THE ROAD TO PERMANENT RESIDENCE: Skilled Worker Visa – United Kingdom

As mentioned in our last post, we’ll be looking at possible paths to permanent residence in a number of countries in the next few posts. We’re starting with none other than the UK’s Skilled Worker visa. Read on to find out what the Skilled Worker visa is and how to get it.

As you can probably tell from the name, this visa gives you permission to work in the UK. It replaced the popular Tier 2 General visa in late 2020. Work-related visas are a popular path to getting permanent residence in the UK. According to this document, there we’re 122,512 work-related visas granted in the year ending March 2021.

So what exactly is the Skilled Worker visa?

According to Gov.UK, “This visa allows you to work in the UK, doing an eligible job, with an approved employer.” The specific references to ‘eligible‘ job and ‘approved‘ employer are intentional. Only specific jobs/job types can be approved under the Skilled Worker visa category. Additionally, these jobs can only qualify you for the skilled worker visa if your job offer is with specific employers approved by the UK government.

Jobs that qualify for Skilled Worker visa

So, let’s start with job types that qualify. This document gives a list of eligible occupations that qualify for the skilled worker visa. When applying for the skilled work visa, you will need to specify one of the 4-digit occupation codes in the list provided. Even if the title of the job you have been offered doesn’t match the exact title in the list, your job should be at a similar level to one of the job types in the list. For example, even though some engineering job titles are not explicitly stated, they may still qualify under the occupation code 2129.

Approved employers for Skilled Worker visa

Then, there’s the employer. Even with the right occupation code, your offer of employment must be with one of the licensed sponsors in order to be eligible to apply for the skilled worker visa. The list of licensed sponsors can be found here. If you get a job offer from one of these licensed sponsors, they will provide you with a certificate of sponsorship which gives information about the role you’ve been offered. That certificate of sponsorship is required for a successful application.

Salary Requirements for Skilled Worker visa

So, let’s say you now have a job offer from a licensed sponsor that falls under an eligible occupation code, and you’ve been issued a certificate of sponsorship. Are you all set to apply for your visa? Not quite. You also have to meet the salary requirements to qualify for the skilled worker visa. As of February 2022, according to this Gov.UK website, your minimum salary should be the highest of the following 3 options:

• £25,600 a year
• £10.10 per hour
• the ‘going rate’ for the type of work you will be doing

If you meet the above requirements, you’re eligible to apply for the skilled worker visa.

Why the Skilled Worker visa?

Here are a few reasons why the skilled worker visa is a popular route to permanent residence:

• You can apply for the skilled worker visa from within the UK or outside the UK, if you’re eligible. Table 2 in this document shows the top 5 nationalities granted skilled worker visas
• After 5 years on this visa, you will usually be able to apply for permanent residence if you adhered to the conditions of the visa when it was issued.

If you’re looking to apply for, or switch to the skilled worker visa, I’ll suggest the following as a starting point:

• Go through the list of licensed sponsors/employers. For the employers you’re interested in, have a look at their website and check for roles that interest you
• Go through the list of occupation codes. Check if your skills match one of the listed occupation codes.
• If none of the listed occupation codes apply to you, consider taking up training to get the skills that will qualify under one of those codes.

Good luck in your search.

DISCLAIMER – Information provided here does not serve as legal advice.