Skilled Worker visa salary threshold: which rate applies to you

The risk sits in a date, not in the salary. When you were first sponsored, and how old you are on the day you apply, can put you on a lower rate than the figure above; the protection for earlier sponsors only covers applications made before 4 April 2030.

Two dates decide which salary you are tested against, and neither is the day you sign the offer: the date of your first certificate of sponsorship, and the day you apply. A salary that was enough last time can fall short at the next application, and one that looks short can be enough, depending on those dates.

The figure above is the general salary threshold, the least a sponsoring employer can pay for most Skilled Worker jobs. It is only half the test. Every job also has its own going rate, set by its four-digit occupation code, and you must be paid whichever of the two is higher. Your employer can tell you the code; the Home Office publishes the going rates table.

Which rate applies

• Applying for the first time, or first sponsored on or after 4 April 2024: the general threshold, or the going rate if that is higher. The latest rule change shown above is when it last rose.
• A lower rate on certain grounds: under 26 on the day you apply, moving from a Student or Graduate visa, working towards a regulated professional qualification, holding a relevant PhD, a postdoctoral post, or a job on the Immigration Salary List. For the age, Student or Graduate, professional-qualification and postdoctoral grounds, your total stay on the lower rate is capped at four years.
• First sponsored before 4 April 2024 and on Skilled Worker (or Tier 2) permission ever since: a lower threshold and going rate when you extend or change job, but only on applications made before 4 April 2030, and your pay must still keep up with the going rates as they are updated.

Healthcare and education jobs paid on national pay scales follow their own rules.

The salary is tested again on every application, and a new job is tested against the rules in force on the day you apply. The under-26 ground is judged on the application date too: turning 26 does not touch a visa you hold, but your next application is assessed on your age that day.

The maintenance funds shown above are a separate requirement, not part of the salary test: money in your own account for 28 days in a row before you apply. They are not needed if your employer certifies maintenance, or if you have been in the UK with a valid visa for at least 12 months.

Before you accept the offer

Your salary is the employer's side of the bargain. The Home Office also says a sponsor must not recover the Immigration Skills Charge or the certificate of sponsorship fee from the worker, and can lose its licence for doing so.

Ask:

1. What is the occupation code for this job, and is the salary offered above both its going rate and the general threshold?
2. Which of the three situations above does the employer think you are in, and on what evidence?
3. Is the salary on your certificate of sponsorship guaranteed pay, or does it rely on bonuses, overtime or allowances that are not guaranteed?
4. If you qualify on a lower rate, how long can you stay on it, and what will you need to be paid when you next extend?

Answer no to the first question in the box below, since it does not read a job offer or certificate of sponsorship, then enter the yearly salary your offer names and choose Per year to set it against the general threshold on file; the going rate for your occupation is yours to check. If a recruiter or adviser is also charging you to arrange the sponsorship, answer yes instead, and that quote is read line by line. It does not advise on your application. Immigration advice in the UK is regulated: for advice on your own case, use an adviser registered with the Immigration Advice Authority, or a regulated lawyer.

General information, not legal advice.