United Kingdom Skilled Worker Visa (Tier 2)

General Information

The UK Skilled Worker visa (formerly known as General Work visa) enables individuals with specific qualifications, skills and experience to work in the United Kingdom for an approved sponsor company/employer in a skilled role/occupation.

This visa will last for up to 5 years. You can apply to extend your visa as many times as you like as long as you still meet the eligibility requirements.

After 5 years living and working in the United Kingdom, you might be eligible to apply to settle permanently (i.e. ‘indefinite leave to remain’).

You can apply for your visa up to 3 months before your travel.

Eligibility

In order to be eligible for this visa, applicants must score 70 points based on the criteria below:

• You will score 20 points if you have a job offer from an approved sponsor (i.e. an employer who has a Sponsor license)
• You will score 20 points if your job is at the appropriate skill level
• You will score 10 points if you speak English at the required level
• The other 20 points can be scored if you fulfil some additional requirements such as have a certain salary level, have a PhD and/or have a job that’s listed on the shortage occupation list

Requirements

In order to apply for the UK Skilled Worker visa you will need:

• A valid passport (your passport should have at least 6 months validity remaining and should have at least one blank page)
• A job offer from an UK employer that has a Sponsor license
• Your Certificate of sponsorship, assigned to you by your employer
• A bank statement showing you have at least £1,270 in savings
• Proof of your knowledge of English - Secure English Language Test (SELT) from an approved provider OR having a GCSE, A level, Scottish National Qualification level 4 or 5, Scottish Higher or Advanced Higher in English OR having a degree-level academic qualification that was taught in English
• Tuberculosis test results – if applicable
• * Additional documents may be required depending on the case.
• ** If your documents are not in English or Welsh, they should be accompanied by a certified translation.