Entry Clearance For Skilled Worker Visa

• Page Contents
• Overview
• Eligibility Requirements
• Mandatory Non-Tradable Points
• Tradable Points
• Eligibility For PhD Students
• Required Skill Level Of Job
• New Entrants
• Health and Care Skilled Worker Visa
• How Can We Help You?
• How Much We Charge?
• Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

You can apply entry clearance for Skilled Worker visa UK if you are sponsored for a skilled job by a UK employer holding Skilled Worker Sponsor licence. The Skilled Worker visa is a Point Based System (PBS) visa category and points can be awarded for the Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS), job skill level, English language, appropriate Salary, Phd level qualifications, job in shortage occupation, and applicant being new entrant. A total of 70 points are required to be eligible to apply for Skilled Worker visa; 50 points from mandatory non-tradable points and the remaining 20 from tradable points.

Our expert team of Skilled Worker visa solicitors are specialists in Skilled Worker visa entry clearance applications. As one of the best Skilled Worker visa solicitors in London, Manchester and Birmingham, our Skilled Worker visa solicitors have wealth of knowledge and experience to provide high quality fixed fee legal services for Skilled Worker visa entry clearance applications. Ask a question to our expert Skilled Worker visa lawyers for free immigration advice concerning your Skilled Worker visa entry clearance application.

Eligibility Requirements For Skilled Worker Visa Entry Clearance For UK

To be eligible for Skilled Worker visa for UK, you need to:

• score 50 points from mandatory non-tradable points;
• score at least 20 points from tradable points;
• have have funds for maintenance in the UK or your Skilled Worker sponsor has certified your maintenance as per requirements of Appendix C of the Immigration Rules;
• show you can travel and your travel history over the last 5 years;
• have tuberculosis test results if you’re from a country listed in Appendix T of the Immigration Rules;
• provide a criminal record certificate from any country you have lived in for 12 months or more in the last 10 years, if you will be working with vulnerable people.

Mandatory Non-Tradable Points (50 Points Required)

The applicant must score 50 mandatory non-tradable points to succeed in the entry clearance application for Skilled Worker visa and the remaining 20 can be scored from tradable points. The mandatory non-tradable points are given in the table below:

Tradable Points  (20 Points Required )

The applicant must score at least 20 points from the tradable points. The applicant may only score from one entry from each of the two sections of tradable points as given below:

Salary Section

Other Section

Eligibility For PhD points

Applicants will only be able to score points for having a PhD relevant to the job. Sponsors will need to decide and be able to justify whether an applicant’s PhD is relevant to the job they are sponsoring them for and to advise whether it is a STEM PhD. The Home Office, UKVI will withhold points if the sponsor’s explanation is clearly not credible. Points can only be awarded for academic PhDs.

In addition, applicants will only be able to score points for having a PhD when working in certain occupations. A list of occupations which will, and will not, be able to claim PhD points will be kept under review. For the initial launch of the route, the list will cover:

• all occupations in the top skill level of the Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) code system.
• a small number of additional STEM jobs, such as lab technicians, which do not appear in the top skill level, but which involve research or technical knowledge and where Home Office, UKVI believe a relevant PhD would be an advantage.

The relevant PhD occupations are listed in Annex B.

Required Skill Level Of Job

The job offerred to the skilled worker under the new points based immigration system must be at the required skill level – RQF 3 or above (A Level and equivalent).

All jobs have a corresponding Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) code. You can use the ONS Occupation Coding Tool to identify the relevant SOC code for your job. Current skill levels for SOC codes are set out in Appendix J of the Immigration Rules. The Immigration Rules will be updated in order to expand the list of occupations that will be eligible for the Skilled Work route. 

New Entrants

Migrants will be defined as new entrants under the Points-Based System if they meet one of the following requirements:

    a) They are switching from the Student or Graduate route to the Skilled Worker route;
    b) They are under the age of 26 on the date of their application; or
    c) They are working towards recognised professional qualifications or moving directly into postdoctoral positions.

Health and Care Skilled Worker Visa

The Health and Care Visa is part of the Skilled Worker route. The UK Government welcomes the vital contributions which doctors, nurses and other health professionals from overseas make to the National Health Service (NHS) and wider Health and Care Sector. It will ensure individuals working in eligible health occupations with a job offer from the NHS, social care sector or employers and organisations which provide services to the NHS, who have good working English, are incentivised to come to the UK.

Fast Track Entry For Health and Care Visa

There will be fast-track entry, with reduced application fees and dedicated support regarding the application process, for eligible individuals to come to the UK with their families. Those who are eligible to apply for the Health and Care Visa, and their dependents, will also be exempt from having to pay the Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS). Frontline workers in the health and social care sector who are not eligible for the new Health and Care Visa will pay the Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS), but will benefit from a reimbursement scheme.

Who Can Apply For Health and Care Visa?

Individuals of all nationalities who have a confirmed job offer, in one of the defined health professions, for a skilled role within the NHS, the social care sector or for NHS commissioned service providers.

The full list of professions, defined by Standard Occupational Classification codes, which would currently qualify for the Health and Care Visa can be found in Annex D. This list reflects the current skills threshold. The list of professions will be updated in line with the launch of the new Skilled Worker route and the expanded skills threshold later this year.

Although eligible applicants will benefit from reduced fees and an exemption from the Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS), both of which will extend to immediate family members, the main applicant must also meet requirements of the Skilled Worker route, including the relevant skill and salary thresholds.

How Can We Help You?

Our specialist team of Skilled Worker visa solicitors can provide fast, friendly, reliable and fixed fee legal services for your Skilled Worker visa entry clearance application. As your appointed legal representatives for Skilled Worker visa entry clearance application, our work can include the following:

• assessing your eligibility for Skilled Worker visa for UK by considering all the relevant eligibility requirements;
• assisting your prospective Skilled Worker sponsor with correctly assigning the Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) to you;
• advising on relevant documents to be submitted in support of the Skilled Worker visa entry clearance application;
• assessing the documentary evidence including the Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) to ensure that the documents are in line with the Home Office UKVI requirements for Skilled Worker visa entry clearance;
• completing online application form for Skilled Worker visa entry clearance for UK;
• preparing a detailed cover letter in support of the Skilled Worker visa entry clearance application to explain in detail how all the relevant requirements for Skilled Worker visa entry clearance have been satisfied by the applicant;
• submitting the Skilled Worker visa entry clearance application online, paying the Home Office UKVI fees for Skilled Worker visa application and booking applicant's appointment with the relevant UK visa application centre;
• uploading all the supporting documents online in support of the Skilled Worker visa entry clearance application;
• preparing the applicant for an interview by the Entry Clearance Officer (ECO) in relation to Skilled Worker visa entry clearance application;
• making any post interview representations to the Entry Clearance Officer (ECO), if necessary;
• doing all the follow up work until decision is reached on your Skilled Worker visa entry clearance application.

Our Fee For Skilled Worker Visa Entry Clearance Application

Our fees for Skilled Worker visa entry clearance application are given in the fee table below:

The agreed fixed fee will depend on the complexity of the Skilled Worker visa entry clearance application and the volume of casework involved in the application. In addition to our fixed fee for Skilled Worker visa entry clearance, the applicant will also have to pay the Home office UKVI fees for the entry clearance application.