UK Skilled Worker Visa Eligibility

On this page ▾

• The three questions
• The 70 points
• Validity, suitability, eligibility
• Core requirements
• Salary & going rate
• Additional requirements
• Switching in-country
• Nationality restriction
• Care workers
• Eligibility checklist
• Step-by-step assessment
• Common mistakes
• FAQs

Where eligibility begins

For most applicants, eligibility starts with three questions:

• Do you have sponsorship from an approved employer?
• Is the job eligible for the Skilled Worker route?
• Can you meet the applicable salary and English-language requirements?

If the answer to any of these is no, the application may not qualify.

Eligibility at a glance — the 70 points

Check whether you meet the requirements

The three stages of a Skilled Worker application

The Home Office approaches an application in three stages:

Core requirements

1. You must be at least 18

A Skilled Worker applicant must be 18 or over on the date of application. This is mandatory — applicants under 18 cannot qualify under this route.

2. A valid Certificate of Sponsorship

You must be sponsored by an employer authorised to sponsor Skilled Workers, who assigns you a Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) — an electronic record containing your employer, the role, occupation code, salary, working arrangements and other sponsorship information. For applications made from outside the UK, a Defined CoS is required, and the sponsor must hold the appropriate licence.

3. Your job must be genuine

The role must genuinely exist. The Home Office will not award sponsorship points where there are reasonable grounds to believe it does not exist, is a sham, or has mainly been created so the applicant can obtain permission. Arrangements that effectively hire the worker out to a third party to fill that organisation's ongoing position are also restricted. The duties performed in practice must correspond with the sponsored role — changing the job title without changing the actual role is a common mistake, and the assessment is not limited to the contract title.

4. An eligible occupation

All applicants must obtain 20 mandatory points for a job at the appropriate skill level. The role must use an eligible SOC 2020 occupation code in the relevant Skilled Worker tables. For CoS assigned from 22 July 2025, a job must normally be at RQF Level 6 or above (broadly graduate-level).

Can jobs below graduate level still qualify? Potentially — where the occupation is on the Immigration Salary List, the Temporary Shortage List, or a transitional provision applies (including for certain workers already sponsored before 22 July 2025). Eligibility for a below-graduate role should never be judged from the job title alone — the occupation code, applicable list and any transitional eligibility must all be checked. See our eligible jobs & occupation codes guide; an occupation finder is in development.

5. The correct occupation code

The sponsor must select an occupation code that accurately reflects the job. Points should not be awarded where there are reasonable grounds to believe an inappropriate code was chosen — so the Home Office may look beyond the title to the actual duties, responsibilities, skill level, working arrangements and salary. Choosing a code because it produces a more favourable salary threshold, despite the real duties belonging to another occupation, is a common (and risky) mistake.

6. The English-language requirement

English provides 10 mandatory points. Most applicants now need CEFR level B2 in speaking, listening, reading and writing.

7. Twenty tradeable points

After the 50 mandatory points, you need a further 20 under an available tradeable-points option. The main salary pathways are:

• Option A — salary alone.
• Option B — salary plus a relevant PhD.
• Option C — salary plus a relevant STEM PhD.
• Option D — salary plus a job on the Immigration Salary List.
• Option E — salary plus qualifying as a new entrant.

Options F–J cover corresponding salary routes for specified Health and Care roles and certain transitional applicants; Option K applies to specified health and education occupations on national pay scales.

8. Your salary must meet the applicable rules

The salary assessment is one of the most technical parts of eligibility. For most occupations, UKVI considers both the applicable general salary threshold and the applicable going rate for the occupation — and the precise amounts depend on which tradeable-points option applies.

For example, the current caseworker guidance identifies £41,700 together with the full applicable going rate under the standard salary-only option for occupations in Tables 1 and 1a. Lower thresholds may apply under qualifying tradeable-points options.

Two applicants earning the same salary can have different outcomes because of different occupation codes, different going rates, new-entrant status, a relevant STEM PhD, Immigration Salary List reliance, or different transitional rules. See our salary requirements & going rates guide (Options A–K, thresholds and the working-hours rules); a Salary & Going Rate Calculator is in development.

9. Genuine intention to do the sponsored job

Separately from the genuine-vacancy test (which focuses on the employer), a genuine-intention requirement focuses on you: you must genuinely intend to undertake the sponsored role, be capable of doing it, and not intend to work outside the sponsored role except where your conditions permit. If the evidence suggests neither your background nor your plans correspond with the job, the genuineness of the proposed employment may become relevant.

Additional requirements (where applicable)

Financial requirement

The financial (maintenance) requirement helps show you can support yourself on arrival. It applies where you apply for entry clearance from outside the UK, or have been in the UK for less than one year at the date of application. An A-rated sponsor can certify maintenance when assigning the CoS; otherwise you provide the financial evidence required by Appendix Finance. This is separate from the salary requirement — see our dedicated financial requirement guide (the £1,270 funds, the 28-day rule, the 12-month automatic provision and sponsor certification).

Previous government or scholarship sponsorship

Where you received an award covering both fees and living costs from a government or international scholarship agency in the 12 months before the application, written consent from that sponsor is required — given in the required official form and confirming permission to remain in or re-enter the UK. Don't assume an old scholarship is irrelevant without checking who funded it, what it covered and when.

Tuberculosis certificate

Not required from every applicant. An entry-clearance applicant must provide a valid TB certificate where they have been residing in a country listed in Appendix TB for more than six months immediately before applying. Failure to provide a required certificate can result in refusal.

Criminal-record certificate

Depending on the job and your circumstances, you may be required to provide an overseas criminal-record certificate. It does not apply to every application — see the documents checklist for the occupation-specific evidence.

ATAS

Certain sponsored roles require the Academic Technology Approval Scheme (ATAS). Where it applies, satisfying it forms part of obtaining the 20 skill-level points. It won't apply to most applicants, so treat it as a conditional requirement — being eligible under an occupation code doesn't automatically exempt every applicant from additional requirements.

Can you apply from inside the UK?

A person already in the UK may be able to switch into the Skilled Worker route — but you cannot switch if your current or most recent permission was as a Visitor, Short-term Student, Parent of a Child Student, Seasonal Worker, or Domestic Worker in a Private Household, or if it was granted outside the Immigration Rules.

Switching from a Student visa

A Student may switch only where the relevant conditions are met — for example, completing the course the CAS was assigned for (or a permitted changed course), having a course that finishes before the CoS employment start date, or having completed at least 24 months of a PhD where applicable. A Student cannot necessarily obtain a CoS and switch immediately just because they have a job offer — the relationship between course completion, CAS dates, PhD study and the proposed start date may need checking. See switching to a Skilled Worker visa.

Care workers & senior care workers

Occupations 6135 (care workers and home carers) and 6136 (senior care workers) are subject to additional sponsorship, immigration-status and regulatory requirements. Sponsors can no longer apply for a Defined CoS to bring workers from overseas under these codes — sponsorship is now limited to qualifying in-country cases meeting the additional requirements. This is a specialist area: see Health and Care Worker Visa and Care Worker Skilled Worker rules.

Skilled Worker eligibility checklist

Core requirements

• I am at least 18.
• I have a genuine job offer.
• My employer holds the appropriate Skilled Worker sponsor licence.
• I have, or will receive, a valid Certificate of Sponsorship.
• My job is in an eligible occupation.
• My occupation meets the applicable skill-level rules.
• The correct occupation code has been selected.
• My salary satisfies the applicable salary option.
• I meet the applicable English-language requirement.

Additional requirements where applicable

• I meet the financial requirement (or my sponsor has certified maintenance).
• I have any required TB certificate.
• I have any required criminal-record certificate.
• I satisfy any ATAS requirement.
• I have consent from a previous government/scholarship sponsor where required.
• I am permitted to switch from my current UK immigration category.
• Any occupation-specific requirements are satisfied.

Step-by-step eligibility assessment

• Step 1
  Your immigration position

  Outside the UK, already in the UK, switching, or extending?

• Step 2
  Your employer

  Does the employer hold the required sponsorship permission?

• Step 3
  Your occupation

  Identify the correct SOC code and skill level.

• Step 4
  Salary

  Compare actual salary against the applicable threshold and going rate.

• Step 5
  English

  Determine whether B2 or a transitional B1 requirement applies.

• Step 6
  Tradeable points

  Identify the salary option you qualify under.

• Step 7
  Additional requirements

  Finance, TB, criminal record, ATAS, scholarship consent, occupation-specific rules.

• Step 8
  Validity & suitability

  Check there are no issues preventing a valid application or leading to refusal.

Common eligibility mistakes

• Checking only that the employer has a sponsor licence — a licensed sponsor doesn't make every job eligible.
• Checking salary without the occupation code — the going rate depends on the occupation.
• Confusing graduate-level work with holding a degree — the classification concerns the job, not automatically your qualifications.
• Treating the 70 points as fully interchangeable — the 50 sponsorship/job/English points are mandatory.
• Mixing different salary options — you can't combine favourable pieces of several to create a new route.
• Ignoring switching restrictions — being legally present in the UK doesn't automatically mean you can switch.
• Assuming everyone needs B2 — certain existing Skilled Workers fall within the transitional B1 provision.
• Assuming all below-graduate jobs are prohibited — some remain eligible via the ISL, TSL or transitional provisions.

Frequently asked questions

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