Skilled Worker Visa UK 2021 – How to Apply and Salaries

Skilled worker Visa UK is now available due to the low shortage of occupations. Check which jobs are on the shortage occupations list in each area of the UK.

If your job is on the list, you can be paid 80% of the job’s usual going rate to qualify for a Skilled Worker visa UK.

The skilled worker visa UK annual salaries for these jobs are based on a 39-hour working week. They must be pro-rated for other working patterns, based on the weekly working hours stated by your employer.

There’s a different list of shortage occupations if you work in healthcare or education.

If you do not know your job’s occupation code, you can search for your job in the ONS occupation coding tool.

What is Skilled Worker Visa UK

A Skilled Worker visa UK allows you to come to or stay in the UK to do an eligible job with an approved employer. This visa has replaced the Tier 2 (General) work visa.

Eligibility to apply for Skilled Worker Visa UK

To qualify for a Skilled Worker visa, you must:

• Work for a UK employer that’s been approved by the Home Office
• Have a ‘certificate of sponsorship’ from your employer with information about the role you’ve been offered in the UK
• Do a job that’s on the list of eligible occupations
• Be paid a minimum salary – how much depends on the type of work you do

You must have a confirmed job offer before you apply for your visa.

How to apply for Skilled Worker Visa UK

You must apply online.

How you apply depends on whether you’re:

• Outside the UK and are coming to the UK
• Inside the UK and extending your current visa
• Inside the UK and switching from a different visa

If you want to change your job or employer, you must apply to update your visa.

You can include your partner and children in your application to stay in the UK if they are eligible.

Apply for Skilled Worker Visa UK Here

Skilled Worker Visa Uk Processing Time

You can apply for a visa up to 3 months before the day you are due to start work in the UK. This date is listed on your certificate of sponsorship.

As part of your application, you’ll need to prove your identity and provide your documents.

You may need to allow extra time if you need an appointment to do this. You’ll find out if you need one when you start your application.

What you can and cannot do with a Skilled Worker Visa UK

With a Skilled Worker visa you can:

• Work in an eligible job
• Study
• Bring your partner and children with you as your ‘dependants’, if they’re eligible
• Take on additional work in certain circumstances
• Do voluntary work
• Travel abroad and return to the UK
• Apply to settle permanently in the UK (also known as ‘indefinite leave to remain’) if you’ve lived in the UK for 5 years and meet the other eligibility requirements

You cannot:

• Apply for most benefits (public funds), or the State Pension
• Change jobs or employer unless you apply to update your visa

If your application is successful, you’ll get a full list of what you can and cannot do with a Skilled Worker visa UK

When you can be paid less as a Uk Skilled Worker

You might still be able to apply for a Skilled Worker visa UK if your job is eligible but your salary is less than £25,600 or your job’s usual ‘going rate’. You must still be paid at least £10.10 per hour.

You can be paid between 70% and 90% of the usual going rate for your job if your salary is at least £20,480 per year and you meet one of the following criteria:

• Your job is in a shortage occupation
• 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 that’s relevant to your job (if you have a relevant PhD level qualification in any other subject your salary must be at least £23,040)
• You have a postdoctoral position in science or higher education

Your job is in a shortage occupation

A ‘shortage occupation’ is a skilled job where there is a shortage of workers in the UK.

If your job is on the shortage occupation list, you can:

• Be paid 80% of the job’s usual going rate
• Pay a lower fee for your visa

Make sure you check there’s a shortage in the part of the UK you’ll be working in – England, Scotland, Wales, or Northern Ireland.

You’re under 26, studying or a recent graduate, or in professional training

You can be paid 70% of your job’s usual going rate if one of the following applies:

• You’re under 26 on the date you apply
• You’re currently in the UK on a Student visa studying at bachelor’s degree level or above – or you have been in the last 2 years, and a Student or visit visa was your most recent visa
• You’re currently in the UK on a Graduate Entrepreneur visa
• You’ll be working towards a recognised qualification in a UK regulated profession
• You’ll be working towards full registration or chartered status in the job you’re being sponsored for

Your total stay in the UK cannot be more than 4 years if you apply for one of these reasons. This includes any time you’ve already spent in the UK on Tier 2 (General) work visa.

You have a PhD level qualification that’s relevant to your job

If your job is eligible for a Ph.D. salary discount, you can be paid 80% or 90% of the job’s usual going rate, depending on which subject you are qualified in.

If you have a science, technology, engineering, or maths (STEM) qualification, you can be paid 80% of your job’s usual going rate, as long as you will still be paid at least £20,480 per year.

If you have a non-STEM qualification, you can be paid 90% of your job’s usual going rate, as long as you will still be paid at least £23,040 a year.

In both situations, you must:

• Have a UK PhD or an equivalent doctorate-level overseas qualification – you’ll need to apply through Ecctis (formerly UK NARIC) to check if an overseas qualification is equivalent to a UK PhD
• Be able to prove your qualification is relevant to the job you’ll be doing in the UK – your employer can confirm this

If you’re a research or academic leader, you may also be eligible to apply for the Global Talent visa. This visa has no language or minimum salary requirements.

You have a postdoctoral position in science or higher education

You can be paid 70% of your job’s usual going rate if you’ll be working in a postdoctoral position in certain science or higher education roles.

Your job must be in one of the following occupation codes to qualify for this salary discount:

• 2111: chemical scientists
• 2112: biological scientists and biochemists
• 2113: physical scientists
• 2114: social and humanities scientists
• 2119: natural and social science professionals that are ‘not elsewhere classified’, such as research fellows and sports scientists
• 2311: higher education teaching professionals

Your total stay in the UK cannot be more than 4 years if you apply to work in a postdoctoral position at 70% of the usual going rate. This includes any time you’ve already spent in the UK on Tier 2 (General) work visa.