Skilled Worker Visa Lawyer in Bedford: The Complete Sponsored Job Checklist

Skilled Worker requirements at a glance

Written and reviewed by Basharat Hussain, IAA regulated Immigration Lawyer (Ref F201800051). Rules checked October 2026 against the GOV.UK Skilled Worker guide, including your job and costs.

Your certificate of sponsorship, field by field

The certificate is an electronic record your employer creates in the Home Office sponsorship system. You receive a reference number, not a paper document, and your application is assessed against what it says. If the certificate and your evidence disagree, the caseworker believes neither.

• Job title and duties: a description of the real work, which must fit the occupation code chosen.
• Occupation code: the four-digit code that decides skill level and going rate.
• Gross salary and hours: the guaranteed basic pay and weekly hours, used to test both annual and hourly pay.
• Start and end dates: these set the length of the visa you can be granted.
• Maintenance: whether the sponsor certifies that it will support you for your first month.

Ask HR to show you a draft before it is assigned. Once assigned, you have 3 months to use it.

Occupation codes and skill level

Since 22 July 2025, new Skilled Worker applicants generally need a job in a higher-skilled occupation, which broadly means graduate level, RQF Level 6 or above. Medium-skilled jobs can still be sponsored only where the code is on the Immigration Salary List or the Temporary Shortage List. People whose first certificate of sponsorship was issued before 22 July 2025, and who have stayed on the route, can usually continue in medium-skilled roles.

Choosing the code is the employer’s decision, but it is often where things go wrong. A care coordinator described as a manager, or a junior analyst coded as a senior professional, will be refused if the duties do not match. Source: GOV.UK: your job.

Salary rules and reduced rates

The standard test compares your guaranteed basic gross pay with two figures, £41,700 a year and the going rate for your occupation code, and you must meet whichever is higher. Each code has its own going rate in the published going rates table. Several groups can be paid less, as long as their pay stays above a minimum floor.

New entrant pay is time-limited: your total time on new entrant terms cannot exceed 4 years, after which an extension must meet the full rate. Workers whose first certificate pre-dates 4 April 2024 may still extend under older thresholds. Source: GOV.UK: when you can be paid less.

The B2 English rule from 8 January 2026

Anyone applying for Skilled Worker permission for the first time from 8 January 2026 must show English at B2, one level higher than before. People extending or updating permission first granted before that date only need B1. You can prove it in one of four ways:

• A GCSE, A level or Scottish National Qualification in English from a UK school
• A UK degree taught in English
• An overseas degree confirmed by Ecctis as equivalent to a UK bachelor’s and taught in English
• A pass in a Secure English Language Test from an approved provider

Nationals of majority English-speaking countries, some regulated health professionals and people who already proved the right level are exempt. Source: GOV.UK: knowledge of English.

Switching to Skilled Worker inside the UK

Most people with UK permission can switch without leaving. Students must normally have completed their course first, unless the job starts after the course ends or they are on a full-time PhD and have studied for at least 24 months. Visitors, short-term students, seasonal workers, domestic workers in a private household, parents of a Child Student and people on immigration bail cannot switch. After applying, do not travel outside the UK, Ireland, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man, because leaving withdraws the application. Source: GOV.UK: switch to this visa.

New employer, new role or a second job

A fresh application with a new certificate is needed if you move to a different sponsor, move to a different occupation code (outside a graduate training programme), or move from a role on the Immigration Salary List to one that is not. You can keep working in your current job while it is decided, but should not start the new one until permission is confirmed. You can apply up to 3 months before the new start date. Source: GOV.UK: changing job or employer.

Extra paid work of up to 20 hours a week is allowed on top of your sponsored job if it is higher skilled, on the Immigration Salary List, or in the same code and level. Unlimited overtime in the sponsored role is fine. Source: GOV.UK: second job.

Extending your Skilled Worker visa

To extend, you normally stay with the same employer, in the same job and the same occupation code, and apply before your current permission ends. Your partner and children do not extend automatically; each needs their own application before their permission runs out. Decisions usually take about 8 weeks, and you must stay in the Common Travel Area while you wait. Source: GOV.UK: extend your visa.

Partners and children

A husband, wife, civil partner or unmarried partner of at least 2 years, and children under 18, can apply as your dependants. Unless exempt, the family shows £285 for a partner, £315 for the first child and £200 for each further child, on top of your own £1,270. Care and senior care workers can only bring dependants if they have been in that role on the route since before 11 March 2024, and medium-skilled workers only if continuously sponsored since before 22 July 2025. Higher-skilled workers are not affected. For children joining later, see our child dependant visa page. Source: GOV.UK: partner and children.

The road to settlement

Under the Immigration Rules in force in October 2026, Skilled Worker visa holders can usually apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain after 5 continuous years on qualifying routes, provided they still meet the salary requirement and pass the Life in the UK test. In November 2025 the government published A Fairer Pathway to Settlement, a consultation on earned settlement that proposes a longer standard qualifying period. Those proposals have not yet replaced the current 5-year rule, so we recheck the position before every settlement plan.

Common reasons Skilled Worker applications are refused

• Occupation code that does not match the duties described
• Pay that only meets the threshold once allowances or overtime are added
• Savings that dipped below £1,270 on one day of the 28
• English evidence at B1 when B2 was needed
• Doubts that the vacancy is genuine, often in small or new businesses
• Missing criminal record certificate for education, health or social care roles applied for from abroad
• Travelling abroad while an in-country application was pending

We explain each refusal reason and whether a new application or an administrative review is the better step. If you need an appeal or judicial review, we will tell you and refer you to a solicitor or barrister.