Individuals of all nations (except British and Irish) who have an offer of qualified. Skilled employment in the UK from a Home Office-approved. Sponsor are eligible for the skilled worker visa. The method may result in a settlement, and applicants may be joined by children and partners who are dependent on them. If you’re looking to purchase or sell a home or business in London. The best law firms with the best teams of attorneys. They are Dispute resolution solicitors in London.

You must be sponsored by an employer that the Home Office has authorized to perform a specific job that complies with a certain skill and wage standards in order to get a skilled worker visa. For UK firms considering submitting an application for a licence to sponsor skilled workers, we have prepared separate guidance.

The amount of people who can enter the UK via the skilled worker route is unrestricted.

What You Need to Get a Skilled Worker Visa

You must convince UK Visas and Immigration that you are eligible for a skilled worker visa by demonstrating that:

You are over the age of 18;
You possess a current Certificate of Sponsorship for the work you want to complete;
Your job offer is a real opening;
Any necessary Immigration Skills Charge has been paid by your sponsor;
Your work requires the right amount of skill;
You possess language proficiency in English at least at CEFR Level B1 (corresponding to an IELTS score of 4.0);
You’ll receive pay that meets or surpasses the “going rate” for the profession and a general salary threshold;
You are self-sufficient and don’t need government assistance;
If necessary, you’ve given a certificate of no criminal history; and
If necessary, you have given a current TB certificate.

Your particular situation will determine the exact conditions you must meet. For professional guidance, you might want to talk with an immigration attorney.

Contact our Skilled Worker Route attorneys at 0203 617 9173 or fill out the inquiry form below to speak with one of our immigration barristers about your application for a skilled worker visa or a skilled worker sponsor licence.

Requirement for the Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS)

You need to have a current Certificate of Sponsorship for the job you want to do to apply for a Skilled Worker Visa. Your employer must have been approved bythe Home Office authorisesonsor the position in question under the skilled worker route for your Certificate of Sponsorship to have been granted. Learn more about submitting a Skilled Worker Sponsor Licence application.

Unless you were previously granted permission as a Skilled Worker and are asking to continue working for the same sponsor as your last permission, your sponsor must be identified as A-rated on the Home Office’s registry of licenced sponsors.

The date of your application for a skilled worker must not have been more than three months after the issuance of your Certificate of Sponsorship.

Certain necessary details must be included in your Certificate of Sponsorship, including:

specifics about your name, position, and pay;
a start date no later than three months following the submission of your Skilled Worker visa application;

Actual Vacancy Required

The Home Office will also want proof that you haven’t signed any contracts requiring you to perform ongoing routine duties for a third party who isn’t your sponsor, fill a temporary or permanent post, or work under contract.

Requirement for Immigration Skills Charge

Any mandatory Immigration Skills Charge must also have been fully paid for by your sponsor.

A sponsoring firm must pay the Immigration Skills Charge for each foreign worker they hope to hire. When a sponsoring employer issues a Certificate of Sponsorship to a migrant, the Immigration Skills Charge is due.

Required skill level is appropriate

The job you are being sponsored for must be approved employment at or above a minimal skill level for you to be eligible for a skilled worker visa.

The position you are looking to fill must be skilled to at least RFQ level 3, roughly similar to A-levels, under the Skilled Worker Visa route.

You can satisfy the skills level criterion without having a formal education. The threshold will be met or not depending on the level of competence required for the job you will be performing.

In an Appendix to the Immigration Rules, the Home Office lists all qualified jobs, along with the required skill levels. There is a code for each eligible occupation. A job in an acceptable occupation code listed in the Appendix must be sponsored for you.

Your sponsor is required to select a suitable occupation code. Your application for a skilled worker visa will be denied if the Home Office has good reason to suspect that your sponsor did not select the best occupation code.

The Home Office will consider factors like whether they have demonstrated a genuine need for the job and whether you have the necessary skills, qualifications, and experience to perform the job as described. The sponsor’s compliance history with the immigration system determines whether your sponsor has selected the most appropriate occupation code.

Language Requirement: English

You must demonstrate English proficiency on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages in all four areas (reading, writing, speaking, and listening) to at least level B1 to be eligible for a skilled worker visa (intermediate).

The following candidates will meet the English language criterion when seeking entry clearance or leave to remain as a skilled worker:

are a citizen of a nation with a large English-speaking population;
a Secure English Language Test has been passed;
possess a degree from an English-taught institution;
acquired an English GCSE, A Level, or Scottish Higher whilst enrolled in school in the UK; or
Have successfully demonstrated that they meet the level B1 criterion in a prior application for entry clearance or permission to stay.

Minimum Salary Requirement

that is equal to or higher than a general salary threshold as well as the “going rate” for the occupation (as defined in the relevant occupation code mentioned above), whichever is higher (subject to being able to trade points as set out below).

Under the Skilled Worker path

The annual salary cap is set at £25,600. A skilled worker visa candidate must typically be paid a salary that is greater than or equivalent to £25,600 per year or 100% of the average wage for the occupation, whichever is higher. Salary evaluations are based on guaranteed minimum gross compensation.

Some sponsored skilled workers who apply under the “Skilled Worker” method may receive payments below the amount stated above in exchange for additional so-called “tradable points” for different qualities:

A candidate with a Ph.D. who meets the qualifications for the position may be given a remuneration that meets or surpasses both £23,040 per year and 90% of the industry standard;
A candidate who holds a Ph.D. in a STEM field relevant to the position may be given pay that is equal to or greater than £20,480 annually and 80% of the average wage for the position;
A candidate who receives a job offer for a position in a shortage occupation may receive a wage that is equal to or greater than £20,480 annually and 80% of the industry standard;
A candidate who is new to the workforce may be paid a salary that is equal to or greater than £20,480 annually and 70% of the going wage for the position;

A remuneration equal to or greater than £20,480 annually and 80% of the going rate for the position may be offered to a candidate for a position in one of the listed health or education occupations.

A “job in a shortage occupation” is what?

The Home Office keeps a list of skilled positions for which employers have trouble finding enough candidates with the necessary qualifications to fill their openings. The wage threshold requirement will be lowered if you have a job offer for a position on the shortage occupation list, as stated above.

A “new entry to the labour market” is who?

Those under 26 at the time of application (or switching from a Student or Graduate Visa), those sponsored for postdoctoral research posts, and those pursuing professional certification, registration, or chartered status are new workers. As stated above, the wage threshold requirement will be lowered if you meet the criteria for a new entrant to the labour market.

Accepting their application would result in their combined duration of authorization as a Graduate, Tier 2 Migrant, or Skilled Worker reaching four years in total, they would not be considered new entrants.

Budgetary Requirement

You will need to have cash funds of at least £1,270 accessible, subject to the exceptions listed below.

The money must have been in your possession for at least 28 days in a row, ending no more than 31 days before the date you submitted your application for a skilled worker visa. On your Certificate of Sponsorship, your sponsor must attest to this.

You won’t need to provide proof of money if you are seeking permission to stay in the UK and have had permission to be there for at least a year at the time of application.

Requirement for Criminal Record Certificate

If you are applying for entry clearance and receiving sponsorship for a specific job. (generally speaking, jobs in the health, care, welfare, and education sectors). You must provide a criminal record certificate for any country where. Since the age of 18, you have resided for 12 months or more (whether continuously or in total). In the ten years before the date of your application. Unless it is not reasonably practical to do so.

Does the Resident Labour Market Test have to be completed by Sponsors?

Contrary to its predecessor path, the Skilled Worker Visa route exempts companies. From doing a Resident Labour Market Test when sponsoring skilled employees (RLMT). Sponsors must nevertheless be actively looking to fill a real opening.

Changing the route for skilled workers’ visas

Unless you have permission to stay as a visitor, short-term student, parent of a child student. Seasonal worker, domestic worker in a private household, or outside the immigration rules. You may extend your stay by switching into the skilled worker route. If you currently have permission to stay under another immigration category.

Is there a waiting period for the route for skilled workers?

In order to apply for entry clearance or to switch to the Tier 2 (General) route under its predecessor, a person had to have spent the previous 12 months outside the UK as a Tier 2 (General) immigrant. The 12-month “cooling off period” has been eliminated under the skilled worker option. There is no time limit on when applications can be submitted to use the skilled worker visa route.

A skilled worker visa’s duration

Is there a time limit for the route for skilled workers?

Therefore, the previous Tier 2 (General) route stipulated that applicants for entry clearance. Those seeking to switch into the road must commit to a maximum of six years in the route.

The six-year maximum duration of stay in the route has been eliminated under the skilled worker route. The duration of the stay is not limited.

Residency Requirements for Skilled Workers

Hence, holders of a skilled worker visa can perform the employment that has sponsored them.

Stipend for Skilled Workers

You must demonstrate to UK Visas and Immigration that you are eligible for Settlement as a Skilled Worker by demonstrating that:

You’ve resided in the UK continuously for five years;

Time spent with permission on any of the following routes, individually or in combination, was included in the five years. T2 Minister of Religion, International Sportsperson. Representative of an Overseas Business. Tier 1 Migrant (other than as a Tier 1 (Graduate Entrepreneur) Migrant), Scale-up, Skilled Worker, Global Talent, Innovator,

Throughout the five years that you have been outside continuously, you have not spent more than 180 days outside;

You’ve passed the Life in the UK examination (unless you’re older than 65);
Your sponsor is still a sponsor authorised by the Home Office;
For the foreseeable future, your sponsor will continue to expect you to work for them;

Hence, you are now being paid the general salary threshold or the going rate requirement. Whichever is higher, and you will continue to be paid that amount for the foreseeable future.

Salary Minimum Requirement for ILR

Similarly, most applicants must have a salary of at least £25,600 annually or the “going rate” for the occupation. (as specified in the applicable occupation code), whichever is higher.

Family Members of Skilled Workers

A dependent partner over the age of 18 or a dependent kid under the age of 18. He may join or accompany a skilled worker.

COMPETENT WORKER VISA