Skilled Worker Visas

Who this service is for

• Individuals holding a confirmed job offer from a UK licensed sponsor
• Workers switching into this route from another visa category
• People extending a Skilled Worker visa, or changing sponsor
• Dependants of a Skilled Worker visa holder

Basic eligibility

This is a general guide only; we confirm your exact position at the free consultation.

• A confirmed job offer, supported by a Certificate of Sponsorship
• The role meets the skill level the route requires
• The salary on offer meets the required level for the role
• You meet the English language requirement

Documents typically required

• Your Certificate of Sponsorship reference number
• Your passport and current immigration documents
• Evidence of your salary and the details of the role
• Evidence of English language ability and, where relevant, maintenance funds

How the process works

How the two halves fit together

Your employer goes first. They assign you a Certificate of Sponsorship. It is an electronic record, not a paper document you can hold, and it states the job title, the occupation code, your salary, your working hours and your start date. You use its reference number when you apply.

Then it is your turn. You give the Home Office that reference, evidence that you meet the English language requirement, and — unless your sponsor certifies that they will support you — proof that you have held enough money in your account for the required period. Your partner and your children can normally apply at the same time, or join you later.

That sounds simple, and on paper it is. The difficulty is that a caseworker reads your Certificate and your evidence side by side. If the job described on the Certificate is not the job the occupation code actually covers, or if the salary does not work once your real hours are applied, they see the mismatch even when you cannot. Nobody warns you first. It arrives as a refusal.

What actually goes wrong on this route

These are the problems we look for before anything else, because they cause more refusals than everything else put together.

• The occupation code does not match the real job. Every sponsored role is given a code, and that code decides the skill level and the going rate the Home Office expects for the work. Sometimes a code gets picked because it makes the numbers work, not because it describes what you will actually do all day. If your duties do not fit the code, your application is exposed — and so is your employer's licence.
• The salary is below the going rate once it is pro-rated. This one catches good candidates out. There is a general minimum, and there is a rate attached to your specific occupation code, and you normally have to meet whichever is higher. If you work fewer than full-time hours, the figure is worked out against those hours. A salary that looked comfortable in the offer letter can fall short once that arithmetic is done properly.
• The maintenance money was not held long enough. If your sponsor does not certify maintenance for you, you must show funds held in your account for a set number of consecutive days before you apply. The balance must not dip below the required level at any point in that window, and the statement has to show the right details on its face. Money that arrived last week does not count, however much of it there is.
• English language evidence from the wrong provider, or at the wrong level. Only approved tests count, and the level required depends on the route you are applying under.
• The role does not look genuine. If a job appears to have been created to support a visa rather than to meet a real business need, that alone can end the application.

We would much rather find one of these at your consultation than have you find it in a refusal letter. Arrange a free consultation and we will go through your Certificate details line by line with you.

What it costs

Most people who contact us have already been quoted by somebody else, and the quote was either frightening or vague, or both. Published market rates for immigration applications commonly run from £1,500 to £3,500. Many firms bill by the hour, which means the number you are given when you sign is an estimate, not a price. Plenty charge for the first conversation as well.

We charge £500. It is fixed. It does not rise because your case turns out to be complicated, because the Home Office comes back asking for more information, or because the whole thing takes longer than anyone hoped. The consultation costs you nothing, and if you do not need us, we will tell you that instead of selling to you.

Separately from our fee, you will pay the Home Office. There is an application fee, and there is the health surcharge that covers your access to the NHS. Your employer pays their own charges for sponsoring you, and some of those cannot lawfully be taken out of your pay, whatever any agreement says. Every one of these figures is set by government and revised from time to time, so we will not print a number here that might be wrong by the time you read it. We give you the current figures for your exact circumstances, in writing, before you commit to anything. You can also build the total yourself with our cost calculator, or read our own pricing in full on the fees page.

If your job or your employer changes

A Skilled Worker visa is tied to one employer and one role. That is the part people underestimate, and it matters most at exactly the moment something goes wrong.

If you lose your job, your sponsor has to report it, and your permission will normally be cut short. You are usually allowed a period to find a new sponsor or make other arrangements. That period is short. The useful thing to do is get advice in the same week, rather than waiting to see what the Home Office does.

If you want to move to a different employer, you need a new Certificate of Sponsorship from them and a fresh application. Do not start the new job before the new permission is granted, however keen everyone is. If you are promoted, or your duties change significantly, your employer may need to report it or assign a new Certificate.

And if the employer who wants to hire you does not hold a licence yet, they will need one before they can. That process belongs to them, not to you, and we take employers through it. Our sponsor licence page explains what is involved, and you are welcome to forward it to them.

Frequently asked questions