Skilled Worker visa

Overview

The visa can be granted for up to five years at a time and extended as often as you remain eligible. You can work in your sponsored job, take up to 20 hours a week of certain extra work, study, travel, and usually bring your partner and children. You cannot claim most public funds, or change job or employer without first applying to update your visa. Successful applicants receive an eVisa, not a physical card.

Eligible doctors, nurses and health and adult social care professionals can use the Health and Care Worker visa, a version of this visa that is cheaper and has no Immigration Health Surcharge.

The main recent changes are:

• Since 22 July 2025, most jobs must be skilled to RQF level 6 (roughly degree level), the general salary threshold is £41,700, and care workers cannot apply from outside the UK.
• Since 8 January 2026, new applicants must show English at level B2.

Who can apply

You can apply, from abroad or usually from within the UK, if a licensed employer has offered you a job that meets the skill and salary rules. For example:

• a software engineer recruited from overseas by a UK technology company;
• a graduate on a Student or Graduate visa offered a professional job;
• a business owner whose own UK company sponsors them (see self-sponsorship).

The route is not for people without a job offer, who may instead consider the Global Talent visa or, for founders, the Innovator Founder visa. People in the UK as visitors, short-term students, seasonal workers, parents of child students or domestic workers in private households, or on immigration bail, cannot switch and must apply from abroad.

Requirements

• A job offer from a licensed sponsor, and a certificate of sponsorship (CoS). You must apply within 3 months of the CoS being assigned.
• An eligible occupation code at the right skill level.
• The minimum salary: usually £41,700 a year or the going rate for the occupation, whichever is higher.
• English at level B2, or B1 if you are extending permission granted under the B1 rule.
• Savings of £1,270, held for 28 days in a row, unless you have been in the UK with permission for 12 months or your employer certifies your maintenance on the CoS.
• Where relevant: a tuberculosis test, a criminal record certificate (for jobs in education, health or social care, if you apply from abroad) and an ATAS certificate for some PhD-level research.

Skill level

Since 22 July 2025, the job must normally be at RQF level 6 or above. Around 180 occupations that were eligible before, such as chefs and electricians, are now "medium skilled". A medium-skilled job can be sponsored only if it is on the Immigration Salary List or the Temporary Shortage List (for most entries, only with a certificate issued before 31 December 2026), or if you have held Skilled Worker permission continuously since before 22 July 2025.

Salary

Only guaranteed basic gross pay counts, not overtime, bonuses or most allowances, and only the first 48 hours a week. Going rates assume a 37.5-hour week and are adjusted for your hours. Your employer must pay the required salary in each pay period, not just over the year.

You are a new entrant if you are under 26 when you apply, are switching from a Student visa (at bachelor's level or above) or a Graduate visa, are working towards a recognised professional qualification or registration, or are taking a postdoctoral post. New entrant rates can be used for up to four years in total, including time on the Graduate visa. Lower thresholds also apply if you have held Skilled Worker permission continuously since before 4 April 2024.

Care workers

Care workers and senior care workers cannot apply from outside the UK. In the UK, you can be sponsored for these roles only if you already hold Skilled Worker permission in one of them, or you are switching from another visa after legally working for the same employer in the role for at least 3 months before the CoS is issued. That second option ends on 22 July 2028.

English language

You can show B2 by being a national of a majority English-speaking country such as Canada or the USA, by a degree taught in English (an overseas degree must be confirmed by Ecctis), by a GCSE or A level in English taken at a UK school before you were 18, or by passing an approved Secure English Language Test.

How to apply

1. Before accepting the job, check that the occupation code, skill level and salary qualify.
2. Your employer assigns your certificate of sponsorship and gives you the reference number.
3. Gather your documents, with certified translations of anything not in English or Welsh.
4. Apply online. From abroad, you can apply up to 3 months before your start date. In the UK, apply before your current permission expires.
5. Prove your identity with the UK Immigration: ID Check app, or at an appointment where your fingerprints and photo are taken.
6. Wait for the decision. If you applied in the UK, do not travel outside the UK, Ireland, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man until you have it, or your application will be withdrawn.
7. Receive your eVisa and check the details in your UKVI account.

Costs

The current Home Office figures are shown on this page. You pay the application fee, which depends on the length of the CoS and where you apply, and is lower for jobs on the Immigration Salary List and for the Health and Care Worker visa. You also pay the Immigration Health Surcharge for each year of the visa, for yourself and each family member, unless you qualify for the Health and Care Worker visa. Other costs include priority services, English and TB tests, and translations.

Your employer pays the certificate of sponsorship fee and the Immigration Skills Charge and must not pass them on to you. Our visa cost calculator gives a full estimate.

Processing times

Once you have applied, proved your identity and provided your documents, the Home Office usually decides within 3 weeks if you are outside the UK and 8 weeks if you are inside. You may be able to pay for a faster decision. If your employer does not yet have a licence, allow up to 8 weeks more for that.

Partners and children

Your partner and children can usually apply as your dependants. A partner is a husband, wife, civil partner, or unmarried partner who has lived with you for at least 2 years. Children must be under 18 when they first apply. Dependants can work and study. Unless you have all been in the UK with permission for 12 months, or your employer certifies maintenance, each must show funds held for 28 days: £285 for a partner, £315 for the first child and £200 for each further child.

There are important limits. Care workers and senior care workers can bring family only if they have been continuously employed in that role in the UK since before 11 March 2024. For other medium-skilled jobs, the date is 22 July 2025. Limited exceptions include children born in the UK and parents with sole responsibility.

Extending your stay and settlement

You can extend while you stay in the same job with the same employer. If you change employer or occupation code, you must first apply to update your visa with a new certificate.

After five years (time on some other work routes counts, but time as a dependant does not), you can apply for indefinite leave to remain if:

• your employer, still licensed, confirms that it continues to need you;
• you are paid at least the settlement salary for your job;
• you have spent no more than 180 days outside the UK in any 12 months;
• you pass the Life in the UK test, if aged 18 to 64;
• from 26 March 2027, you show English at B2 in speaking and listening, unless exempt.

The Government has consulted on "earned settlement", which would lengthen the usual qualifying period; this page reflects the rules in force today. See our settlement page. Twelve months after settling, you can usually apply for British citizenship.

How we can help

We check whether the job, occupation code and salary meet the current rules before you resign from anything or book flights. We prepare the application and evidence list, deal with English and qualification questions, and handle applications for your family. If the Home Office asks for more information or refuses, we advise on the next step, including administrative review.

For employers, we help choose the right occupation code, set the salary correctly and assign the certificate. If you are not yet licensed, see our sponsor licence application page.

Frequently asked questions

My job was eligible before July 2025. Can I still extend?

Usually, yes. If your first certificate was issued before 22 July 2025 and you have held Skilled Worker permission without a break since, you can extend and change employer in a medium-skilled job.

I am on a Graduate visa. What salary do I need?

You will normally count as a new entrant, so you need at least £33,400 and 70% of the going rate. The job must still be at RQF level 6 or on one of the shortage lists.

Do I need a new English test to extend?

Not usually. If you proved English in an earlier successful application, you may not need to prove it again, and if your current permission was granted at B1, B1 still applies.

Can my employer make me pay for the visa?

Your employer must pay the certificate fee and the Immigration Skills Charge itself. Your own application fee and health surcharge are normally yours, although some employers pay them.

What happens if I lose my job?

Your employer must tell the Home Office within 10 working days, and the Home Office may then cancel your permission, normally so that it ends 60 days after the decision. If another licensed employer offers you a job, you can apply to update your visa with their certificate. Take advice quickly.