Kate Gamester
Kate is an immigration lawyer with many years’ experience advising corporates and private clients on all aspects of UK immigration law.
Kate is a highly experienced UK immigration lawyer specialising in advising businesses and private clients on a broad range of applications covered by the UK immigration rules. Kate also has considerable experience in helping start-up companies with sole representative and sponsor licence applications.
Throughout the course of her career Kate has advised a number of household name companies across sectors including financial services, retail and media. Kate is also experienced in successfully challenging civil penalty notices and sponsor licence suspensions.
Practice Areas
Panel
- Contributing Author
Qualified Year
- 2009
Experience
- Doyle Clayton Solicitors (Apr 2019 - Jun 2020)
- EY (Feb 2018 - Apr 2019)
- Squire Patton Boggs UK LLP (Jul 2012 - Feb 2019)
- Fragomen LLP (Jan 2010 - Jul 2012)
Membership
- Immigration Lawyer Practitioners Association (ILPA)
Qualifications
- BA(Hons) 2:1 History (1997)
- PGDL (2003)
- LPC (commendation) (2006)
Education
- College of Law (University of Law) (2001 - 2006)
- University of Manchester (1994 - 1997)
3 Contributions by Kate Gamester
PRACTICE NOTES
UK Global Business Mobility: Senior or Specialist Worker and Graduate Trainee—Eligibility, Financial Requirement, Genuineness, Switching, Conditions, Dependants, Application Procedure, Fees and Administrative Review
Senior or Specialist Worker and Graduate Trainee
Senior or Specialist Worker and Graduate Trainee are Global Business Mobility categories that, from 11 April 2022, supplanted, respectively, the Intra-Company Transfer and Intra-Company Graduate Trainee routes. Through the Senior or Specialist Worker path, companies with linked overseas affiliates may post established personnel to their UK branch in a skilled position. For the purposes of sponsorship fees, it is treated as a Worker route. Individuals who are partners in business vehicles such as limited liability partnerships (LLPs) are regarded as employees in this context for these specific purposes. This route is prescribed in the Immigration Rules, Appendix Global Business Mobility-Senior or Specialist Worker. Mentions of Senior or Specialist Worker also cover people granted leave under the former Intra-company and Tier 2 (Intra-Company Transfer)/Long-term staff provisions routes. The Graduate Trainee path applies to graduate hires sent to the UK to take up a role within a structured graduate training programme, with explicit progression towards managerial or specialist posts within the organisation. For sponsorship fees it is categorised as a Temporary Worker route. This category is defined in the Immigration Rules, Appendix Global Business Mobility-Graduate Trainee. Mentions of Graduate Trainee include those with permission under...
Immigration
PRACTICE NOTES
UK Global Business Mobility: Sponsoring Senior or Specialist Workers and Graduate Trainees—eligibility, salary thresholds and going rates, SOC 2020, previous employment, CoS, sponsor duties and updates
Forthcoming developments:
In December 2025, the Migration Advisory Committee released its review of salary requirements for work visas, advising that the general and occupation‑specific salary thresholds in the Senior or Specialist route should be pegged to the median earnings of eligible occupations. For the Graduate Trainee route, the Committee proposes a single salary threshold of £33,400, aligned with the Skilled Worker new entrant rate, and calls for the removal of occupation‑specific rates. See: LNB News 17/12/2025 33.
Senior or Specialist Worker and Graduate Trainee are Global Business Mobility routes that, from 11 April 2022, replaced the Intra‑Company Transfer and Intra‑Company Graduate Trainee routes respectively. The Senior or Specialist Worker route permits organisations with overseas linked entities to move established employees to their UK offices to perform skilled roles. For sponsorship fee purposes, it is treated as a Worker route, and partners in business structures such as limited liability partnerships (LLPs) are considered employees. The route is contained in the Immigration Rules, Appendix Global Business Mobility—Senior or Specialist Worker. References to Senior or Specialist Worker also include those with permission under the predecessor Intra‑company and Tier 2 (Intra‑Company Transfer)/Long‑term staff routes...
Immigration
Q&As
Turkish Worker visa: employer change—application? Home Office notice?
Immigration Rules, Appendix ECAA: Extension Of Stay
Pursuant to the current Immigration Rules (Immigration Rules, Appendix ECAA: Extension Of Stay) and the applicable guidance (Turkish ECAA guidance: Appendix ECAA extension of stay), holders of the Turkish Worker visa who have been lawfully employed in the UK for at least four years may, from that point, take up any role with any employer. This Appendix took effect at 11pm GMT on 31 December 2020, to encompass those who previously enjoyed rights under Decision 1/80 of the Association Council connected to the ECAA Association Agreement (concluded on 12 September 1963 in Ankara, and later supplemented on 23 November 1970 by the Brussels Protocol). See: Turkey-EEC Association Agreement: Macdonald’s Immigration Law and Practice [6.193]. Immigration Rules Appendix ECAA: Extension Of Stay, paragraphs ECAA 3.1–ECAA 3.2 set out, amongst other matters, that: ECAA 3.1...
Immigration
If you expected to see yourself on this page, click here.
