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Home > Services > Skill Worker Route Visa UK Application Guide
Our experienced immigration solicitors have a proven track record of success in securing visas for high-skilled workers, entrepreneurs, and families who want to relocate to the United Kingdom.
We have more than a decade of experience in skilled worker visa applications, and we can help you every step of the way with your application.
We help workers and sponsors through the complicated process of getting skilled worker visa from Home Office. Additionally, we’ll work with you to bring your family members to the UK as your dependents. As experienced UK immigration lawyers, we bring extensive experience and recognised skills in helping employers and workers on UK employment sponsorship and skilled worker visa applications. Contact us if you need expert advice.
With a skilled worker visa, you can come or stay in UK to work in a job that meets certain requirements for an approved employer. The Home Office changed the points-based immigration system in 2020 and skilled worker visa replaced Tier 2 (general work visa). Tier 2 and the skilled worker route have similarities, but changes have been made to allow employers to sponsor a larger foreign workforce. These changes may make the UK a more preferred prospect for migrants. The new points-based system will include a path for skilled workers with an employer sponsor job offer.
COVID restrictions aside, skilled worker visa applications usually take up to 8 weeks if they are made from within the UK and up to 3 weeks if they are made from outside the UK. But these timelines are not set in stone, some complex cases take more time.
Depending on the location where your application is being processed, it may be possible to pay for expedited service.
The sponsor must have a valid sponsor licence in order to give their candidate a “Certificate of Sponsorship.”
The information about the job offer must be on the Certificate of Sponsorship(CoS).
The work has to:
Also, when the sponsor gives the CoS, they are confirming that they will follow the duties that come with being a licenced sponsor, such as keeping an eye on sponsored workers and telling the Home Office if there are any changes to their work conditions that are important.
There is no appeal for a denied skilled worker application from outside or inside the UK. But, you could request an administrative or judicial review. Our team of skilled immigration professionals can help you apply for a skilled worker visa or recommend an alternative.
Most of the time, the skilled worker visa is useful for up to 5 years. At this point, the person with the visa would have to apply to extend it, or, after living in the UK for 5 years, they might be able to apply for UK indefinite leave to remain. You can get a skilled worker visa extension as many times as you want, as long as you keep meeting the requirements.
If the visa holder changes jobs or sponsors, they will need to apply for a new period of leave.
To get a skilled worker visa, most people just have to follow a simple process.
Roles below “RQF3” (the equivalent of an A-level), are ineligible for the skilled immigration route. Even though there may be other ways to get into UK, there is no general work permit or way to get into the country for “low skilled” workers or jobs below this level on skilled worker visa.
If you get a job offer from a different UK sponsor, you’ll need a new “Certificate of Sponsorship” in order to apply for a “Change of Employment.” Before you can start sponsored work for the new employer, the new skilled worker visa must be approved.
Yes, skilled worker can bring their spouse, unmarried partner, and children under 18 with them on a dependent visa.
