Skilled Worker Visa
The Skilled Worker route is for EU nationals that arrived in the UK after 1 January 2021, and for non-EU nationals who are sponsored to do a specific skilled job for a Home Office licensed sponsor. This Skilled Worker visa has replaced the Tier 2 (General) work visa.
The applicant under this route must have a certificate of sponsorship from the prospective employer, containing information about the role that had been offered. The job offered must be on the list of eligible occupations. The applicant must be paid a minimum gross annual salary, depending on the role offered.
Very important, the person applying under this route must be able to speak, read, write, and understand English (to at least level B1 on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) scale). This is very bad news for economic immigrants from the EU Member States who do not speak English and did not commence their residency in the UK before 31 December 2020. They lost their chance to seek work here as they could do it before Brexit, when they did not have the obligation to prove their knowledge of English.
The Skilled Worker rules lowered the skills threshold from RQF (Regulated Qualifications Framework) level 6 to RQF level 3. That means that the individuals who wish to work in the UK as a skilled worker do not have to have a degree level from a university, but only an A-level.
The number of skilled workers that can use this route is not capped, which is good news for both prospective employers and prospective employees. As it is the fact that the Resident Labour Market Test has been removed. This test required the employer to advertise the job and try first to fill the role with a worker settled in the UK, and to make a job offer to a prospective immigrant only if the position has not been occupied by a settled applicant.
The 6-year maximum stay in the UK under the old route has also been scrapped. A Skilled Worker visa can last for up to 5 years, at the end of which the visa can be extended if eligibility requirements are met. After 5 years in the UK, the skilled worker may want to apply to settle permanently here (to be granted “indefinite leave to remain”). Please note that the holder of a Skilled Worker visa who changes the job or the employer must apply to have their visa updated.
This is a route under the new Points Based System. An applicant for a Skilled Worker visa must score 70 points to be granted the visa.
50 points are mandatory. The applicant must score 20 points for sponsorship (an eligible job offered by an approved sponsor), 20 points for a job at the appropriate skill level, and 10 points for their English language skills.
The other 20 points are tradable. They can be awarded if the applicant meets the general threshold of the minimum salary of £25,600. If the proposed salary is lower (£23,040, £20,800 or £20,480), the points may be awarded if the applicant has a relevant PhD, or if the job is in a shortage occupation, or if the applicant is a new entrant. The points may also be awarded for a job in a listed health or education occupation, or if the applicant is sponsored as a nurse or midwife.
If you want to apply for a Skilled Worker visa, you can do so up to 3 months before the day you are due to start work in the UK. This date is listed on your certificate of sponsorship.
If you need my advice, please contact me at 07492525115 (leave me a text or WhatsApp message if I can’t reply) or send me an email at sorin@muflic.uk or drop me a line on Messenger (search on Facebook my profile, Sorin Muflic).
The fee for my advice is £500. In addition, you will have to pay the application fee ranging from £610 to £1,408 (you will pay less if your job is on the shortage occupation list), and the healthcare surcharge amounting at the time of writing to £624 per year. You will also have to provide evidence that you are able to support yourself. You need to show that you have at least £1,270 available when you arrive in the UK.
A decision on your visa may be received within 3 weeks (if the application was made from outside the UK) or 8 weeks (for applications made from inside the UK) from the date the application was submitted online.