Skilled Worker Visa Requirements

To qualify for a Skilled Worker Visa, you need to be sponsored by a UK-based employer. Besides, you must meet the following eligibility criteria:

• You must be aged 18 or over
• You need a valid CoS for the job you are going to do
• Your job is a genuine vacancy
• Your role is at an appropriate level
• You will be paid a salary which equals or exceeds the general salary threshold and the “going rate” for your occupation
• Your sponsor has paid the required Immigration Skills Charge
• You can demonstrate your English proficiency (at least CEFR Level B1)
• You can financially sustain yourself and your family without relying on public funds
• You can provide a criminal record certificate
• You can provide a valid TB certificate (if needed)

Your CoS must be issued by your employer, that must have been authorized by the Home Office to employer international workforce.

The Certificate of Sponsorship must include the following information:

• Your personal details
• Details of your job and salary
• The start date, which must be no more than 3 months after the date of your visa application
• Confirmation that the CoS has not been issued for any precious application which has been withdrawn by the sponsor

To get your visa, you must demonstrate that you are being sponsored to undertake a genuine vacancy. Besides, you must prove that you are capable and qualifies to undertake the role for which the CoS has been assigned.

If the Home Office has reasonable grounds to believe that your job does not exist or has been created so that you can apply for a visa, then it may ask for additional documents. In certain circumstances, your application can be refused.

The Home Office also need to check that you have not entered into an arrangement with your employer whereby you will only fill a temporary position. In addition, you must demonstrate that you are only going to work for your sponsoring employer, meaning that you cannot provide any routine service to a third party who is not your sponsor.

Your partner and children can apply to join you in the UK provided that they are eligible as your dependants. You can include the following members of your family in your application:

• Your husband or wife, civil partner, or unmarried partner
• Your children under 18
• Your children over 18 if they are already staying in the UK as your dependants and are not married.

When submitting your application, you must provide evidence of your relationship.

The job you are being sponsored for must be an eligible job at or above the minimum skill level set by the Home Office.

Under the new Skilled Worker Visa route, your role must be skilled to at least RQF level 3 (roughly equivalent to A-levels).

It must be noted that no formal qualification is required to satisfy this requirement. However, you must be able to demonstrate your skills level, which must be adequate for the role your are going to undertake.

To qualify for a Skilled Worker Visa, you must demonstrate your English proficiency. This must be at least at level B1 (intermediate). To satisfy this requirement, you can either:

• Be a national of a majority English-speaking country
• Have passed a Secure English Language Test
• Have obtained a GCSE/A Level or Scottish Highers in English while at school in the UK
• Have been awarded a degree taught in English
• Have already met this requirement as a part of any previous application for entry clearance

The general salary threshold under the Skilled Worker Visa route is £25,600 a year. This means that your salary must equal or exceed this number and 100% of the going rate for the occupation, whichever is higher. The assessment will be based on guaranteed basic gross pay.

Workers falling into specific categories might be paid less than the above amount, provided that they score additional “tradable point” for other attributes, such as:

• Holding a PhD qualification which is relevant to the job or in a relevant STEM subject
• Accepting an offer for a job in the shortage occupation list
• Applicants who are new entrants to the labour market
• Applications for job listed as health or education occupations

Before you apply, you must have cash funds of at least £1,270 available to sustain yourself while in the UK. This money must be held in your bank account for at least 28 consecutive days prior to your application.

You will be exempt from the financial requirement if you have a fully A-rated sponsor which is willing to meet all your maintenance costs to an amount of at least £1,270 and up to the end of the first month of your employment.

If you have already been granted leave to remain in the UK before your Skilled Worker Visa application, you might be exempt from meeting the financial requirement.