What Are The Requirements Of A Skilled Worker (Tier 2) Visa?

What is a Skilled Worker Visa?

The Skilled Worker Visa is formerly known as a Tier 2 (General) visa. It allows you to come to or stay in the UK to do an eligible job with an approved employer who has a valid “Sponsor Licence”. After 5 years you can apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR). Then after 12 months with ILR, you can become eligible to apply to naturalise as a British citizen and obtain a British passport.

What’re the requirements for a Skilled Worker Visa?

Under the skilled worker route, the applicant needs to prove:

A job offer from a licensed sponsor

To apply for a Skilled Worker Visa, you must have a job offer from a UK company with a valid “Sponsor License”. A Sponsor Licence is a license that gives UK employers permission to hire migrant workers from countries or regions outside of the UK, including EU nationals entering the UK from 1st January 2021. If you want to know which companies have sponsor licence, please check all the approved licensed sponsors here.

In addition, you’ll need a Certificate of Sponsorship (COS) from your employer to apply for the Skilled Worker Visa, and the COS must include details on the role you've been offered in the UK.

Appropriate skill level requirement

Under the skilled worker route, the job you’re looking to fill needs to meet the required skill level  - RFQ-3 or above (A-levels and equivalent). You can find all the eligible occupations for Skilled Worker Visa here.

Minimum Salary requirement

Apart from the skill level requirement, the job provided by the sponsor company must also meet the applicable minimum wage threshold. Whichever is the higher out of the following options:

English requirement:

You’ll need to prove your knowledge of English up to the required standard. However, for some nationalities, you do not need to prove your English knowledge, please find the list of the nationals here.

• UKVI IELTS (general) with a minimum score of 4 in reading, writing, speaking, and listening. Some occupations may need higher scores depending on their job role; OR
• having a GCSE, A level or Advanced Higher in English; OR
• having a degree-level academic qualification that was taught in English (need confirmation from UK NARIC), OR
• Other Secure English Language Test (SELT) providers such as Pearson, language Cert, PSI service the UK, and Trinity at CEFR B1 level