Skilled worker visa route is for foreign workers including the European Economic Area (EEA) national arriving from 1 January 2020 to do a skilled job in the UK. Call us on 0203 909 8399 or contact us online for further information.
You will need to apply for a skilled workers visa, If you are coming to the UK from 1 January 2020 to do a skilled job for a Home Office license sponsors. A successful visa applicant can apply for indefinite leave to remain after 5 years. You can also bring dependant partner and children under this route.
The skilled worker route replaced Tier 2 General Visa and no further applications under old route can be made.
Requirements for Skilled worker visa
To qualify for a skilled worker visa, you need to meet the following basic requirements.
- You are aged 18 or over;
- You have a valid Certificate of Sponsorship for the job you are planning to do;
- Your job offer is a genuine vacancy;
- Your sponsor has paid any required Immigration Skills Charge;
- Your job is at an appropriate skill level;
- You are competent in the English language to at least CEFR Level B1 (equivalent to IELTS 4.0);
- You will be paid a salary which equals or exceeds both a general salary threshold of £25,600 and the ‘going rate’ for the occupation;
- You have enough money to support yourself without relying on public funds;
- You have provided a criminal record certificate if required; and
- You have provided a valid TB certificate if required.
Skilled worker visa points
To qualify you will need to score 70 total points. However, you will need 50 mandatory points against the following requirements;
| Points requirements | Points |
| Sponsorship | 20 |
| Job at the appropriate skill level | 20 |
| English language | 10 |
In addition to the 50 mandatory points you must score 20 tradeable points from six options below;
| Points requirements | Points |
| Salary | 20 |
| Salary and relevant PhD qualification | 20 |
| Salary and job in shortage of occupation | 20 |
| Salary and applicant is a new entrant | 20 |
| Salary and job in listed health or education occupation | 20 |
Approved UK employers for sponsorship
You must have a job offer from an approved UK employer before you apply for a Skilled Worker visa. Approved employers are also known as sponsors because they are sponsoring you to come to or stay in the UK.
View the list of approved UK employers.
If your employer is not currently approved, they can apply for a sponsor licence if they’re eligible.
Job skill level
If you do not know your code, you can search for your job in the ONS occupation coding tool.
English language
You’ll usually need to prove your knowledge of the English language when you apply unless you did this in a previous successful visa application. You must prove you can read, write, speak and understand English to at least level B1 on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) scale.
You can prove your knowledge of English by:
- passing a Secure English Language Test (SELT) from an approved provider
- having a GCSE, A level, Scottish National Qualification level 4 or 5, Scottish Higher or Advanced Higher in English
- having a degree-level academic qualification that was taught in English – if you studied abroad, you’ll need to apply for confirmation through UK NARIC that your qualification is equivalent to a UK bachelor’s degree, master’s degree or PhD
Financial requirements
If the applicant is applying for entry clearance from outside the UK or has been in the UK for less than one year at the date of application, they must show they have enough funds to support themselves and any family members in the UK.
As an A-rated sponsor, your sponsor can certify this requirement is met when they assign a Certificate of Sponsorship to the applicant.
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