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VISAS FOR QUALIFIED WORKERS: BASIC PROVISIONS
To obtain a Skilled Worker visa, which replaced the Tier 2 (General) migrant visa, an individual of any nationality must receive an offer for a suitable skilled job in the UK from a sponsor approved by the Ministry of Home Affairs. This route not only allows work, but can also lead to settler status, and also allows dependent partners and children to join applicants.
You can only obtain a Skilled Worker visa through sponsorship from an employer who holds a sponsor license issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs. To obtain a Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) from a UK employer, qualifications and salary requirements must be met, as well as other eligibility requirements, including the minimum wage.
There is no limit to the number of people who can enter the UK under the Skilled Worker scheme.
A skilled worker visa requires a valid certificate of sponsorship from an employer that holds an A-rated sponsor license, unless the applicant has previously been authorized to work as a skilled worker and is applying for continued employment with the same sponsor. The certificate of sponsorship was valid, it must contain certain mandatory information.
Job offer and real vacancy
First of all, you need to make sure that you have received a real job offer and are able to fulfill the role that was mentioned in your certificate of sponsorship.
The Ministry of Home Affairs also needs to ensure that you will not be working for or providing services to a third party that is not your sponsor, regardless of whether the work is temporary, permanent, or contractual in nature.
Minimum qualification level
The Skilled Worker program is based on the principle that you must have a minimum level of qualification to be eligible for sponsorship.
Under the Skilled Worker visa regime, the role you are applying for must be qualified to at least RQF level 3, which is roughly equivalent to A-levels. It is important to understand that you do not need to have a formal qualification to meet the qualification level requirements. The skill level of the work you will be doing will determine whether the threshold is met.
All relevant professions are listed in the list of qualified professions, which the Ministry of Internal Affairs has identified by codes. You must be sponsored to work under the relevant occupation code listed in the Appendix.
Your sponsor should choose the most appropriate occupation code for the work you will be doing. If the Ministry of Home Affairs has reasonable grounds to believe that your sponsor has not assigned the most appropriate occupation code, your application for a skilled worker visa may be refused.
Wage
Most employers looking for skilled workers must pay them a salary equal to or above the general salary threshold and the “going rate” for the occupation (listed in the relevant occupation code), whichever is higher.
Under the Skilled Worker scheme, the overall salary threshold is £25,600 per annum. Therefore, an applicant for a skilled worker visa must normally be earning a salary equal to or greater than £25,600 per annum or the prevailing rate for the occupation, whichever is higher. The salary estimate is based on the guaranteed basic gross salary.
Some sponsored skilled workers applying under the Skilled Worker route may be paid less than this amount if they are awarded additional so-called “exchangeable points” for other qualifications.
Even if your salary doesn’t meet the standard requirements and you don’t work in health or education, you can still get the status if you earn at least £20,480 a year and at least £10.10 an hour. To do this, one of the following conditions must be met:
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Before applying for a skilled worker visa, you must have at least £1,270 in your bank account for 28 consecutive days. If you’ve been in the UK for at least 12 months before applying, or if your employer has confirmed your status as a PMP, you don’t need to provide proof of maintenance. If you are applying with dependent relatives, you will need to have additional funds to support them: £285 for a spouse, £315 for a dependent child and £200 for each additional dependent child.
English language requirements
The English language requirements are to demonstrate competence in all components of the language – reading, writing, speaking and listening – at a level no lower than B1 (intermediate).
Transition to a skilled worker visa
If you have a visa in another immigration category, you can switch to a skilled worker visa if you were not authorized as a visitor, short-term student, parent of a student child, seasonal worker, domestic worker in a private household or outside the Immigration Rules.
Cooling off period
The previous restriction on switching to a skilled worker visa based on previous residence in the UK within the previous 12 months, known as the ‘cooling off period’, has been removed under the skilled worker route.
Regulation of the status of a qualified employee
In order to become a skilled worker and get the right to settle in the UK, you need to meet certain requirements. In particular, you must have a continuous period of residence in the country of at least 5 years, of which the time spent on a work permit must be in one of the following routes: Skilled Worker, Global Talent, Innovator, Level 2 Minister of Religion, Level 2 Athlete , Representative of a foreign business or Migrant of the 1st level (with the exception of the Migrant of the 1st level – Graduate-entrepreneur). In addition, you must not have been outside the country for more than 180 days per year during the 5-year period.
To qualify as a skilled worker, you must also pass the Living in the UK test (if you are under 65), have a sponsor approved by the UK Home Office and continue to work for them in the future. In addition, your salary must be at least the gross salary threshold or meet the salary level requirements.
ILR Salary Threshold
To qualify for ILR, you must have a salary of at least £25,600 per annum or the ‘going rate’ for the occupation (as set out in the relevant occupation code), whichever is higher. However, in certain circumstances, applicants can prove that they earn a salary of at least £20,480 per annum or the ‘going rate’ for the occupation, whichever is higher. Salary reductions that are authorized through points do not apply to ILR claims.
