Skilled Worker visa requirements: sponsorship, salary, skill level and English

The four core requirements

Sponsorship, skill, salary and English. Fail one and the rest do not save the application.

Salary thresholds and discounts

The threshold that applies depends on the applicant profile and the occupation.

General threshold

£41,700 and the full going rate

New entrant

£33,400 and 70% of the going rate

Relevant PhD

£33,400 and 90% of the going rate

Immigration salary list

£33,400 and a reduced going rate

Hourly floor

£12.82 regardless of annual salary

In brief

What a Skilled Worker application actually needs, in one paragraph.

A Skilled Worker application succeeds when four things line up: a UK employer holding a valid sponsor licence, a genuine job in an eligible occupation code at the route’s skill level, a salary that clears both the applicable threshold and the going rate for that code, and English at B1 across all four components. The application is then decided against the Certificate of Sponsorship the sponsor has assigned, so the CoS has to be accurate before it is used, because errors on it are the single most common cause of avoidable refusal.

How a case is assessed, step by step

The order the Home Office actually works through when it looks at an application.

The starting point is the sponsor. A caseworker checks the Certificate of Sponsorship against the sponsor’s licence, confirming the licence is current, covers the route, and that the certificate has not expired, been withdrawn or already been used. Only once the sponsorship itself checks out does the assessment move to the individual.

Next comes the occupation and the skill level. The SOC code on the CoS has to be one that is eligible for the route, and the duties described have to be consistent with that code. A caseworker who suspects the code has been chosen to understate the salary requirement, rather than because it genuinely fits the job, can raise that as a ground for refusal even where every figure on the form looks correct.

Salary is checked next, against both the route’s general or discounted threshold and the going rate published for the SOC code, whichever produces the higher figure, pro-rated for the contracted hours if the role is part time. Only gross basic pay counts, so a headline salary that relies on guaranteed overtime, allowances or benefits in kind will not meet the test on the figures that actually matter.

English is then checked against whichever evidence route applies, followed by suitability, which covers criminal record, immigration history, previous breaches of conditions and, for some nationalities and occupations, a tuberculosis test certificate. Maintenance, the requirement to show enough funds to support yourself on arrival, is checked last, and is often satisfied simply because the sponsor has certified maintenance on the CoS instead.

Evidence to gather before you apply

What to have ready, in the order the online application asks for it.

• The Certificate of Sponsorship reference number, checked against the job you were actually offered
• A valid passport or other accepted travel document with enough validity for the application
• English test certificate or degree certificate, plus the required verification for a degree taught abroad
• Qualification evidence if the sponsor relied on it to justify the skill level or a salary discount
• A criminal record certificate, where the occupation and country combination requires one
• Bank statements showing the required level of personal savings, unless the sponsor has certified maintenance
• Evidence of any dependants applying at the same time, including relationship and, for children, birth evidence

Common mistakes and refusal triggers

Small errors on the Certificate of Sponsorship cause a disproportionate number of refusals.

• Choosing a SOC code that understates the skill level or the going rate for the actual duties
• Comparing salary only against the general threshold and never checking the going rate for the code
• Letting an English test certificate expire between the job offer and the visa application
• Applying with a gap between the end of current leave and the CoS start date, breaking continuous permission
• Submitting bank statements that do not show the funds held for the full required period, in the required currency
• Failing to disclose a previous visa refusal or overstay, which suitability checks are likely to uncover anyway

Most of these are avoidable with a line-by-line check of the CoS against the rules before it is used, rather than after a refusal has to be challenged. Where a genuine error is found before the application is decided, the usual fix is for the sponsor to withdraw and reissue the certificate rather than for the applicant to submit further representations.

Edge cases: dependants, absences and transitional rules

Where the general rules above need adjusting for a particular case.

Dependent partners and children under 18 are assessed against their own relationship and, for children, care arrangement requirements, separately from the main applicant’s sponsorship. A partner does not need a job offer or sponsorship of their own and can work without restriction once granted leave, but the relationship has to be genuine and subsisting, and evidence of cohabitation or contact is expected where the couple has spent time apart.

Anyone who held permission on the route under earlier rules, including before the move to the current skill and salary settings, may benefit from transitional protection that lets them continue in a lower-skilled occupation or on an older salary basis for as long as they stay with the same sponsor in the same role. Changing employer or role generally means being assessed against the current rules in force at that time, so it is worth checking transitional status before agreeing to a change of sponsor.

Absences from the UK do not usually affect the visa itself, but the sponsor still has to report an employee who is absent without pay for more than four weeks, and unexplained absences can be treated as evidence that the sponsored employment is not genuine. Keep the sponsor informed of extended trips and retain evidence of the business or personal reason for them.

Employer duties that sit behind the visa

The worker's permission depends on the sponsor continuing to meet its duties.

• Report if the worker does not turn up for the sponsored job, resigns, or is dismissed
• Report changes to salary, working hours, job title or normal work location
• Keep a copy of the worker’s right to work check and passport or travel document
• Only pay the salary stated on the Certificate of Sponsorship or higher
• Cooperate with a Home Office compliance visit, announced or unannounced

If the sponsor fails these duties, the consequence usually falls on the licence rather than directly on the worker’s visa in the first instance, but a licence suspension or revocation can quickly curtail every sponsored worker’s leave, which is why it is worth an employee understanding, in outline, that their own status is tied to the sponsor staying compliant.

Who to contact next

Where to go depending on where you are in the process.

If you have a job offer and need to check the salary and occupation code before the Certificate of Sponsorship is assigned, start with our salary calculator and SOC code lookup. If you are not sure the employer is licensed, check the sponsor lookup before agreeing anything in writing. For the full route, including timelines and how to apply, see the Skilled Worker visa page, and for what happens after five years, see ILR requirements.

Switching into the route from inside the UK

Most work and study routes can switch; short-term and visitor routes cannot.

• Confirm the employer holds the right sponsor licence before resigning anything
• Check the switching route is permitted and, on Student, that the timing rules are met
• Have the CoS assigned, and use it within three months
• Apply before your current leave expires so section 3C leave protects your status
• Keep working under existing permission until the new grant is decided, where permitted
• Recheck the salary against the going rate for the new code, not the old one

We review the offer, the occupation code, the salary and the sponsor position together, so that the Certificate of Sponsorship is assigned once, with figures that hold up if the licence is audited later.