Twenty-one days to an expiry, and a different job than the one on the visa

His visa expired at the end of September. He wanted his extension filed under a different occupation code than the one he had been sponsored under since 2023, with his wife and two children on the same application.

At a glance

• Client: Sponsored since 2023 under an IT project and programme management occupation code
• Dependants: Wife and two children
• Matter: Sponsorship certificate assignment and Skilled Worker extension, with a change of occupation code
• The deadline: Visa expiry 30 September 2026
• Instructed: 9 September 2026, 21 days before expiry

How they found us

A returning client.

The challenge

• Three weeks to expiry, with a family of four on the application.
• The client wanted to change occupation code for the extension rather than continuing under the one he had held since 2023.
• A code change alters the applicable salary threshold, so the salary had to move with it.
• The costs were split between the worker and the sponsor, which had to be agreed before anything could start.

What we did

• Handled the occupation code change as part of the extension. Rather than extending on the existing code and correcting it later.
• Moved the salary to match the new code. Confirmed by the employer before the application was built, so the threshold was met under the code actually being used.
• Scoped the whole family into one instruction. Sponsorship assignment, the extension and three dependants together, so nothing was left to a second application against the same deadline.
• Clarified who was paying for what. The worker covering legal and visa costs, the sponsor covering the sponsorship assignment and the skills charge.

Why it matters

People's jobs change faster than their visas do. An extension is the natural moment to align the two, and it is also the moment when getting the occupation code and the salary to agree with each other is unavoidable. Three weeks is enough, but only if the employer moves at the same speed.