Successful Sponsor Licence Application
Efficient and helpful. Amer and his Team are quick to respond to queries, even over the weekends and at night. Sponsor Licence granted after only 4 weeks. Thanks.
Daniel Johnson
Become A Skilled Worker In The UK
Reach out to Cranbrook Legal’s solicitors when you are looking to obtain the Skilled Worker visa for the UK. Our capable and experienced workers can manage your application for this visa from start to finish, and we have a high success rate.
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If you are interested in being approved for the Skilled Worker visa for the UK, you can place the utmost faith in our immigration lawyers in central London.
We have an excellent track record of helping to build careers. As with the other visa routes for which we provide expertise, we project-manage our clients’ cases, supporting them throughout the visa application process. We also work closely with employers who have sponsor licences.
Whether you are a worker wishing to secure this visa, a holder of this visa in the UK who plans to extend it, or an employer acting as a sponsor for someone on the Skilled Worker visa, you can trust our specialists to provide the complete service.
Having already built a strong reputation as experts in the Tier 2 visa for the UK, we have also provided a friendly and responsive service for Skilled Worker visa holders and applicants since the introduction of this visa route in late 2020.
Enquire today to learn more about how we can help you, your family or your organisation in relation to the UK Skilled Worker visa.
Recent Skilled Worker Visa Success Stories
Our work for those wishing to secure the Skilled Worker visa to live and work in the UK builds on our existing formidable reputation as Tier 2 visa solicitors.
We take pride in recruiting the most talented immigration lawyers, who – with their progressive and dynamic mindset – help deliver a first-class service to our clients. Our Skilled Worker visa UK solicitors will treat your case with care, dignity and transparency, while guiding and assisting you to help ensure the best possible outcome.
Our knowhow and experience in relation to the Skilled Worker visa doesn’t just cover those presently outside the UK who would like to apply to obtain this visa. That’s because we can also cater to migrantswho already hold this visa and would like to extend it, and those looking to switch to this visa from a different visa category. We can even assist Tier 2 Intra-company Transfer (ICT) migrants who wish to move onto the Skilled Worker visa as individuals who are already in the UK.
So, whether you are a prospective first-time applicant for the Skilled Worker visa, interested in a Tier 2 ICT to Skilled Worker visa switch, or even looking to apply to settle in the UK as a holder of this visa, please don’t hesitate to reach out to our seasoned specialists in UK immigration law.
The UK Skilled Worker visa was introduced in December 2020, replacing the Tier 2 (General) route. This visa category has been designed to enable employers to hire people to work in the UK in a specific job in an eligible skilled occupation.
Applications for the Tier 2 Skilled Worker route are available to individuals in the following categories:
For the purposes of the above, EEA nationals do not include Irish citizens, who do not need to apply for a visa or apply to the EU Settlement Scheme if they wish to come to and work in the UK.
Being a holder of this successor to the Tier 2 visa entitles you to do the following:
Holders of the Skilled Worker visa for the UK are not permitted, however, to do the following:
If you are successful in being approved for this visa, the Home Office will provide you with a comprehensive list of what you can and cannot do as a holder of the visa.
Whatever your intentions and aspirations in relation to this visa route, our central London-based immigration solicitors can be trusted as a source of up-to-date Skilled Worker visa guidance and advice. Please don’t hesitate to arrange a consultation with us now.
If you wish to be approved for the UK Skilled Worker visa, or if you are an employer looking to take on a new employee through this route, the following must apply:
For further information about the full range of requirements that will apply to you as a candidate through this visa route, as well as to book your free consultation with us, please reach out to our Skilled Worker visa UK lawyers.
Your eligibility for the UK Skilled Worker visa as a prospective employee depends on you scoring 70 points according to the Home Office’s Points criteria. You must score 50 points for mandatory or ‘non-tradeable’ criteria, and 20 points for ‘tradeable’ criteria.
The mandatory criteria are outlined in the table below. Your application for the visa will not be successful unless you score 50 points from this table:
| Points type | Description | Points available |
|---|---|---|
| Sponsorship | The applicant is required to have a valid Certificate of Sponsorship for the role they wish to take on | 20 |
| Job at an appropriate skill level | The role must be among the Home Office’s eligible occupations for this visa | 20 |
| English language | The applicant is required to have English language skills at a minimum of level B1 on the Common European Framework of Reference for language in all four components (speaking, listening, reading, writing) | 10 |
Applicants for the Skilled Worker visa for the UK must – in addition to scoring 50 points for the criteria above –score 20 ‘tradeable’ points based on the following:
Why Customers Love Us ?
Successful Sponsor Licence Application
Efficient and helpful. Amer and his Team are quick to respond to queries, even over the weekends and at night. Sponsor Licence granted after only 4 weeks. Thanks.
Daniel Johnson
Care Home Sponsor Licence Application!
We used Cranbrook Legal for the processing of a Sponsor Licence Application. We are a Health Care provider and have faced huge difficulties in recruiting for our Care Homes. Amer and his team were quick to identify the documents needed for our specific case and they were able to prepare a really strong application. I have no doubt that the really good Cover Letter convinced the Home Office to approve our Application. Thanks again, superb work!
Sophie Barton
ILR Application
Thanks to Amer and team for all help given to me my indefinite visa and British citizenship : so many solicitor tell me that British Nationality is impossible for me but Amer looked at my file and took care and fight with Home Office and in the end they give up and give me British Nationality .thank you for Amer and Cranbrook team
Hossan Ali
In order to be successfully approved for a Skilled Worker visa for the UK, a migrant must normally have a confirmed job offer for a job that is skilled to level 3 on the Regulated Qualifications Framework (RQF) for England and Northern Ireland, or the equivalent level in Wales or Scotland.
While level 3 RQF is broadly equivalent to A-level standard, this does not mean a would-be Skilled Worker visa migrant is required to have A-levels or equivalent qualifications. The work itself that they do, however, must be at this level.
The Home Office maintains a list of eligible jobs for the Skilled Worker visa category in Tables 1 and 2 of Appendix Skilled Occupations in its Immigration Rules; in order to be eligible for this visa, the job for which the prospective migrant has a confirmed offer must be on this list.
UK Visas and Immigration – which is part of the Home Office – maintains a list of shortage occupations in relation to the Skilled Worker visa.
If your job is on this list, you will only need to be paid 80% of the role’s usual going rate in order to satisfy the salary requirement for the Skilled Worker visa. The annual salaries for these roles are based on a 39-hour working week. They are required to be pro-rated for alternative working patterns, based on the weekly working hours that the employer states.
A separate list ofoccupations is kept for healthcare and education. If your job is on this list, you will not qualify for a Skilled Worker visa for the UK unless your salary is at least the national pay scale for the job you’ll be doing.
Why Choose Us For Your Skilled Worker Visa?
The UK operates a points-based immigration system. In order to be approved for a Skilled Worker visa for the UK, the applicant must earn 50 points by meeting the mandatory criteria for this visa category, along with an additional 20 “tradeable” points. These 20 points can be made up of a combination of points for their salary, a job in a shortage occupation, or a relevant PhD.
Prospective employees on the UK Skilled Worker visa are required to score 20 points for salary and other attributes from the below table. The worker is only permitted to score points against one option in this table.
| Option | Requirements |
|---|---|
|
A: Salary only |
The applicant’s salary equals or exceeds all of:
|
|
B: Relevant PhD |
PhD in a subject relevant to the role and the applicant’s salary equals or exceeds all of:
|
|
C: Relevant STEM PhD |
PhD in a Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics (STEM) subject relevant to the job and the applicant’s salary equals or exceeds all of:
|
|
D: Shortage occupation |
Job in the Home Office’s list of shortage occupations, and the applicant’s salary equals or exceeds all of:
|
|
E: New entrant |
Applicant is a new entrant to the labour market, and their salary equals or exceeds all of:
|
|
F: Listed health or education occupation |
Job in a listed health or education occupation, and the applicant’s salary equals or exceeds both:
If you are applying for a job in one of the health or education occupations on the Home Office’s list, you can only be awarded points from option F. A pre-registration nurse or midwife can temporarily be paid below these rates, subject to certain conditions being met |
For answers to any questions you have about the points criteria for this visa and how we can assist you with your application, please feel free to book a consultation with our solicitors who are experts in the Tier 2 Skilled Worker visa route.
As a holder of the Skilled Worker visa for the UK, you are permitted to do additional work, provided that you continue to do the job for which you are being sponsored. You also have the right to do unpaid voluntary work.
You are permitted to work up to 20 hours a week outside your primary job, as long as your additional role is either:
The Home Office maintains two lists of shortage occupations in relation to the Skilled Worker visa, including one specifically for health and education roles.
At the time of typing, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, there is no limit to how many hours someone on the Skilled Worker visa can work or volunteer if they have a second job as an NHS nurse, doctor or paramedic. However, we would urge you to contact our Skilled Worker visa and Tier 2 visa lawyers for the latest information and advice.
Holders of the Skilled Worker visa who intend to work more than 20 hours a week or in a different occupation code to their main job must apply to update their visa, so that they have sponsorship to do both jobs.
If this is the case for you, you will be required to:
Submit your application with a letter explaining that you wish to change your current permission to stay
What Our Customers Say About Us
Very good experience, despite never even meeting or seeing the lawyers (phone/zoom/email). They were very meticulous in checking all our documents were complete, and my VISA
Auri
The British spousal visa process is a horrendous ordeal full of incomplete and misleading information, traps and pitfalls designed to make only the smartest (or richest)
Tom Dennehy
Was super impressed with Cranbrook Legal. They were efficient and friendly, and most importantly really explained the process properly and simply. We secured our sponsor licence
Annabel Fox
Thank you so much to Mr. Muhammad Ali and also thanks to Cranbrook Legal team for making my visa application stress free and easy. Their clear
Sagoon Thapa
I cannot thank Cranbrook Legal enough for their exceptional service in helping me secure my Skilled Worker visa for the UK. From the initial consultation to
Hazhar Shekha
As an applicant for this successor to the UK Tier 2 visa, you won’t need to just allow enough money for the application fee – you must also be able to afford the healthcare surcharge and to have sufficient funds to support yourself in the UK.
The exact fee you can expect to be charged for applying for a UK Skilled Worker visa will depend on your circumstances and the job you are being hired for in the UK; you will be told how much you will be required to pay when you apply.
With regard to the application fee, if you are applying from outside the UK, the standard amount will depend on how long you intend to stay in the UK:
If you already hold a Skilled Worker visa, and you are applying from inside the UK to extend, switch or update your visa, the standard fee will – again – depend on the period of time for which you will stay in the UK:
You and your family will be charged a lower application fee if your job is on the Home Office’s list of shortage occupations. In that instance, the fee for each person applying will be:
The above fees are the same for those applying inside and outside the UK. Please note that a different list of shortage occupations is kept in relation to health and education roles.
Your application fee for the Skilled Worker visa for the UK will be automatically lowered by £55 if you are from one of the below territories:
Applicants for the Skilled Worker visa for the UK who come from one of these eligible countries, and who will also be in a job on the shortage occupations list, will receive this £55 discount in addition to paying a lower fee.
The £55 discount is only applied to the worker’s visa application; this means the worker’s partner and children will still be required to pay the full application fee.
As aforementioned, the Skilled Worker visa requirements also include a need to pay a healthcare surcharge. Also known as the immigration health surcharge, this fee is payable for each year of your stay in the UK and is normally £624 a year. You can calculate how much you will be required to pay on the GOV.UK website prior to submitting an application.
Finally, as also referenced above, it is crucial to make sure you have sufficient money to support yourself during your time in the UK on the Skilled Worker visa. You are required to have had a minimum of £1,270 in your bank account for this purpose for at least 28 consecutive days, and day 28 must be within 31 days of applying for this visa.
You will normally be expected to show proof of this when applying, unless either of the following apply:
Your partner and children will also need to show that they have enough money to support themselves during your time in the UK.
The specific amounts your partner or child will need for this purpose are:
For further information and advice in relation to the money you will need when applying for this visa, and how you can prove it to the Home Office, please don’t hesitate to book your consultation with our Skilled Worker and Tier 2 visa lawyers.
Yes, your partner and children have the option of applying to join you or stay in the UK as your ‘dependants’ via the Skilled Worker visa route, provided that they are eligible. If your family members are successfully approved through this route, their visa will expire on the same date as yours.
For the purposes of applying for the UK Skilled Worker visa, the following are family members who would count as a dependant partner or child:
Evidence of your relationship will need to be provided with your Skilled Worker visa application for the UK.
When applying for their visa, your partner is required to prove that either of these things is the case:
If your child is at least 16 years of age, they must:
If your child of at least 16 years of age lives with you, the Home Office will require evidence of their address from you, such as:
Your partner and children will also be expected to have available to them a certain amount of money to support themselves during their time in the UK.
You – or your partner or child – will require:
To learn more about the application process for this visa for you and your ‘dependants’, and to be guided on the right options for you, please contact our professional and experienced Skilled Worker visa and Tier 2 visa solicitors.
You can change to a different employer as a holder of the Skilled Worker visa or Tier 2 visa, but you will need to apply to update your visa.
An application to update your Skilled Worker visa or Tier 2 visa for the UK will be required if:
You won’t need to apply to update your visa if you remain in the same job, but your role is removed from the shortage occupation list.
If you’re switching to a different job but not changing employer, you will only need to apply to update your visa if your new role is in a different occupation code.
Any ‘dependant’ partner or children who have joined you in the UK on this visa will be required to make separate applications.
If you do need to apply to update your visa in order to change job or employer, you must ensure that your new role satisfies the eligibility requirements, and a new Certificate of Sponsorship will be required as proof of this. You will only be expected to supply other evidence again if you have spent less than one year in the UK.
If, as someone who already holds a Skilled Worker visa, you are looking to take on a second job, you must apply to update your visa if the second role is either:
In addition to ensuring that your second job fulfils the Home Office’s eligibility requirements and that you have obtained a new Certificate of Sponsorship to prove this, you will need to include a letter with your application, setting out that you wish to change your current permission to stay.
This letter must state:
If you are successful with this application, you will receive a new visa granting you permission to undertake both jobs.
Please note that applying to update your visa will not be necessary if you will be taking on additional work in the same occupation code, or if you will be doing less than 20 paid hours a week.
For those that do need to apply to update their visa, an application can be made up to three months prior to their new job’s start date. You are permitted to continue working in your current role while the Home Office is considering your application or to work out your notice period, provided that you apply before the expiry of your current visa.
You should not begin your new role until you have received confirmation of your new permission from the Home Office.
Nor are you allowed to travel outside of the UK, Ireland, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man until you receive a decision on your application. If you do violate this requirement, your application will be withdrawn.
Any application to update your visa must be made online via the GOV.UK website. You can normally expect to receive a decision on your application within eight weeks of your application date. If, for any reason, your application will take longer than this to be processed – such as ifyou need to attend an interview or have your supporting documents verified – you will be contacted about this.
There may be the option to pay to get a quicker decision on your visa; you will be told whether this is possible when you submit your application.
An employer acting as a sponsor for someone on the Skilled Worker visa is required to comply with all of their sponsor duties set out by the Home Office. If they fail to do this, they can have action taken against them, which may include their licence being downgraded, suspended or revoked. Alternatively, a sponsor may lose their licence simply because of a failure to renew it.
In the event that, as the holder of a Skilled Worker visa, your sponsor loses their sponsor licence, you will be required to leave your job and leave the UK – unless you make a new application for a visa that would enable you to remain in the UK.
The exact consequences for you of your sponsor losing their licence will depend on whether you are already in the UK when this occurs. If, for instance, you are already in the UK when your sponsor loses their licence, your Certificate of Sponsorship will be cancelled, and your visa will expire in 60 days – or however long is left on your visa, if the amount of time remaining is less than 60 days.
If, however, you are involved in the reasons for your sponsor losing their licence, your visa will be withdrawn, meaning that you will be required to leave the UK immediately.
If you are presently outside the UK, you can check your prospective employer’s sponsor licence status on the register of sponsors prior to travelling. If your sponsor has lost their licence or their licence is suspended, they will be absent from this list.
In the event that you are currently outside the UK and your sponsor does lose their licence, you can expect any pending Skilled Worker visa application to be refused. If you already have a visa but are yet to travel to the UK, the Home Office will cancel your visa and you won’t be permitted to enter the UK.
For more detailed advice and guidance in relation to your Skilled Worker visa application for the UK, including if your sponsor’s licence status has changed, please feel free to reach out to our skilled worker solicitors.
If you are already in the UK as the holder of a different type of visa, you may have the option of applying to switch from your current visa to the Skilled Worker visa.
In order to change to the UK Skilled Worker visa from your present visa, you will need to meet the Home Office’s eligibility requirements, in addition to being able to speak, read, write and understand English. Contact our specialist Skilled Worker visa UK lawyers, and we will be able to advise and guide you on your situation.
If you do satisfy the relevant Skilled Worker visa requirements, any ‘dependant’ partner or children of yours will need to submit their own, separate applications for this visa.
Please note that while you are waiting for the Home Office to decide on your Skilled Worker visa application for the UK, you should not travel outside of the UK, Ireland, the Channel Islands, or the Isle of Man. If you do violate this requirement, your application will be withdrawn.
You will not be permitted to apply to switch to the Skilled Worker visa if you are presently in the UK:
If you are in any of the aforementioned bullet-pointed categories, you can only apply for a Skilled Worker visa for the UK if you leave the UK and apply from abroad.
Applications to switch to the Skilled Worker visa from another type of visa must be made online, before the applicant’s current visa expires.
The typical waiting time for a decision from the Home Office is up to eight weeks. If the application process will take longer than this – for example, if the applicant is required to attend an interview – they will be contacted about this. The applicant may also have the option of paying to receive a quicker decision; if this is a possibility, they will be informed of this when they apply.
As a holder of another visa type who wishes to switch to the UK Skilled Worker visa, you will also need to pay the visa application fee and the healthcare surcharge for each year you remain in the UK. You may also be required to pay £100 to £200, so that you can have your biometric information – including fingerprints and a photograph – taken. For more information, please call 0208 215 0053.
Under the previous system, holders of the Tier 2 visa for the UK were allowed to stay in the UK on this visa for a maximum of six years.
This limit no longer applies with the introduction of the Skilled Worker visa, with migrants on this visa now able to stay in the UK for as long as they like, provided that they are approved for an extension of their visa each time it expires. A single Skilled Worker visa for the UK can last for up to five years before the holder of the visa is required to extend it. Naturally, in order to do that, the migrant must ensure they continue to meet the visa’s eligibility requirements.
One motivation you may have for applying to be on this visa for five years, is so that you can then apply to settle permanently in the UK – a status also known as ‘indefinite leave to remain’, or ILR.Being approved for ILR would entitle you to live, work and study in the UK for as long as you wish, and to apply for benefits, subject to the eligibility requirements for these.
Please note that, whether you are on the Tier 2 work visa or the Skilled Worker visa, you will not be automatically granted ILR after spending five years in the UK. This is because there are other eligibility requirements you must meet, including your employer (sponsor) still needing you for your job, and your role meeting the salary requirements.
To learn more about applying for this visa or settlement and to be guided through your options, please don’t hesitate to book your consultation with our Skilled Worker visa and Tier 2 visa solicitors. You can also call us, on 0208 215 0053.
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