Work visas

If you want to work in skilled jobs in the UK, then you may be able to apply for a Skilled Worker visa.

To qualify, you must have a job offer from a Home Office-approved employer before you apply for a Skilled Worker visa. A Home Office-approved employer is one that has a valid sponsor licence to sponsor skilled workers to work in the UK. View the Home Office list of registered sponsors on GOV.UK.

Prospective job roles eligible for this visa are defined by reference to their “occupation codes”. View a list of eligible occupation codes and their salary requirements.

The minimum gross salary requirement to qualify for a skilled worker is £38,700 per year.  If you are working in certain health and education jobs you may be eligible for a skilled worker visa at the lower gross salary threshold of £29,000. You may also be exempt from the minimum salary requirement if you earn at least £23,200 per year and you meet certain criteria, such as:

• you’re under 26, studying or a recent graduate, or in professional training
• you have a science, technology, engineering or maths (STEM) PhD level qualification relevant to your role
• you have a postdoctoral position in science or higher education.

Once you have an eligible job offer, your employer will issue you with a ‘certificate of sponsorship’, which you can then use to apply for a Skilled Worker visa.

When you apply, you may also need to prove that you're proficient in English and show that you have at least £1,270 in your bank account to support yourself for the first 28 days you will be in the UK. Read more about the financial requirements.

There is also an application fee ranging from £551 to £1,500 and Immigration Health Surcharge of £1,035 per year of the visa. Read more about the application fee.

Applications are made online. Fees and processing times usually vary depending on the length of the visa you are applying for and whether you are applying from within or outside of the UK.

Find out how to apply for a Skilled Worker visa on GOV.UK.

If you’re already in the UK, you will need to check if you’re eligible to switch to a Skilled Worker visa from your current visa.

International students are eligible to switch to a Skilled Worker visa while in the UK, provided they meet the criteria. They must apply before their Student visa expires and their job can’t start until after their course finishes. PhD students must have studied for at least 24 months. 

It is not possible to apply to switch to a Skilled Worker visa while in the UK as a visitor, short-term student, parent of a child student, seasonal worker or domestic worker in a private household.

Visas under this route are usually granted for up to five years. Partners and children can also apply to join skilled workers in the UK. Skilled workers can apply to extend their visa and may be eligible for settlement in the UK after five years of residence.
 

If you're a qualified health and social care professional, you may be able to apply for a Health and Care Worker visa to work in the UK for a licensed healthcare employer. As well as being licensed employers, care providers in England will need to be registered with the Care Quality Commission.

Requirements for a Health and Care Worker visa are similar to the Skilled Worker visa, except there is a lower application fee. This fee ranges from £284 to £551, depending on the length of the visa. There is no Immigration Health Surcharge. Applications are made online.

You can find a list of eligible healthcare jobs and their “occupation codes” and the relevant salary requirements. Usually, you'll need to have a minimum salary of £20,960, or at least the ‘going rate’ for the relevant job if it's higher than £20,960.

You can also search the Care Visa Sponsor Database, developed by the Autonomy Institute, to search for companies that are licensed to sponsor visas.

Find out about how to apply for a Health and Care Worker visa on GOV.UK.
 

With this visa, you're allowed to work in the job that you have been sponsored for, as well as extra work in the same occupation code or less than 20 paid hours a week. 

Your permission to work depends on keeping your employment and your sponsor keeping their Home Office sponsor licence. 

If your employment ends, whatever the reason, you will not be able to work in the UK. You may be able to switch to a new employer so long as they are licensed by the Home Office. But you will need to apply to the Home Office for permission to do so before you can begin work with them. 

You can start your search for a new employer using the Care Quality Commission website and the Home Office list of registered sponsors. You can also search the Care Visa Sponsor Database, developed by the Autonomy Institute, which combines available data to present a list of companies which are licensed to sponsor visas.

Your employer should act lawfully and protect your rights, but some employers mistreat their employees, use threatening behaviour, or unfairly dismiss their staff.

If your employer is threatening you with violence, telephone the police on 999.

If your employer unfairly dismissed you, you could bring a claim to the Employment Tribunal.

For more information about protecting your employment rights, you can access this resource from the Work Rights Centre or visit our Employment Rights Hub.

If you’re already in the UK, you will need to check if you’re eligible to switch to a Health and Care Worker visa from your current visa. 

Like the general Skilled Worker visa, international students are eligible to apply for a Skilled Worker visa from inside the UK provided they meet the criteria. They must make an application before their Student visa expires and their job can’t start until after their course finishes. PhD students must have studied for at least 24 months.

It's not possible to apply to switch to a Health and Care Worker visa while in the UK as a visitor, short-term student, parent of a child student, seasonal worker or domestic worker in a private household.

From 11 March 2024, people with newly issued Health and Care Worker visas will not be able to bring their dependants with them to the UK.

However, this does not apply to people that were in the UK before this date on valid Health and Care Worker visas. They can still apply to bring their dependants to the UK. 

Visas under this route last between three to five years, with the option to extend or apply for settlement after five years.