If you are considering coming to the UK for work, this blog article provides a summary of the requirements for a Skilled Work visa as well as practical steps to get you closer to applying for the visa.
In order to apply for a Skilled Worker visa, you first need to secure an offer of employment with a company that holds a sponsor licence or a company that is willing to go through the process of applying for a sponsor licence in order to sponsor you. The basic requirements that you have to meet are:
· Have a job offer from a Home Office approved sponsor licence holder;
· The job type needs to be eligible for the Skilled Worker visa;
· Speak English at an intermediate level;
· Meet the criminality threshold; and
· Be paid the relevant salary, either the general salary requirement (£25,600) or the going rate, whichever is higher.
What steps should you take first when considering coming to the UK to work?
STEP 1 – Check that the job type is eligible for the Skilled Worker visa
You will be able to find a list of all the jobs which are eligible for the Skilled Worker visa through the following link:
STEP 2 – Find a job
The most popular job listing websites in the UK are Reed (https://www.reed.co.uk/) and Indeed (https://uk.indeed.com/). There are also many industry specific recruitment agencies that you can contact who will have an insider knowledge of the companies that are looking to recruit.
STEP 3 –Find out if the company advertising the job vacancy holds a sponsor licence
There are around 30,000 companies that hold a Home Office sponsor licence in the UK and they are listed on the register of sponsors which can be accessed through the following link:.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/register-of-licensed-sponsors-workers
If a company that wishes to employ you does not holder a sponsor licence, they can apply for a sponsor licence in order to sponsor you.
STEP 4 – I have secured a job offer, what next?
Once you have secured a job offer with a sponsor licence holder, you will then be able to apply for the Skilled Worker visa. This is the point where you should seek legal assistance with preparing your visa application to ensure that it is successful.
We are a specialist immigration law firm and assist clients with Skilled Worker visas on a daily basis and would love to assist you too. Moving countries is a stressful process but applying for a visa does not have to be.
Once you have secured a job offer, please feel free to: