Skilled Worker visa | Visa Help | Manchester visa centre

A Skilled Worker visa allows you to come to or stay in the UK to do an eligible job with an approved employer.

Skilled Worker Visa is open to individuals of all nationalities except British and Irish who have an offer of an eligible skilled job in the UK based Company and the company must have A –Rated Sponsorship License from a Home Office.

You can bring your partner and children and would be eligible for settlement after 5 years.

Your job must need to fill salary and skill requirement as below:

There is no cap on the number of people who can enter the UK on the Skilled Worker route

Requirements for Skilled Worker Visa:

You must need to meet the following requirement in order to apply this visa.

You are aged 18 or over
You have a valid Certificate of Sponsorship for the job you are planning to do in the UK.
You have provided a valid TB certificate, if required.
You have provided a criminal record certificate, if required.
Your sponsor has paid any required Immigration Skills Charge (Normally £364 for small and charitable companies)
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 Home Office salary threshold and the ‘going rate’ for the occupation
You have enough money to support yourself without relying on public funds

Certificate of Sponsorship:

You must have a valid certificate of sponsorship for the Job which you are going to do. This Sponsorship certificate must be issued by the UK approved sponsor, authorised by the Home Office to issue. Your sponsor must be listed as A-rated on the Home Office’s register of licensed sponsors.

Your Certificate of Sponsorship must have the following information:

You Full Name, Salary and Job Tittle
Job Start date, no more than 3 months after your visa application date
Confirmation that this Cos letter was not used in any previous application either In granted or refused the application.

Appropriate Skill Level Requirement:

In order to qualify for a Skilled Worker Visa, the job you are being sponsored for must be an eligible job at or above a minimum skill level.

Under the Skilled Worker Visa route, the role you are looking to fill must be skilled to at least RQF level 3, which is roughly equivalent to A-levels.

You do not need to hold a formal qualification in order to satisfy the skills level requirement. It is the skill level of the job that you will be doing that will determine whether the threshold is met.

The Home Office sets out eligible jobs, along with their skills levels, in an Appendix to the Immigration Rules. Each eligible job has an occupation code. You must be sponsored for a job in an eligible occupation code listed in the Appendix.

Your sponsor must choose an appropriate occupation code. If the Home Office has reasonable grounds to believe that your sponsor has not chosen the most appropriate occupation code then your application for a Skilled Worker Visa will be refused.

In assessing whether your sponsor has chosen the most appropriate occupation code, the Home Office will consider factors such as whether they have shown a genuine need for the job as described, whether you have the appropriate skills, qualifications and experience needed to do the job as described and the sponsor’s history of compliance with the immigration system.

English Language Requirement:

In order to qualify for a Skilled Worker Visa you will need demonstrate English language ability on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages in all 4 components (reading, writing, speaking and listening) to at least level B1 (intermediate).

Prospective employees applying for entry clearance or leave to remain as a Skilled Worker will satisfy the English language requirement if they:

Are a national of a majority English-speaking country;
Have passed a Secure English Language Test;
Have been awarded a degree taught in English;
Obtained a GCSE/A Level or Scottish Highers in English while at school in the UK; or
Have already shown they met the requirement, of level B1, in a previous successful application for entry clearance or permission to stay.

Salary Threshold Requirement:

Employers seeking to recruit under the Skilled Worker route must (subject to being able to trade points as set out below) pay their skilled workers a salary which equals or exceeds both a general salary threshold and the ‘going rate’ for the occupation (as set out in the relevant occupation code mentioned above), whichever is higher.

The general salary threshold under the Skilled Worker route is £25,600 a year. Therefore, in most cases an applicant for a Skilled Worker Visa must be paid a salary which equals or exceeds £25,600 a year and 100% of the going rate for the occupation, whichever is higher. The assessment of salary is based on guaranteed basic gross pay.

Some sponsored skilled workers applying under the Skilled Worker route may be paid less than the above amount, where they are awarded additional so-called ‘tradable points’ for other attributes:

An applicant with a PhD qualification which is relevant to the job may be paid a salary which equals or exceeds both £23,040 per year and 90% of the going rate for the occupation;
An applicant with a PhD qualification in a STEM subject which is relevant to the job may be paid a salary which equals or exceeds both £20,480 per year and 80% of the going rate for the occupation;
An applicant with a job offer for a job in a shortage occupation may be paid a salary which equals or exceeds both £20,480 per year and 80% of the going rate for the occupation;
An applicant who is a new entrant to the labour market may be paid a salary which equals or exceeds both £20,480 per year and 70% of the going rate for the occupation;
An application for a job in a listed health or education occupation may be paid a salary which equals or exceeds both £20,480 per year and 80% of the going rate for the occupation.

What is a ‘job in a shortage occupation’?

The Home Office maintains a list of skilled roles where employers find it difficult to secure adequate numbers of workers with the required skills to fill their vacancies. As set out above, if you have a job offer for a job on the shortage occupation list, the salary threshold requirement will be reduced.

Who is a ‘new entrant to the labour market’?

New entrants to the labour market include those under the age of 26 at the date of application (or switching from a Student Visa) and applying for a maximum of three years leave, those sponsored in postdoctoral research positions and those working towards professional qualifications, registration or chartered status. As set out above, if you qualify as a new entrant to the labour market then the salary threshold requirement will be reduced.

Financial Requirement:

Subject to the exemptions below, you will need to have cash funds of at least £1,270 available.

You will need to have held the money for at least 28 consecutive days ending not more than 31 days before the date of your Skilled Worker Visa application.

You will be exempt from the financial requirement if you have a fully ‘A-rated’ sponsor who is willing to meet your maintenance costs up to the end of the first month of your employment, to an amount of at least £1,270, if necessary. Your sponsor will need to confirm this on your Certificate of Sponsorship.

If you are applying for permission to stay and have been in the UK with permission for 12 months or more at the date of application, you will meet the financial requirement and will not need to show funds.

Criminal Record Certificate Requirement:

If you are applying for entry clearance and being sponsored for certain jobs (broadly comprising jobs in the health, care, welfare and education sectors) then, unless it is not reasonably practical to do so, you will need to provide a criminal record certificate for any country in which, since the age of 18, you have been present for 12 months or more (whether continuously or in total) in the 10 years before the date of your application.

Do Sponsors need to complete a Resident Labour Market Test?

Unlike its predecessor route, there is no requirement for employers sponsoring skilled workers under the Skilled Worker Visa route to undertake a Resident Labour Market Test (RLMT). However, sponsors must still be seeking to fill a genuine vacancy.

Switching into the Skilled Worker Visa Route:

If you currently have leave to remain in another immigration category, you may extend your stay by switching into the Skilled Worker route unless you have, or were last granted, permission as a Visitor, Short-term student, Parent of a Child Student, Seasonal Worker, Domestic Worker in a Private Household or outside the Immigration Rules.

Is there a cooling off period in the Skilled Worker route?

Under its predecessor route, those applying for entry clearance or to switch into the Tier 2 (General) route had to have not been in the UK as a Tier 2 (General) migrant during the past 12 months. Under the Skilled Worker route, the 12-month ‘cooling off period’ has been removed. There is no restriction on when applications to enter the Skilled Worker Visa route can be made.

Settlement as a Skilled Worker:

In order to qualify for Settlement as a Skilled Worker, you will need to satisfy UK Visas and Immigration that:

You have spent a continuous period of 5 years in the UK;
The 5-year continuous period consisted of time with permission on any of, or any combination of, the following routes: Skilled Worker, Global talent, Innovator, Tier 2 Minister of Religion, Tier 2 Sportsperson, Representative of an Overseas Business or as a Tier 1 Migrant (other than as a Tier 1 (Graduate Entrepreneur) Migrant);
You have not been outside for more than 180 days during each year of the 5-year continuous period;
You have passed the Life in the UK test (unless aged 65 or over);
Your sponsor is still a Home Office approved sponsor;
Your sponsor still requires you to work for them for the foreseeable future;
You are being, and will be paid for the foreseeable future, at least the general salary threshold or the going rate requirement, whichever is higher.

Dependants of Skilled Workers:

Skilled Workers may be joined or accompanied by a dependent partner over the age of 18 and/or or a dependent child under the age of 18.

Contact Us:

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