Purpose and conditions

The Skilled Worker visa route is designed for individuals who have been recruited to work in the United Kingdom in a specific job. The job offer must be from a Home Office-approved sponsor and for an eligible skilled occupation.

Skilled workers can work in the United Kingdom for their sponsor in the job that they have been approved to fill. They can also take limited supplementary employment in the same occupation at the same level, as long as this is outside their normal working hours and for up to 20 hours a week. They may also do voluntary work and study in the United Kingdom.

Eligibility requirements – points test

Applicants must meet a specific set of requirements for which they will score points. Some of these requirements are mandatory, others are 'tradeable'.

Mandatory points

Applicants must score 50 mandatory points from the table below.

A job offer from a licensed sponsor (20 points)

  • The employer must be a Home Office-approved sponsor licence holder for the skilled worker route.
  • There must be a genuine vacancy.
  • The applicant must have a certificate of sponsorship (ie, electronic work authorisation assigned by licensed sponsors) which contains the details of their job offer.

The job must be at or above the minimum skill level of Regulated Qualifications Framework Level 3 (20 points)

  • The job must be skilled to at least A-level equivalent and listed by the Home Office as an eligible occupation.
  • The Home Office must accept that the occupation selected by the sponsor accurately reflects the job that the applicant has been offered.

Ability to speak English to an approved standard (10 points)

  • The minimum level is Common European Framework of Reference for Languages Level B1 in all four language elements:
    • reading;
    • writing;
    • speaking; and
    • listening.
  • The applicant can demonstrate that they meet this requirement in a range of ways, including:
    • being from a majority English-speaking country;
    • holding a degree taught in English; or
    • passing a Home Office-approved English-language test.

Tradeable points

Applicants must score 20 points using one of the options in the table below.

The 'going rate for the occupation' means the minimum salary for a specific job type as listed by the Home Office.

Minimum salary threshold

The salary must be at least £25,600 or the going rate for the occupation, whichever is higher.

PhD relevant to the role

The salary must be at least £23,040 or 90% of the going rate for the occupation, whichever is higher.

Science, technology, engineering or maths PhD relevant to the role

The salary must be at least £20,480 or 80% of the going rate for the occupation, whichever is higher.

Job listed on the shortage occupation list

This is an exhaustive list of jobs for which the government accepts that there are labour shortages.

If the job is in a shortage occupation, the salary must be at least £20,480 or 80% of the going rate for the occupation, whichever is higher.

New entrant to the labour market

Applicants will be considered a new entrant if they:

  • have held UK immigration permission under the student or Tier 1 (Graduate Entrepreneur) routes within the past two years, have completed an eligible course (or are within three months of completion) or have completed at least 12 months of a PhD; or
  • are under 26 years old on the date of the application; or
  • are working towards recognised professional qualifications, full registration or chartered status with the professional body for the occupation or moving directly into a listed postdoctoral position.

The salary must be at least £20,480 or 70% of the going rate for the occupation, whichever is higher. Individuals can have only up to four years' UK immigration permission as a new entrant.

Listed health and education jobs

The salary must be at least £20,480 or the going rate for the occupation, whichever is higher.

Non-points-based eligibility criteria

To be eligible under the skilled worker route, in addition to meeting the points test, applicants must:

  • meet suitability criteria in terms of their previous immigration compliance, any criminal history or other character-related issues;
  • hold a certificate confirming that they do not have active tuberculosis (TB) if they have been living in a high-risk TB country for at least six months before they apply;
  • meet a financial requirement by holding at least £1,270 in savings or having their employer certify that they will be maintained up to this amount for the first month of their employment (this requirement does not apply if they have been living in the United Kingdom for at least 12 months already); and
  • provide criminal record certificates for all countries that they have lived in for more than 12 months in the past 10 years if their job is in a listed health or education occupation.

Length of immigration permission

Certificates of sponsorship can be assigned for up to five years at a time under the skilled worker route, with immigration permission being granted to expire 14 days after the certificate's end date.

Extensions and switching

If applicants are already in the United Kingdom on another type of visa, they can switch to the Skilled Worker visa with limited exceptions (eg, if they are in the United Kingdom as a visitor or in another short-term immigration category).

Individuals can extend their Skilled Worker visa if they continue to be sponsored by the sponsoring employer and meet all the necessary criteria. There is no limit on the number of extensions or length of time that skilled workers can spend in the United Kingdom. Skilled Worker visas can be extended for up to five years at a time.

Settlement

Settlement is possible once applicants have spent five continuous years in eligible immigration categories. They must:

  • continue to meet suitability criteria;
  • be paid, for the foreseeable future, a minimum salary of at least £25,600 or the going rate for the occupation;
  • be required by the sponsoring employer to work for them for the foreseeable future;
  • pass the Life in the UK test; and
  • have less than 180 days' absences in any 12-month period. Absences must normally be in line with the individual's annual leave entitlement or for business purposes.

Dependants

Skilled workers can be accompanied or joined by their spouse, civil partner or unmarried partner (where they have lived together for at least two years) and dependent children aged under 18 when they first apply. Unless the dependant has been living in the United Kingdom for at least 12 months already, they will also need to meet a financial requirement of:

  • £285 for a partner;
  • £315 for the first child dependant; and
  • £200 for each additional child dependant.

Dependants must meet suitability criteria and TB and criminal record certificates may also be required.

Dependants may also qualify for settlement either at the same time or after the skilled worker. A partner dependant must complete five continuous years as the skilled worker's partner dependant and must normally have less than 180 days' absences in any 12-month period. Child dependants aged 16 or over must not be living an independent life. Any dependants aged 18 or over must pass the Life in the UK test.

Visa application procedure

Certificates of sponsorship

Certificates of sponsorship are assigned online by the sponsor via the sponsor management system.

If individuals will be applying outside the United Kingdom, employers will need to assign a 'defined' certificate of sponsorship. This is a two-stage process:

  • Employers must send an online request to the Home Office for permission to allocate a defined certificate of sponsorship. This should normally be granted within one working day, but the process may take longer if the caseworker requests further information. This step aims to assess that the job is a genuine vacancy.
  • Once the defined certificate of sponsorship has been allocated, the employer can assign this and make a payment for Home Office fees.

For in-country applications, employers will need to assign an 'undefined' certificate of sponsorship. Employers will need to request an allocation of undefined certificates of sponsorship from the Home Office each year and have one available to assign to the applicant.

Visas

Individuals will need to apply for the Skilled Worker visa within three months of their certificate of sponsorship being assigned.

The application consists of the following stages:

  • Applicants must submit an application form and supporting documents online and make all the relevant payments.
  • Applicants must attend an appointment to enrol biometric information and to submit any outstanding supporting documents (EEA nationals with a biometric chip passport need not complete this stage if they have used the UK Immigration: ID Check app to verify their identity).

Applicants attending an appointment abroad must normally do so at the nearest visa application centre in their country of residence. Applicants who are already residing in the United Kingdom will need to attend an appointment at a UK Visa and Citizenship Application Service centre.