The salary requirement matters because it's the primary gate. Your job must be on the Shortage Occupation List (SOL) or you must meet the salary threshold. Before April 2024, many roles could qualify at lower pay if they were on the SOL. That list has shrunk. Nurses and midwives remain on it, which is why they have a separate, lower threshold of £33,900 rather than the standard £29,600. But most other occupations now depend on hitting the salary number.
Care workers—care home workers, domiciliary care workers, and support workers—are no longer eligible for Skilled Worker visas at all. The government removed them from the eligible occupations list in April 2024. This is a hard stop, not a salary issue. If you are a care worker abroad wanting to move to the UK, or a care home operator wanting to hire from overseas, the standard employment visa route is closed. Care homes have faced severe staffing shortages for years, and this decision has made recruitment from the EU and beyond impossible through normal channels. Some care workers may qualify under other visas—a partner or family member's visa, for instance, or if they have a job offer in a different role—but they cannot come as care workers on a work visa.
The processing timeline for Skilled Worker visas is typically eight weeks from application to decision, though it can take longer if the Home Office requests additional documents. Employers must first obtain a Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) from the Home Office, which takes around three weeks. The worker then applies using that CoS. Both steps have fees. The employer pays £719 per CoS (or £284 if the employer has a small-or-medium-enterprise license). The worker pays £719 for the visa application itself, plus £284 for the Immigration Health Surcharge per year of the visa (usually two or five years). A five-year Skilled Worker visa costs the worker £1,425 in visa fees plus £1,420 in health surcharge, totaling £2,845 before any legal advice or document preparation.
The rules apply to new applications and to renewals. If you are renewing a Skilled Worker visa, the new salary threshold applies to your renewal, not the old one. If your employer's salary offer falls below the new threshold, your renewal will be refused unless your role qualifies for the SOL exception. This has caught some workers off guard. A person earning £25,000 on their first visa, granted under the old rules, cannot renew at that salary level.
There are narrow exceptions. If you are a British citizen's spouse or partner, you may be able to apply for a spouse visa instead, which has no salary requirement for the sponsor. If you are a graduate of a UK university, you may qualify for the Graduate visa, which allows you to work in any role for up to three years after graduation, regardless of salary. If you are a care worker, you might explore the Health and Care Worker visa, a separate route introduced in 2022 that allows health and social care workers to come to the UK at a reduced cost (£284 total visa fee, no health surcharge), but this visa has strict eligibility criteria and is not available to all care roles or all nationalities. Check with the UK Home Office or a licensed immigration advisor to confirm whether your specific role and circumstances qualify.
Employers sponsoring workers must hold a valid Sponsor License. Obtaining one takes four to twelve weeks and costs £719 (or £284 for small employers). The license is valid for four years. Once licensed, an employer can sponsor multiple workers, but each worker requires a separate Certificate of Sponsorship. Employers must also meet compliance requirements: they must keep records of workers' right to work, conduct salary audits, and report changes in employment to the Home Office within 30 days. Failure to comply can result in fines up to £20,000 per worker and loss of the sponsor license.
The government's stated rationale for these changes is to reduce net migration and prioritize UK workers. The salary threshold is meant to ensure that employers recruit from the UK labor market first and only hire from overseas when they cannot find suitable domestic candidates at that price point. Whether this achieves that goal is debated, but the policy is in effect and shows no sign of reversing.
If you are planning to move to the UK for work, start by confirming your job title is eligible and that your salary offer meets the threshold. Ask your employer whether they hold a Sponsor License; if not, they will need to apply before they can sponsor you. Request a Certificate of Sponsorship in writing and keep all correspondence. Once you have the CoS, you can apply for the visa through the UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) online portal. Gather documents: your passport, proof of identity, proof of address, proof of funds (usually £1,270 to show you can support yourself), and any qualifications or certificates relevant to your role. If you are from outside the European Economic Area, you may also need to provide a tuberculosis test result.
The decision will come within eight weeks in most cases. If approved, you will receive a visa vignette in your passport and can enter the UK. Once in the country, you have 30 days to register with the police if you are from certain countries (check the list on the UKVI website). You will also need to open a UK bank account, register with a GP, and notify your employer of your arrival date.
Care workers and others locked out of the Skilled Worker route should speak with an immigration lawyer or advisor licensed by the Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner (OISC) to explore whether other visas apply to their situation. The landscape is complex, and a wrong move can waste time and money.
