Skilled Worker visa for employers

Each job carries a 4-digit occupation code, and sponsorship depends on that code. CASCOT can help you find the job's occupation code, and GOV.UK explains how to check the job's eligibility.

The usual minimum salary for a new Skilled Worker is £41,700 a year. If the job's going rate in the official tables is higher, you must pay that instead.

A new entrant may be paid 70% of the going rate, though never under £33,400. New entrants include workers under 26, people who recently held a UK Student or Graduate visa, and those in professional training. For workers using this lower salary rule, the total stay is capped at 4 years.

Since 8 April 2026, you need to pay the full required salary in every pay period. Averaging it out over the year no longer counts.

You pay £525 for each certificate of sponsorship. The worker must use it to apply for their visa within 3 months.

Workers applying from overseas need a defined certificate. Approval normally comes through within 1 working day.

Besides the certificate, there's the immigration skills charge for every worker. A small business or charity pays £480 for the first 12 months, then £240 per further 6 months. Medium and large businesses pay £1,320 to cover the first year, then £660 for each additional 6 months.

Add the licence fee (£611 for a small firm or charity, £1,682 for a medium or large one) and the Home Office fees for 1 worker come to:

The licence fee is a one-off. Every further worker means another £525 certificate plus the skills charge for however long they stay.

The visa fee is the worker's to pay. From overseas, the fee is £819 for stays of 3 years or less, or £1,618 beyond that. If they apply from inside the UK, the fee is £943 for up to 3 years, or £1,865 for longer.

There's also the healthcare surcharge, £1,035 per adult each year. For someone applying from overseas, the visa fee and surcharge add up to £1,854 over 1 year, £3,924 over 3 years, or £6,793 over 5 years.

On top of that, the worker needs £1,270 in savings held for 28 days. The worker does not need to hold these savings if you confirm on the certificate of sponsorship that you will support them financially.

If the worker applies from overseas, they usually get a decision within 3 weeks. For a worker applying from inside the UK to switch to this visa, a decision usually takes 8 weeks.

Graduate visa holders can switch over to this visa while staying in the UK. Since 26 March 2026, Skilled Worker applications made from outside the UK by Afghan nationals have been refused, so it's worth checking this early if it could affect your hire.

A new Skilled Worker needs English at level B2. Anyone who already held the visa before 8 January 2026 can extend at the easier B1 level.

There are three ways for the worker to show their English:

• a UK school qualification
• a degree that was taught in English
• an approved English test

That approved test is a Secure English Language Test, and it has to be from an approved provider. GOV.UK sets out which tests count.

Looking ahead a little, from 26 March 2027 workers who want to settle in the UK permanently will need B2 English in speaking and listening.

The worker needs a TB test when their stay will be 6 months or longer and they've lived in a listed country for 6 months or longer. GOV.UK lists the countries concerned and their approved clinics.

Once someone works for you under sponsorship, you must report most changes in their situation within 10 working days. Keep a note of anything that changes for them, so you can tell the Home Office in time.

If you'd like advice, check the adviser is registered with the Immigration Advice Authority or a member of an approved body like the Law Society.