Skilled Worker: sponsored employment at graduate level

Eligibility requirements

• The employer must hold a Worker sponsor licence covering Skilled Worker and must assign a certificate of sponsorship (CoS) for a genuine vacancy. The CoS records the occupation code, salary, hours and start date on which the application is assessed.
• The job must be in an occupation that Appendix Skilled Occupations lists as eligible. For a CoS assigned on or after 22 July 2025, new entrants to the route need an occupation at RQF level 6 (graduate level) or above; the Home Office explanatory memorandum to HC 997 records that around 180 occupations ceased to be eligible. Sub-degree occupations qualify only if they are on the Immigration Salary List or the Temporary Shortage List, and workers in those listed roles sponsored from that date cannot normally be accompanied by dependants.
• Workers already in the route before 22 July 2025 benefit from transitional provisions: they may extend, change employer or take supplementary employment in occupations below RQF 6, provided the salary rules are met. These arrangements are not indefinite and the Temporary Shortage List applies only to certificates issued before 31 December 2026.
• Salary must be at least the general threshold or the occupation's going rate, whichever is higher. Appendix Skilled Worker sets the general threshold at £41,700 (Option A); £37,500 with a relevant PhD; and £33,400 for a relevant STEM PhD, an Immigration Salary List job or a new entrant, each paired with a percentage of the going rate. Health and education occupations are assessed against national pay scales. Only pay for up to 48 hours a week counts.
• English at CEFR B2 in reading, writing, speaking and listening for applications from 8 January 2026. A worker who held Skilled Worker permission before that date and is extending or updating it needs B1.
• Maintenance funds of £1,270 unless the sponsor certifies maintenance on the CoS or the applicant has been in the UK with permission for 12 months. A criminal record certificate is required for certain occupations, and a tuberculosis certificate for applicants resident in listed countries.

Legal framework

Build the evidence

Prepare records that substantiate the relevant criteria. The final checklist depends on the applicant, route and filing authority.

• Certificate of sponsorship reference and the sponsor's licence details, with the CoS fields reconciled to the employment contract (job title, SOC code, salary, hours, work locations).
• Passport or travel document; biometric enrolment or identity verification through the UK Immigration: ID Check app where available.
• Evidence of English: an approved Secure English Language Test at B2, a degree taught in English confirmed by Ecctis, or nationality of a majority-English-speaking country.
• Maintenance evidence (28 days of funds) unless certified by the sponsor; tuberculosis test certificate and criminal record certificate where required.
• For the sponsor's file: right-to-work check records, the genuine-vacancy rationale, the salary justification against the going rate, and any Immigration Skills Charge calculation.
• For dependants: relationship evidence (marriage, civil partnership or two years' cohabitation), children's birth certificates, and separate maintenance funds (£285 partner, £315 first child, £200 each further child) unless exempt.

How to apply

1. 01

   Confirm the sponsor's position

   Check the licence covers Skilled Worker, that the key personnel are current and that the organisation has enough CoS allocation. A new employer applies for a licence first; GOV.UK quotes a fee of £611 for small or charitable sponsors and £1,682 for medium or large sponsors, and states that most licence applications are decided in under eight weeks.

2. 02

   Map the role to the Rules

   Identify the SOC 2020 code and confirm it is eligible at RQF 6 or on a list. Test the proposed salary against the general threshold and the going rate, and note that the lower options (PhD, STEM PhD, new entrant, Immigration Salary List) each require specific evidence. Resolve any dependant restriction before offering the role.

3. 03

   Assign the certificate of sponsorship and pay the charges

   Assign a defined CoS (for applicants outside the UK) or an undefined CoS (for in-country applications). Pay the Immigration Skills Charge, which GOV.UK quotes at £480 per year for small or charitable sponsors and £1,320 per year for medium or large sponsors, unless an exemption applies. The sponsor must not pass licence or CoS costs to the worker.

4. 04

   Submit the worker's application

   Apply online within three months of the CoS being assigned, pay the application fee and the Immigration Health Surcharge (£1,035 per year for adults, £776 for children, per GOV.UK), prove English and identity, and submit dependants' applications in parallel where permitted.

5. 05

   Start work and maintain the sponsorship

   Begin only after permission is granted, in the sponsored role. The sponsor reports changes (salary, job, work location, absences) through the Sponsorship Management System within the prescribed timescales and keeps the records required by Appendix D of the sponsor guidance.

6. 06

   Plan the extension or settlement application

   Track absences against the 180-day limit, keep salary at or above the threshold that will apply at settlement, and book the Life in the UK test in good time. Check the English level that will apply on the application date.

After approval & family planning

• Partners and children under 18 may apply as dependants unless the worker is in a listed sub-degree role sponsored on or after 22 July 2025. Dependants may work (other than as a professional sportsperson) and study; they have no access to most public funds.
• The permission is tied to the sponsored job. A change of employer, a change to a different occupation code, or a material change of duties requires a new CoS and a new application before the change takes effect. Supplementary employment is permitted within the Rules.
• The worker may apply for settlement after a continuous period of five years in the UK, counted under Appendix Continuous Residence, if still sponsored in a role meeting the salary requirements, with the Life in the UK test passed and the English requirement met. From 26 March 2027 the settlement English requirement rises to B2 in speaking and listening under HC 1691.
• The government's earned settlement consultation (20 November 2025 to 12 February 2026) proposed a baseline qualifying period of ten years, with reductions for higher earners and increases for sub-degree roles. At the review date no government response or Statement of Changes had implemented this; the five-year rule in Appendix Skilled Worker remains the operative law.

What this route builds, and what it opens

WG assesses every route on three returns: the knowledge it adds, the cognitive capability that sustained work abroad develops, and the institutional opportunity it opens or closes. Real work is the mechanism in each case.

Programme context. Where a participant holds a genuine graduate-level role with a UK affiliate that is a licensed sponsor and the salary meets the going rate, this route may be assessed. Sponsorship by the affiliate, not by the group, is what the authority examines. Read the framework ↗

Frequently asked questions

Points to consider

• The 2025 changes were implemented with transitional provisions for existing workers but none for salary thresholds. Any role budgeted before July 2025 should be re-costed against the current general threshold, going rate and Immigration Skills Charge.
• Treat the earned settlement proposals as a planning risk, not a rule. Workers who would qualify under the five-year rule before any change takes effect should have their absence record and salary position reviewed now.