Representatives of overseas media organisations

To be considered as a representative of an overseas media organisation, you must be working in the United Kingdom as an employee of an overseas:

  • newspaper; or
  • news agency; or
  • broadcasting organisation.

You will only be given permission to stay in the United Kingdom for a fixed period of time, at the end of this period you will need to either return home or apply to extend your stay. If you are coming to the United Kingdom to work for less than six months, it may be possible for you to apply under the business visitor category.

The representatives of an overseas media organisation category can be a short or long-term immigration category. Home office will only extend your visa if you are still employed by the same organisation that you were working for when you were given permission to enter the United Kingdom. Once you have been in the United Kingdom for five years as a representative of an overseas media organisation you are entitled to apply to stay permanently.

This category will be abolished on 27 November 2008 and any applications must be received by 26 November 2008.

Eligibility

In order to come to the United Kingdom as a representative of an overseas media organisation you must:

  • be coming to the United Kingdom as an employee of an overseas:
    • newspaper;
    • news agency;
    • broadcasting organisation;
  •  have been employed by the relevant organisation outside the United Kingdom and are being posted to the United Kingdom on a long-term assignment;
  • intend to work full-time as a representative of the organisation;
  • not intend to take any additional employment;
  • you and your dependants can live in the United Kingdom without help from public funds; and
  • you hold a valid United Kingdom entry clearance for entry in this category.

How to apply

We call extending your stay applying for further leave to remain. To apply for an extension of stay as a representative of an overseas media organisation you must use application form FLR(O). This application form and the accompanying guidance notes are available to download on the right side of this page. You should make sure you read the guidance notes fully before you make your application.

You will need to provide us with the following documents to support your application:

  • your passport;
  • a letter from your employer confirming he/she want to continue to employ you;
  • evidence that you can support and accommodate yourself without help from public funds.


You should provide the original document unless there is a good reason why you cannot.

You will need to pay a fee to cover the cost of processing your applications; you should read the page on cost for details.