Skilled Worker visa
The main work visa. Sponsored job at RQF level 6, salary thresholds, fees, dependants and the path to ILR.
Rules and fees checked against gov.uk on 8 November 2026. Page updated 8 November 2026. How we check our guides.
- Who it is for
- People with a job offer from a UK employer that holds a sponsor licence
- Skill level
- Graduate level (RQF 6) for new applicants since 22 July 2025
- Fee
- £769 to £1,751, plus £1,035 a year health surcharge
- Leads to settlement
- Yes, after 5 years (a 10-year standard has been proposed)
The Skilled Worker visa is the main way to come to the UK to work. It replaced the Tier 2 (General) visa in December 2020 and it is built around one idea: an employer the Home Office trusts vouches for you, by issuing a Certificate of Sponsorship, and you then show you meet the skill, salary and English requirements. Roughly 130,000 to 180,000 main applicants a year used the route at its peak; the 2025 reforms were designed to bring that down.
Who qualifies
You need all of the following:
- A job offer from a licensed sponsor. The employer must hold a Skilled Worker sponsor licence and give you a Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) reference number. You cannot apply speculatively, and you cannot sponsor yourself.
- An eligible occupation. The job must be on the list of eligible occupation codes. Since 22 July 2025 new applicants need a role at graduate level, RQF level 6, which removed about 180 occupations from the route. Jobs at RQF 3 to 5 are only open if they are on the Immigration Salary List or the Temporary Shortage List, and those lists are time-limited.
- The salary threshold. You must be paid at least the general threshold or the going rate for your occupation code, whichever is higher. The general threshold was £38,700 from April 2024 and rose again with the July 2025 changes; the going rates are updated each spring from official earnings data. Lower thresholds apply to new entrants under 26, recent graduates, people in PhD-level roles and jobs on the shortage lists. Check the current figure for your occupation code on gov.uk before your employer assigns the certificate, because a salary £1 under the line is a refusal.
- English at level B1 on the Common European Framework for applications before 8 January 2026, and B2 for applications made on or after that date. You prove it with an approved Secure English Language Test, a UK degree, or a degree taught in English that Ecctis confirms. Nationals of majority-English-speaking countries are exempt. See our English requirement guide.
- Maintenance funds of £1,270 held for 28 days, unless your sponsor certifies on the CoS that it will support you for your first month. Most do.
- A clean criminal record certificate if you will work in education, health or social care.
- Tuberculosis test if you are applying from one of the listed countries.
What it costs
Fees are per person and depend on how long the certificate covers and whether you apply from inside or outside the UK:
| Application | Fee |
|---|---|
| Up to 3 years, from outside the UK | £769 |
| Over 3 years, from outside the UK | £1,519 |
| Up to 3 years, in the UK (switch or extend) | £885 |
| Over 3 years, in the UK | £1,751 |
| Immigration Health Surcharge, per year of visa | £1,035 |
On top of that, your employer pays the Certificate of Sponsorship fee (£525) and the Immigration Skills Charge (£364 or £1,000 a year). An employer is not allowed to recover the Immigration Skills Charge or the sponsor-licence fee from you, and from the 2025 changes the ban on passing costs on was widened; clawback clauses for the CoS fee and the skills charge are a breach of sponsor duties. The visa fee itself and the health surcharge can lawfully be yours to pay, though many employers cover them. For a five-year visa a single adult pays £6,694 up front. See the full fees table.
How to apply
- Your employer assigns the Certificate of Sponsorship. It is an electronic record, not a paper certificate. It states your job title, occupation code, salary, start date and whether the employer will maintain you. You have three months from the assignment date to apply.
- Gather your documents. Passport, the CoS number, your English evidence, bank statements if you need to show funds, TB certificate and criminal record certificate where required, and your partner's and children's documents if they are applying with you.
- Apply online on gov.uk and pay the fee and the health surcharge. You cannot apply more than three months before the start date on the certificate.
- Prove your identity. Most people now use the UK Immigration: ID Check app to scan their passport; others book a visa application centre appointment for fingerprints and a photo.
- Wait for the decision. The standard is three weeks from outside the UK and eight weeks inside, with priority (£500) and super priority (£1,000) services on most applications.
- Get your eVisa. Biometric residence permits stopped being issued at the end of 2024. Your status is now a digital record in your UKVI account, which you use to prove your right to work and rent via a share code.
Partners and children
Your partner and children under 18 can apply as dependants at the same time or later. Each pays the same fee as you and the health surcharge. Dependants can work in almost any job, including self-employment, and children can attend state schools. The exception since March 2024 is that care workers and senior care workers recruited after 11 March 2024 cannot bring dependants, and that rule now applies to the whole of the closed care route.
Changing jobs
Your visa is tied to your sponsor and your occupation code. If you move to a new employer, or change to a different occupation code with the same employer, you need a new Certificate of Sponsorship and a new application before you start, which means a new fee. A promotion or pay rise within the same code only needs the sponsor to report it. If you are made redundant, your sponsor must tell the Home Office within ten working days and your visa is then normally curtailed to 60 days, giving you that long to find a new sponsor or leave.
The route to settlement
Skilled Workers can apply for indefinite leave to remain after five years of continuous residence, provided they are still sponsored in the same job, meet the salary threshold at that point, have passed the Life in the UK test and have not spent more than 180 days outside the UK in any 12-month period. The May 2025 white paper proposed a ten-year standard qualifying period with a shorter route for people who make a strong contribution. The consultation on how that would work, and whether it applies to people already here, had not finished when this page was reviewed; our rule-changes page has the current position.