What is a Skilled Worker Visa?
The Skilled Worker visa is the main long-term work visa for the UK. It enables overseas workers with an offer of a job to come here for up to 5 years (depending on the length of the work contract). After 5 continuous years living in the UK on a Skilled Worker visa, it is then possible to apply for permanent settlement (Indefinite Leave to Remain). As such, the Skilled Worker visa provides a direct route to permanent settlement in the UK.
Candidates considering the Skilled Worker visa must have an offer of a job in an eligible occupation and meet the minimum salary requirements. They can also bring their immediate family members to join them in the UK (partner and children).
Who Needs a Sponsor Licence & How to Get One?
Any business planning to hire overseas workers on the Skilled Worker visa scheme must have a sponsor licence from the Home Office. Sponsor licences are only granted to employers who:
- Are a genuine business operating in the UK
- Have no unspent criminal convictions for immigration offences or other crimes, such as fraud or money laundering
- Have not had a sponsor licence revoked in the last 12 months
- Have suitable systems, people and processes in place to properly manage sponsored workers
The process of applying for a sponsor licence can be completed online on the Home Office website. See below for details on how to apply.
Eligibility Requirements for UK Skilled Worker Visa Sponsorship
Skilled worker visa eligibility in the UK
- You must have been offered a role on the list of eligible jobs
- Receive a salary of at least £38,700 per year, or the ‘going rate’ for your job, whichever is higher. You may qualify with a lower salary if it is at least £30,960 per year and:
- You are under 26, studying or a recent graduate, or in professional training
- You have a science, technology, engineering or maths (STEM) PhD level qualification that’s relevant to your or
- You have a postdoctoral position in science or higher education
- You have a job on the immigration salary list.
- Be able to read, write, speak and understand English to at least level B1 on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) scale. There are other ways that you can meet this requirement, including by having a degree-level academic qualification that was taught in English or by being a national of an English-speaking country.
For advice on the UK employer sponsorship requirements, please speak to a member of our business immigration law team.
How to Apply for a UK Sponsor Licence (Step-by-Step Guide)
When it comes to how to get a sponsor licence in the UK, there are several steps to follow:
- Ensure that your business has the necessary systems, people and processes to manage sponsored staff – an immigration Solicitor can advise you on how to do this
- Complete the online application form
- Print and complete the submission sheet provided at the end of the application
- Pay an application fee of £1,476 (or £536 for small or charitable sponsors)
- Provide any supporting documents if they are requested by the Home Office
You will be classed as a small business if at least two of the following apply:
- You have an annual turnover of £10.2 million or less
- Your total assets are worth £5.1 million or less, or
- You have 50 employees or fewer.
You can expect a decision within 8 weeks from UKVI. Note that they may visit your business to ensure that you are a genuine and operating business with the necessary systems, people, and processes to manage sponsored workers.
Cost of Sponsoring a Skilled Worker in the UK
UK visa sponsorship costs
There are various costs for employers when sponsoring someone on a Skilled Worker visa in the UK, including:
- Sponsor licence application fee: £1,476 (or £536 for small or charitable sponsors)
- Certificate of sponsorship: £239 per certificate issued
- Immigration skills charge:
| Small or charitable sponsors | Medium or large sponsors | |
| Initial 12 months | £364 | £1,000 |
| Each further 6-month period | £182 | £500 |
How to Find Skilled Workers for Sponsorship
One way to find skilled workers from overseas is through a recruitment company that specialises in finding international workers in the type of role you are offering. They will vet and recommend overseas candidates that meet your requirements for a fee. You may also find that candidates approach you from overseas simply because you are on the list of eligible employers on the Home Office website.
Online job advertisement websites such as Indeed, Monster, Reed, Jobsite, and Totaljobs also offer an excellent way to advertise jobs in the UK. By making it clear that you can sponsor overseas candidates in the UK, you can attract potential applicants from around the world.
Responsibilities of UK Employers Sponsoring Workers
As a licenced sponsor of overseas workers in the UK, you will have certain duties and responsibilities that you must fulfil at all times to ensure your compliance with immigration law. These responsibilities include:
- Vetting that all candidates have the necessary skills, qualifications or professional accreditations to undertake their roles and keep copies of documents demonstrating this
- Only issuing certificates of sponsorship to workers when the job is suitable for sponsorship
- Informing UKVI if a sponsored worker is not complying with the conditions of their visa, and
- Complying with UK employment law (e.g. health and safety, environmental, and working hours)
Failure to fulfil your responsibilities as a licenced sponsor may result in your licence being downgraded, suspended, or revoked.
In addition, you must have systems in place to monitor the immigration status of your workers, keep copies of relevant documents for each sponsored worker, track and record the attendance of workers, and keep the contact details of workers up to date at all times. You must also report any changes to your circumstances or business to UKVI within 20 days (e.g. if you stop trading or change your business).
Common Challenges & How to Overcome Them
Sponsoring employers can find themselves at risk of having their sponsor licence revoked, downgraded, or suspended for a wide range of reasons. It is important to ensure that everyone concerned with the management of sponsored workers understands the duties and obligations set out above. Some of the main challenges we often see and how to overcome them are as follows:
| Challenge | Solution |
| Continuing to employ a worker whose visa has expired | Put in place a calendar/reminder system to check on the status of visa validity for all sponsored workers |
| Not nominating or replacing key personnel | Have a system in place to ensure that you have an authorising officer, key contact, and level 1 user in place at all times. Ensure that if they are absent, someone else can fulfil their duties. Make sure that the names of these personnel are updated on the SMS system. |
| Not keeping up-to-date records/contact details | Implement a system that regularly checks the current details of sponsored workers to ensure they are correct. |
| Not reporting changes in circumstances to the Home Office within the deadline | Ensure that your key personnel responsible for reporting to the UKVI have the necessary training and resources |
Alternatives to Sponsoring a Skilled Worker
In addition to sponsoring overseas candidates on the Skilled Worker visa route, there are other visa schemes which, depending on your business, available jobs and requirements may meet your requirements. Alternatives to the Skilled Worker visa include:
- Global Talent visa – for leaders or potential leaders in the areas of academia or research, arts and culture, and digital technology
- High Potential Individual (HPI) visa – allows candidates who have graduated from an elite university around the world to live and work in the UK
- Graduate visa – for overseas students who have completed their studies and can remain in the UK for up to 2 years to work in any role. Postgraduates can stay for up to 3 years.
- India Young Professionals Scheme – Aimed at young Indian nationals between the ages of 18 and 30 with a bachelor’s degree or higher who would like to gain skills and work experience in the UK.
Recent Updates to the UK Skilled Worker Visa Rules
In 2025, several changes are expected to the UK Skilled Worker visa rules, including from 9th April 2025:
- Care providers in the UK seeking to hire carers to work in England will need to demonstrate that they have attempted to find suitable candidates from the growing pool of workers in this route who no longer have sponsorship, because their sponsors have been unable to offer sufficient work and/or have lost their sponsor licences.
- The minimum salary floor for sponsored Skilled Worker roles is increasing from £23,200 per year (or £11.90 per hour) to £25,000 per year (or £12.82 per hour) April 2025.
- ‘Going rates’ for individual occupations in healthcare and education are to be updated where they are drawn from national pay scales.
- ‘Going rates’ for other occupations are being changed to reflect the new minimum salary floor of £25,000 per year / £12.82 per hour.
- Clarification that where an applicant is claiming a ‘new entrant’ salary reduction based on training towards a recognised professional qualification, this must be a UK qualification.
