My Immigration Services have extensive experience in securing Skilled Worker Visas for eligible candidates. If you want to start your journey to working within the UK, please do contact us today to find out how we could support you.
If you wish to work in the UK for a business with an approved Sponsor Licence Status, you will need to be approved for a Skilled Worker UK Visa.
The form of visa replaced Tier 2 in December 2020 and has been created in line with the government’s mission to make the recruitment of overseas talent fairer and easier now that the UK is no longer part of the EU. As part of this visa, applicants must meet and continue to comply with the following criteria for working with the UK:
The new guidelines established in 2020 ensure that only certain roles and positions are eligible for a Skilled Worker Visa. This is to ensure that roles are filled fairly and that they meet the guidelines of safe working practices.
All jobs must contain an occupation code that is included on the approved job list, be offered by an employer who holds a sponsorship licence, be offering a compliant minimum salary for that sector which is no less than £25,600 per annum and be offered to candidates that meet the other criteria of holding a Skilled Worker Visa.
The sectors that are currently covered by the UK shortage occupation list are the following, with only certain roles being eligible for this form of visa application:
If you are a successful applicant, alongside working in your chosen role, you can also undertake study, bring the family as dependants, do voluntary work, travel outside of the UK and apply to settle permanently if you are eligible.
You cannot apply for any form of financial support benefits as not having enough money to look after yourself breaks your visa conditions and could see your permission to stay in the UK revoked. You are also only eligible to work for your chosen employer, as that is the basis for your approved application. If you wish to change roles, you will need to consult legal information and ensure that your new employer is also an approved sponsor. Please do contact us if you find yourself in this situation.
You will need to apply for your visa online using the home office website.
You must have all the correct information before starting your application, as any delays during it could result in a negative outcome. You will also need to prove your identity. You will be required to attend a visa application centre to show this in person and share your fingerprints to be added to the UK biometrics database.
It can take three months to receive a decision once your application is submitted, so please consider this when dealing with your new role. Just because you have secured a job, it doesn’t give you a reason to be expedited. The benefit of the new sponsorship scheme is that employers are already aware of the timeframes in which candidates will be available, so any delays should not cause issues with your job offer.
You will be eligible to apply for an extension if your visa is coming to an end and you are still working in the same role. To do this, your employer will still need to hold an eligible sponsorship licence and you will need to also prove your current standing in the UK such as attached visas and financial stability.
Our team can support fully with this application so there is no need to worry about that now!
Because you have been offered a role, it doesn’t give you automatic success when securing a skilled worker visa. However, when you apply with our team, this risk is greatly reduced as we do everything in our power to ensure your application is perfect before it goes through the submission process.
Some of the main reasons for applications being unsuccessful are the following:
If your application is refused, you have 28 days to file a request for review which we can guide you with. Sometimes honest mistakes happen, and the Home Office are aware of this. That is not the case when you work with us, as our team has a proven track record of helping achieve successful Skilled Worker statuses.
We understand just how overwhelming it can be starting a new job, let alone when it is in a new country with visa conditions attached. When you choose to work with our expert immigration specialists, these worries are eliminated as you will benefit from the following:
Please call 0161 527 3123 or email our enquiries team today to start your journey with My Immigration Services.
You need to have a job offer from a registered UK visa sponsor employer to qualify for a Skilled Worker visa. Once you have a job offer, your future employer will issue your Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) which you can attach to your Skilled Worker visa application.
There are, however, some other requirements for this type of visa, and include:
To get your Skilled Worker visa, you first need to have a job offer and a certificate of sponsorship from a UK employer that is registered with the Home Office as a visa sponsor. Once you have your certificate of sponsorship, you can prepare and submit your Skilled Worker visa application.
Applications from outside the UK will take around 3 weeks to process while applications made from inside the UK can take up to 8 weeks.
The Skilled Worker visa replaced the Tier 2 (General Worker) visa on the 1st of December 2020. The Tier 1 Entrepreneur visa was replaced by the Innovator Founder visa. It is no longer possible to apply for a Tier 1 or Tier 2 visa, and you will now need to use the current route known as the Skilled Worker visa.
The Skilled Worker visa reflects the switch towards a points-based visa system. Points are available for different attributes such as your salary, your education and your knowledge of the English language.
This system allows individuals to trade points against difficult attributes. For example, you can have a lower starting salary with your role if you have a higher level of education. Those working in shortage occupations will also earn additional points towards their application.
You need to achieve 70 points to be eligible for the Skilled Worker route. 50 points of this are mandatory, and this includes 20 points for an approved job sponsor, 20 points for a role at an appropriate skill level and 10 points for knowledge of the English language.
These points form the basis of your application. You then need to find 20 points from other eligibility criteria. This includes factors such as:
You can see the full points-based eligibility criteria on the Home Office website.
To be classed as a skilled worker, you need to be working in one of the eligible occupations listed on the Home Office website. You also need to be earning a minimum salary, which is currently set at £26,200 per year. You can earn less than this if you are working in a shortage occupation.
The hardest part of the Skilled Worker visa application process is usually securing a job offer from a UK employer. There is fierce competition for roles, and there are also added costs associated with hiring an overseas worker instead of a resident worker. This could make some employers hesitant to hire workers who need a certificate of sponsorship.
However, there are plenty of employers in the UK who are already registered as visa sponsors and are actively hiring overseas workers for roles. If you work in a shortage occupation or have highly specialised training, there is a good chance you will be able to secure a job offer that will lead to a Skilled Worker visa.
The minimum salary requirement for a UK Skilled Worker visa has significantly increased. For most roles, the minimum salary threshold is now *£38,700 per year* or the “going rate” for the specific occupation, whichever is higher. This increase is part of the UK’s effort to better align the immigration system with current economic conditions and reduce net migration.
For certain roles, particularly those classified under the Immigration Salary List or if you are a “new entrant” (such as recent graduates or those under 26), a lower salary threshold of *£30,960 per year* may apply. However, this is still higher than previous thresholds and applies to specific circumstances.
It’s also important to note that the specific salary requirement can vary depending on the occupation code assigned to your job, as each occupation has its own “going rate” that may be higher than the general minimum threshold.
For example, if a large company sponsors a worker for a 3-year visa, the charge would be £3,000.
No, unfortunately. The only way to secure a Skilled Worker visa is with a certificate of sponsorship, and this can only be obtained with a job offer from an official UK visa sponsor.
If you are looking for work in the UK, you could visit on a Standard Visitor Visa, as job interviews are one of the permitted activities for this visa category. Once you have secured a job offer from a recognised UK visa sponsor employer, you could then leave the country and apply for a Skilled Worker visa.
It’s important to follow the correct route for living and working in the UK, as attempts to get around the regulations could make it difficult for you to secure a visa in the future.
There are multiple costs associated with sponsoring a Skilled Worker visa. These charges will vary depending on the size and status of the company and also the type of worker they want to hire.
For a ‘large’ company to hire 1 worker for five years, the total cost will be £6,715.
For a ‘small’ or ‘charitable’ company to hire 1 worker for five years, the total cost will be £2,595.
The applicant is liable for the cost of the visa and this fee is due when they submit their application. Some employers will offer to pay the application fees as an added incentive to attract the best workers. Others will offer to reimburse your application fees in a signing bonus.
You should never have to pay an employer for a job offer and you shouldn’t have to pay for things like your certificate of sponsorship or Immigration Skills Charge. If a company is asking you to pay this, they may not be operating legitimately.
Self-sponsorship is possible in some instances. This route is open to successful business people with a track record of setting up and running businesses elsewhere in the world. If you have identified a business opportunity in the UK or would like to take over a UK business, it is possible to self-sponsor your visa to be able to live and work in the UK. Talk with us, or make contact via WhatsApp to find out more.
If you are a UK employer with a visa sponsor licence and are offering your friend a genuine job offer to come and live in the UK, you can certainly sponsor their visa application.
However, it’s important that your job offer is genuine and that they have the skills and experience to be able to carry out the role. If you are caught sponsoring visa applications for unqualified applicants, your status as a UK visa sponsor could be placed in jeopardy.
You can certainly get married in the UK while on a Skilled Worker Visa! When you apply to your local registry office to give notice of your intention to marry or form a civil partnership, your immigration status will likely trigger a process whereby your union is referred to the Home Office. This is simply to confirm that you are eligible to marry in the UK.
Once you are married, you could stay on a Skilled Worker visa, or you could switch to a Spouse Visa. Switching to the Spouse visa category would enable you to switch roles more easily. After five years of continual residence in the UK, you will be eligible to apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain. This is the first step before Citizenship.
