Blog Post

Two things about the UK skilled worker visa changed on 22 July 2025, and between them they rule out a lot of people who would have qualified a year earlier. The minimum skill level rose to degree level, and the general salary floor is now GBP 41,700 or the going rate for the job, whichever is higher.

If you have read a guide saying the threshold is GBP 25,600 and the skill level is RQF 3, that guide is describing the scheme as it launched in January 2021. An earlier version of this page said exactly that. Here is where it actually stands.

What changed, and when

The skill level change is the one that removed people rather than repriced them. Around 180 occupations stopped qualifying on that date. Importantly, the Home Office assesses the skill level of the occupation code on your certificate of sponsorship, not your personal qualifications, so holding a degree does not help if the job is coded below degree level.

The 70 points

The route still runs on 70 points. Some are mandatory and cannot be traded: having an approved sponsor, a job at the required skill level, and English at the required standard. The remainder come from your salary, with tradeable alternatives such as a relevant PhD or a job on the Immigration Salary List allowing a lower salary to still reach 70.

Because the tradeable elements are the part that changes most often, the sensible move is to run your own case through the official points checker rather than work from any published breakdown, including this one.

Who is eligible

• Your employer is on the Home Office register of licensed sponsors.
• Your job is on the list of eligible occupations.
• Your job is at RQF 6 or above, or on the Immigration Salary List or Temporary Shortage List, both of which are time limited.
• Your salary meets the higher of the general threshold and the going rate for the occupation.
• You can prove English at level B2 on the CEFR scale, in reading, writing, speaking and listening. This rose from B1 for applications made on or after 8 January 2026, and it applies to new applications from overseas and to switching or extending into the route. If you already held the visa before that date, B1 still applies when you extend. Separately, the English requirement for settlement rises from B1 to B2 on 26 March 2027.

There are transitional rules if you were already sponsored below degree level before 22 July 2025. You can generally still extend and still change employer within that skill level, provided your residence has been continuous. If that is you, get advice on your own position rather than reading the new rules and assuming the worst.

The salary rule, which has two floors not one

This is where most applications fail, and it is because there are two numbers and you have to clear both.

So a job whose going rate is GBP 45,000 needs GBP 45,000, and being on the Immigration Salary List does not reduce that. The list lowers the general floor only. Check your occupation’s going rate before you treat any headline figure as your target, and see our guide to the UK shortage occupation list for how the lists work.

Both lists are scheduled to lapse on 31 December 2026, and the government has reserved the right to bring that forward. Treat them as a closing window.

Proving your English

You need to read, write, speak and understand English to at least level B1 on the Common European Framework of Reference. There are several ways to show it:

• A degree taught in English. If it was awarded outside the UK you will need Ecctis, formerly UK NARIC, to confirm it is equivalent to a UK bachelor’s, master’s or PhD.
• Passing a Secure English Language Test (SELT).
• An A level, Scottish National Qualification at level 4 or 5, Scottish Higher or Advanced Higher in English, or a GCSE, taken at a UK school you enrolled at before the age of 18.

Two exemptions are worth knowing. If you are applying as a dentist, doctor, nurse, vet or midwife and have already passed an English assessment accepted by your professional regulator, you do not need to prove it again. And you do not need to prove it at all if you are a national of Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Canada, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Malta, New Zealand, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago or the USA.

How long it lasts, and what it leads to

The visa is granted for up to five years at a time and can be extended. The route has led to indefinite leave to remain after five years of continuous residence, though the qualifying period for settlement has been the subject of proposed change, so confirm the current rule before you plan a decade around it.

On this visa you can:

• Work in the job you were sponsored for
• Take a second job, subject to conditions, and volunteer
• Study alongside your work
• Travel out of and back into the UK
• Apply for indefinite leave to remain when eligible

You cannot:

• Change employer or job without updating your visa
• Claim most public benefits, or count on the state pension

You can bring a spouse or partner and children as dependants, and their permission runs to the same end date as yours.

What it costs

Three separate pots of money, and the application fee is the smallest of them for a long visa:

• The application fee, charged at two tiers depending on whether the visa is for up to three years or longer, and lower if you apply from outside the UK. It was in the region of GBP 950 and GBP 1,900 for the two in-UK tiers when this was written, and it is revised most Aprils, so take the figure from the official fee table rather than from any guide.
• The Immigration Health Surcharge, GBP 1,035 per adult per year, paid upfront for the whole visa length. A five year visa means GBP 5,175 per adult before you arrive, which is usually the largest single cost. Check the amount for your case.
• Proof of funds, GBP 1,270, held for 28 consecutive days ending within 31 days of applying. Add GBP 285 for a partner, GBP 315 for a first child and GBP 200 for each additional child.

The proof of funds requirement is waived if you and your family have held valid UK visas for at least 12 months, or if your employer certifies that they will cover your costs for your first month.

Your employer pays separately, and it is worth knowing because it shapes whether they will sponsor you at all: a Certificate of Sponsorship costs them GBP 525 per worker, on top of the sponsor licence and the Immigration Skills Charge.

Applying, and the end of the BRP

Applications start online, and yours is separate from your partner’s and each child’s. You will usually need to give fingerprints and a photograph at a visa application centre.

What you will not get is a biometric residence permit. BRPs were phased out and the last of them expired on 31 December 2024. Your status now lives online as an eVisa, accessed through a UKVI account, and that account is what you use to prove your right to work and to travel. Set it up as soon as your visa is granted, because employers and carriers check it rather than a card.

Related reading

• What is on the UK shortage occupation list
• The Health and Care Worker visa, which is cheaper and faster for eligible health roles
• The wider set of UK immigration changes
• Work visa routes across 15 European countries, if the new thresholds price you out

Browse UK shortage jobs with visa sponsorship on our board, and check any employer against the Home Office register of licensed sponsors before you commit to anything.

Last checked September 2026. Salary thresholds, fees and the health surcharge are revised regularly, usually each April, and the Immigration Salary List and Temporary Shortage List are scheduled to lapse on 31 December 2026. Confirm every figure on gov.uk before you apply.