Skilled Worker visa requirements: can this role be sponsored?

For someone new to your team, pay must be at least £41,700 a year, or the going rate for the job if that is more, according to GOV.UK. On top of that, the role can't dip below minimum wage and has to respect the rules on working time.

Only the first 48 hours worked each week go towards the salary figure, under the immigration rules, so extra hours won't make up for a salary that falls short.

From 8 April 2026, each pay period must show the full salary the rules require, as KPMG reports. An average across the year won't count.

Health and Care Worker roles have their own floor of £25,000 a year, or the role's going rate when that pays more, on GOV.UK.

Each type of job has a standard yearly pay figure set by the rules, and that figure is the going rate. It is based on a 37.5-hour week and adjusted for other working hours, as the rules on job codes set out.

Both tests apply: the £41,700 minimum and the job's going rate. The GOV.UK example shows a salary of £42,000 failing the test, because the going rate for that job is £45,000.

Every job has its own going rate. For software developers, the going rate is £54,700 a year, so that is the lowest salary for most new hires.

Some workers may receive between 70% and 90% of the going rate, so long as their pay never drops under a fixed floor, as GOV.UK explains.

A worker on the 70% rate can be sponsored for no more than 4 years in total.

There is also a government list of jobs, the immigration salary list, where sponsorship is allowed on lower pay. Roles on the list need £33,400 a year at minimum, as well as the job's going rate; the visa fee is smaller too. Graphic and multimedia designers are on it, which puts their minimum at £33,400. Most entries come off the list on 31 December 2026, though care workers keep their place to 22 July 2028, as the list itself shows.

Each role carries its own 4-digit occupation code, and that code decides whether sponsorship is possible. GOV.UK links an official job code search you can use to find yours.

The main list of eligible codes covers degree-level jobs, according to the immigration rules. For new hires, jobs below degree level only count if they appear on the immigration salary list or the list for temporary shortages.

If a job is on the temporary shortage list, it only qualifies if the certificate of sponsorship is issued before 31 December 2026, under the Skilled Worker rules.

Similar-sounding jobs can be treated differently. For example, bricklayers, roofers and carpenters can be sponsored, but construction labourers can't.

Some codes are closed to new recruits. Sponsorship for those roles is limited to workers whose Skilled Worker permission was already in place before 22 July 2025.

The codes 6135 and 6136, for care workers and senior care workers, are handled under a separate rule, described on GOV.UK. You can sponsor them only when they extend, update, or switch their visa, and only once they have spent 3 months working legally for you.

If your worker is new to the Skilled Worker visa, they need English at level B2, as GOV.UK sets out. Workers who held this visa before 8 January 2026 only need the lower B1 level when they extend.