UK Work and Business Visas

What is a UK work visa?

A UK work visa is permission for a person to come to, or stay in, the UK to work, run a business or use a specialist skill. It covers employees with a UK job offer, founders and talented individuals who qualify in their own right, recent graduates, and young people on mobility schemes.

The route a person needs depends on the work they will do and on who is backing the application. An employee with a job offer follows a sponsored route. A founder, a leader in their field or a recent graduate follows a route that rests on an endorsement, a qualification or a personal connection to the UK.

A work visa is different from a Standard Visitor visa. A visitor may attend meetings or a conference, but may not take employment or run a business in the UK. A work or business visa carries the right to do the specific work the route allows, and several of these routes lead to settlement.

Sponsored and unsponsored routes

UK work routes fall into two families: sponsored routes and unsponsored routes. The difference is whether a UK employer is backing the application, and it shapes the whole process.

A sponsored route requires a job offer from a UK employer that holds a sponsor licence. The employer assigns a Certificate of Sponsorship, and the applicant applies against that specific job. The Skilled Worker and Health and Care Worker routes work this way.

An unsponsored route does not need an employer sponsor. The applicant qualifies through an endorsement, a qualification, a high-value business or a personal connection to the UK. The Global Talent, Innovator Founder, High Potential Individual, Graduate, Youth Mobility and UK Ancestry routes work this way, each with its own gateway.

The UK work and business visa routes

The right work visa depends on the work the person will do and the basis on which they qualify. Each route has its own detailed guide; the table below groups the routes so a reader can find the family that fits their situation.

The sponsored routes are anchored to a specific job and a specific employer. The talent and business routes turn on an endorsement or a high-value proposition rather than a job offer. The post-study and mobility routes give time in the UK to work flexibly, and the dependants route lets a partner and children join the main applicant.

• Skilled Worker Visa: requirements, salary and how to apply
• Global Talent Visa guide
• Graduate Visa guide

How the sponsorship and points system works

Most UK work routes run on a points-based system, where the applicant must score a set number of points to qualify. Points are awarded for the things the route requires, rather than judged loosely, so the criteria are clear in advance.

On a sponsored route such as the Skilled Worker route, points come from holding a job offer from a licensed sponsor, the job meeting the required skill level, the salary meeting the threshold, and the applicant meeting the English language requirement. The points are mandatory, so each element has to be met.

A sponsor licence is the permission a UK employer holds to employ workers from overseas. It is the employer's responsibility to apply for and maintain the licence, and to assign a Certificate of Sponsorship to the worker. This guide explains the licence at overview level only, from the worker's point of view.

Routes that do not use sponsorship rely on a different gateway in place of points from an employer. A Global Talent applicant secures an endorsement from an approved body, an Innovator Founder applicant secures endorsement of a business, and a High Potential Individual applicant qualifies through an eligible overseas degree.

The common requirements

Most UK work routes share a small set of common requirements, even though the detail differs by route. The recurring requirements are a backing for the application, a salary or financial threshold, and an English language test.

Sponsorship or endorsement

Every work route needs a basis for the application. On a sponsored route this is a job offer and a Certificate of Sponsorship from a licensed employer. On an unsponsored route it is an endorsement, a qualifying degree or a qualifying connection to the UK, depending on the route.

Salary or financial requirement

Many work routes set a salary threshold or a maintenance figure the applicant must meet. The Skilled Worker route sets a salary the job must pay, and several routes require the applicant to hold enough money to support themselves on arrival. The exact figures sit on each route's own guide and on the fees guide.

English language

Most longer work routes require the applicant to show knowledge of English, usually at level B1 on the CEFR scale. The requirement can be met with an approved Secure English Language Test, a degree taught in English, or by being a national of a majority English-speaking country.

• The English language requirement for UK work visas

Bringing dependants

Most longer UK work routes allow the applicant to bring dependants. A dependant is the applicant's partner or a child under 18, who applies to join or accompany the main visa holder.

Each dependant makes their own application and pays their own fee, and the application includes evidence of the relationship to the main applicant. The dependant's permission is tied to the main applicant's visa and usually lasts for the same period.

Not every route carries dependant rights in the same way, and some shorter routes are more limited. The dependants route is set out in its own guide, which covers who can apply and what the application needs.

• The work dependants visa guide

Switching into a work route and extending

Many applicants can switch into a work route from inside the UK without leaving the country. An applicant on an eligible visa, such as a Graduate or student visa, may switch into the Skilled Worker route once they have a qualifying job offer.

Switching is not open from every visa. A visitor cannot switch into a work route from inside the UK, and some routes are entry clearance only and must be applied for from outside the country. Whether switching is possible depends on the applicant's current visa and the route they are moving to.

A work visa can usually be extended where the applicant continues to meet the route's requirements. On a sponsored route this means the sponsorship and salary continue to be met; on an unsponsored route it means the qualifying basis continues to apply.

• Changing employer on a Skilled Worker visa
• The Skilled Worker visa extension process

From a work visa to settlement

Several UK work routes lead to settlement after five years of continuous residence in the UK on the route. Settlement, known as Indefinite Leave to Remain, removes the time limit on a person's stay and is the step before British citizenship.

The Skilled Worker, Global Talent, Innovator Founder and UK Ancestry routes count towards settlement, while some shorter routes such as the Graduate and Youth Mobility routes do not lead directly to settlement on their own. An applicant on a non-settlement route often switches into a settlement route to continue the path.

At the five-year point, a qualifying applicant applies for settlement on the work route, meeting the continuous residence, English language and Life in the UK requirements. After settlement, most people can apply for British citizenship.

• Indefinite Leave to Remain on the work route

Work visa fees and processing times

A UK work visa carries a Home Office application fee and the Immigration Health Surcharge, both payable per applicant at the point of application. Several routes also involve costs to the sponsoring employer, such as the Certificate of Sponsorship and the Immigration Skills Charge, which the employer meets.

Processing times depend on the route and where the application is made. A standard Skilled Worker application from outside the UK is usually decided within three weeks, with priority services available for a faster decision where offered. The current figures are kept on the dedicated guides.

• UK visa and immigration fees guide
• UK visa processing times guide

What happens if a work visa application is refused

A refused work visa application can usually be addressed with a fresh application, once the refusal reason is understood. The refusal letter sets out the ground, which is the starting point for the next step.

Common grounds include an unmet salary or maintenance figure, a sponsorship or endorsement issue, or a missing English language result. Many of these are answered by a corrected and better-evidenced fresh application that supplies what the first application lacked.

Where the issue is the salary, the maintenance funds or the supporting evidence, the fresh application is built to present each requirement in the form the rules require. The right next step depends on the specific ground, and on whether the applicant is inside or outside the UK.

Cost and timeline in practice

The examples below show how a work visa application tends to come together. They are anonymised and indicative, given as ranges, and are not a quote for any individual application.

A software engineer received a job offer from a UK company that held a sponsor licence. The employer assigned a Certificate of Sponsorship, the salary met the threshold for the role, and the applicant met the English language requirement, with the standard out-of-country decision arriving within roughly the three-week service standard.

A recent graduate of a UK university used the Graduate route to work in the UK after their degree. When a qualifying job offer arrived, the applicant switched into the Skilled Worker route from inside the UK to begin a path that counts towards settlement.

A founder with an innovative business secured an endorsement from an approved body before applying on the Innovator Founder route. The application was built around the endorsement and the business plan, rather than a job offer from an employer.

Glossary

• Points-based system: the framework that awards points for the things a work route requires, such as a job, a salary and English, with a set total needed to qualify.
• Sponsor licence: the permission a UK employer holds to employ workers from overseas on a sponsored route.
• Certificate of Sponsorship: the record a licensed employer assigns to a specific worker for a specific job, which the worker uses to apply.
• Endorsement: the approval an applicant secures from an approved body on routes such as Global Talent and Innovator Founder, in place of employer sponsorship.
• Entry clearance: a visa applied for from outside the UK before travelling.
• Switching: moving from one visa to another from inside the UK without leaving.
• Settlement (ILR): Indefinite Leave to Remain, reached after five years on a qualifying work route, removing the time limit on the stay.

Frequently asked questions about UK work visas

Sources

• GOV.UK – Work visas
• GOV.UK – Skilled Worker visa
• GOV.UK – Points-based system: sponsor licence guidance