minimum Wage, should not be forced to work excessive hours, and should have the agreed holiday pay and notice rights.
The main application cost is the visa application fee. Other possible costs may include professional advice, translations, travel, appointment-related services, courier services, and evidence preparation depending on the country of application and personal circumstances.
The evidence should give a clear picture of the worker, the employer, the existing employment relationship and the short UK stay. The strongest applications do not simply provide many documents; they present a consistent story that links the worker’s role, previous employment, pay evidence, employer travel plans and written work terms.
Typical evidence areas include identity, employment history, salary or employment records, the employer’s support letter, the signed domestic worker statement, financial support, travel plans, translations where needed and any information relevant to worker protection or welfare. Access Global can review the document bundle before submission so weak, missing or inconsistent evidence can be identified early.
Request a document review so the evidence can be checked for clarity, consistency and refusal risk.
For the current Overseas Domestic Worker route, the visa cannot normally be extended. The worker is expected to leave the UK by the end of the 6-month stay, or earlier if the employer leaves first and the permission conditions require it.
A separate legacy position may apply only where a person applied under the older Domestic Worker in a Private Household route on or before 5 April 2012. Those legacy cases have different extension rules and should be reviewed carefully because the evidence, timing and family position are different from the current route.
The current Overseas Domestic Worker route does not lead directly to indefinite leave to remain. It is a short-term permission route and should not be relied on as a settlement pathway.
Legacy Domestic Worker in a Private Household cases from on or before 5 April 2012 can have separate settlement rules after 5 years where all requirements are met, including lawful residence, full-time domestic work, absences, English language and Life in the UK requirements. These cases are now highly fact-specific and should be reviewed before any extension or settlement planning.
Domestic workers can be vulnerable to exploitation, coercion or abuse. If a worker believes they have been forced, threatened, underpaid, prevented from leaving, or otherwise exploited, the immigration position may need urgent and sensitive advice.
There is a separate protection route for eligible domestic workers who have been recognised as victims of modern slavery or human trafficking. That route can allow permission to stay for up to 2 years in qualifying cases, but it is not a settlement route and does not allow dependants. These cases should be handled carefully because immigration, employment and safeguarding issues can overlap.
We can review eligibility, employment evidence, written work terms, worker protection issues and refusal risks before the application is submitted.
It is a short-term visa for a domestic worker in a private household who is accompanying their existing overseas employer to the UK for a temporary visit.
The applicant must normally be at least 19, live outside the UK, have worked for the same employer for at least 12 months, and be coming to the UK to work as a full-time domestic worker in a household where the employer will stay temporarily.
The current route allows a stay of up to 6 months. The worker must leave at the end of the permitted stay and should not use repeated visits to live in the UK.
The current Overseas Domestic Worker route cannot normally be extended. Separate legacy rules may apply only to older Domestic Worker in a Private Household cases from on or before 5 April 2012.
The current route does not lead directly to ILR. Settlement is only relevant in limited legacy cases under the older domestic-worker category.
No. Dependants are not permitted on the current Overseas Domestic Worker route.
The current application fee is £726. Other costs may apply depending on evidence, translations, travel and appointment arrangements.
There is no fixed published maintenance figure for this route, but the applicant must be able to maintain and accommodate themselves without public funds.
A worker can change employer to another domestic-worker job in a private household, but only within the existing 6-month permission and without staying longer than allowed.
The evidence usually needs to cover identity, existing employment, pay or employment records, written UK work terms, employer support, financial position and any translations where needed.
If there are concerns about exploitation, coercion, underpayment or modern slavery, the worker should seek urgent specialist advice. A separate protection route may be available in qualifying cases.
We can review eligibility, assess the employer and employment evidence, check the document bundle, prepare the application strategy and advise on refusal risks or protection concerns where relevant.
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Whether you are a domestic worker or an employer planning a short UK visit, we can help you check the route, review the evidence and prepare the application position clearly.
