UK Work Visa: How to Get a Skilled Worker Visa, Step by Step

The United Kingdom left the European Union in 2020, and with it went free movement. Every foreign worker, EU citizens included, now needs permission to work here, and the system that replaced free movement has narrowed sharply since. Two changes matter more than anything else: the salary threshold rose to £41,700, and from 22 July 2025 the skill level was raised to graduate standard, removing around 180 occupations from the route in a single step.

This guide explains the Skilled Worker visa, the skill and salary rules, the shortage lists, sponsorship, the documents, the costs and renewal — and gives professional drivers a direct answer, because the answer is unambiguous.

What is a UK work permit?

The UK does not issue a work permit in the old sense. The main route is the Skilled Worker visa, which relies on sponsorship: you need a confirmed job offer from an employer holding a Home Office sponsor licence, who assigns you a Certificate of Sponsorship. The visa is scored on points — a sponsored job, the right skill level, the right salary and English language ability. Without a licensed sponsor, there is no application to make, so the employer, not the worker, is the starting point.

The RQF Level 6 skill threshold

This is the change that reshaped the route. For Certificates of Sponsorship assigned on or after 22 July 2025, the role must be skilled to RQF Level 6 or above — the equivalent of a UK bachelor’s degree — unless a specific transitional or exception category applies. This is an increase from the previous RQF Level 3 requirement, and the effect was dramatic: around 180 occupation codes were removed from the eligible list. Only roles listed in Tables 1 to 3 of the Appendix Skilled Occupations meet the standard. It is the job’s complexity that must be graduate-level, regardless of your own academic background, so a degree in your pocket does not rescue a role that sits below the bar.

Salary requirements

The general minimum salary threshold is £41,700 per year, in force since 22 July 2025, replacing the earlier £38,700 figure. But the rule that catches people out is that you must meet both the general threshold and the occupation-specific going rate, and the higher of the two always applies. Salaries are calculated on a 37.5-hour working week and must be pro-rated for other working patterns. Lower thresholds exist in defined circumstances — new entrant rates, Health and Care Worker rates, and the shortage lists — but they are exceptions, not the norm. From 8 April 2026, the Home Office began checking salary compliance on an individual payroll-period basis rather than on annual totals, so a shortfall in a single month is now visible.

The Immigration Salary List and the Temporary Shortage List

Two lists sit alongside the main route, and they are easy to confuse. The Immigration Salary List replaced the old Shortage Occupation List in April 2024 and allows certain roles to qualify at a reduced general threshold of £33,400 rather than £41,700 — though percentage discounts on the going rate are no longer available, so all such roles must meet that figure. The Immigration Salary List is scheduled to be phased out entirely by 31 December 2026. The Temporary Shortage List is the newer mechanism, created to soften the RQF Level 6 change: it allows some occupations between RQF Levels 3 and 5 to continue to be sponsored, with a minimum salary of £25,000 per year, subject to the going rate for the occupation code. Its codes are listed until at least 31 December 2026, and the Home Office can remove them earlier if it considers that insufficient progress is being made in recruiting from the resident labour market. Qualifying sectors include construction, engineering, IT support, automotive and selected creative and business support roles.

Who needs a visa to work in the UK?

Everyone who is not a British or Irish citizen, or who does not already hold settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme. EU, EEA and Swiss citizens arriving now are treated the same as any other foreign national and need sponsorship, which is the single biggest practical consequence of Brexit for the labour market. Irish citizens retain free movement under the Common Travel Area.

Types of work authorisation

• Skilled Worker visa — the main sponsored route, requiring RQF Level 6 and £41,700 or the going rate.
• Temporary Shortage List route — for listed RQF 3 to 5 occupations at £25,000, until at least 31 December 2026.
• Immigration Salary List route — reduced threshold of £33,400, being phased out by December 2026.
• Global Talent, Scale-up and High Potential Individual — unsponsored or lightly sponsored routes for defined groups.
• Seasonal Worker visa — short-term, for horticulture and poultry.

English language and settlement

Two further changes tightened the route in 2026. From 8 January 2026, first-time Skilled Worker applicants are generally required to show English language ability at CEFR level B2 rather than B1 — a meaningful step up from the previous standard. And the path to indefinite leave to remain has been extended from five to ten years for most applicants, which considerably changes the arithmetic of a long-term move. Dependants may also be restricted for certain lower-skilled roles, particularly those on the temporary shortage lists.

Eligibility

You need a confirmed job offer from a licensed sponsor, a role at the required skill level with a valid Standard Occupational Classification code, a salary meeting both the general threshold and the going rate, and English at B2. A job offer is mandatory — no route lets you arrive and look. The sponsor must hold a current licence that appears on the Home Office register and meet its own compliance duties throughout.

Documents you’ll need

The Home Office sets the requirements; a typical application includes:

• Your Certificate of Sponsorship reference number from the licensed sponsor.
• A valid passport or travel document.
• Proof of English language ability at CEFR level B2.
• Evidence of the job’s SOC code, skill level and salary.
• Proof of personal savings, unless your sponsor certifies maintenance.
• A criminal record certificate for certain roles.
• Your country requires tuberculosis test results for residence.

Step by step

1. Find an employer that holds a Home Office sponsor licence.
2. Check that the role appears in Tables 1 to 3 of the Appendix Skilled Occupations or on the Temporary Shortage List.
3. Confirm the salary meets both the £41,700 threshold and the applicable lower threshold and the going rate.
4. The sponsor assigns you a Certificate of Sponsorship.
5. You apply online, prove your English at B2 and pay the fees and the health surcharge.
6. You provide biometrics at a visa application centre.
7. The Home Office decides the application.
8. You travel to the UK and begin work for the sponsor named on your visa.

Processing time

Straightforward applications are usually decided within a few weeks of the biometrics appointment, with priority services available at extra cost. The longer lead time is upstream: an employer without a sponsor licence must obtain one first, a process that takes time and money and is not guaranteed. If your prospective employer is not already on the register of licensed sponsors, that is the first problem to solve.

Fees

The costs are substantial and mostly borne by the employer and the applicant: the visa application fee, the Immigration Health Surcharge for each year of the visa, the sponsor licence fee, and the Immigration Skills Charge, which rose by 32 per cent. Budget planning must account for increased salary costs alongside rising visa fees, the skills charge and licence fees. Confirm the current figures on the official site, since they have been updated repeatedly.

If you were already on a Skilled Worker visa, or had submitted a valid application, before 22 July 2025, you benefit from transitional protections. You can extend your visa in the same role even if it no longer meets RQF Level 6, and you can change employer in a role at the same level. But the protection has a hard edge: if you leave the UK and apply for a new visa, you must meet the new RQF Level 6 requirement like anyone else. Anyone relying on transitional status should think carefully before letting it lapse.

Common reasons for refusal

The dominant reason now is structural: the role is not at RQF Level 6 and is not on the Temporary Shortage List, so it cannot be sponsored. Beyond that, applications fail on a salary below the general threshold or the going rate, whichever is higher; English below B2 for first-time applicants from 8 January 2026; the wrong SOC code; or a sponsor whose licence is not current. Since 8 April 2026, salary shortfalls in individual payroll periods can also surface compliance problems that annual totals had hidden.

Tips to get approved

Start with the sponsor register — if the employer is not licensed, nothing else matters. Check the role against Tables 1 to 3 of the Appendix Skilled Occupations before anything else, because that is now the threshold question. Get the SOC code right, since both eligibility and the going rate follow from it. If the role sits at RQF 3 to 5, check the Temporary Shortage List and monitor it, because codes can be removed early and the list itself runs only until at least 31 December 2026.

Your rights as a foreign worker

Skilled Worker visa holders are subject to full UK employment law, including the National Minimum Wage, working-time protections, and access to the NHS through the Immigration Health Surcharge. You can change employer, but only with a new Certificate of Sponsorship and a new application. The settlement position has changed materially: the route to indefinite leave to remain now runs to ten years for most applicants rather than five, so the long-term proposition is different from what it was even a year ago.

For professional drivers in the United Kingdom

The answer here is short: no. HGV driving sits at RQF Level 3 — nowhere near the graduate-level standard the Skilled Worker route has required since 22 July 2025 — and it was among the roughly 180 occupation codes removed when that change came in. The Temporary Shortage List, which exists precisely to rescue sub-degree occupations, covers construction, engineering, IT support, automotive and selected creative and business support roles; logistics, along with hospitality and retail, lost the ability to sponsor most roles. So there is no route: not the main one, and not the exception. This is worth stating plainly because the recent history points the other way. Britain had an acute driver shortage after Brexit and briefly added HGV drivers to the old Shortage Occupation List during the 2021 fuel crisis. A great deal of outdated material still circulates online, suggesting the door is open. It is not. The deeper cause is the same one: ending free movement meant EU drivers, who had underpinned UK haulage for years, needed sponsorship like everyone else — and the route was then raised beyond their reach. Add the £41,700 general threshold, B2 English from January 2026, a ten-year path to settlement and a 32 per cent higher skills charge, and the position is clear. For a driver looking at Europe, Ireland next door is the better target: driving is not on its ineligible list and qualifies for the General Employment Permit.

• Browse driver vacancies in the United Kingdom.
• Register a driver profile.
• For employers — recruitment and compliance support

Work permits by region in the United Kingdom.

Immigration is reserved for the UK government, so the rules are identical across all nations and regions — there are no regional visas or thresholds. What differs is where the sponsors and the freight are and, since Brexit, how goods reach the European mainland.

East of England

Home to Felixstowe, the UK’s largest container port, along with Harwich and the corridors feeding the Midlands. Driver jobs in the East of England.

East Midlands

The logistics heartland, with the Golden Triangle around Northampton, Leicester and Nottingham, where most national distribution centres sit. Driver jobs in the East Midlands.

West Midlands

The Birmingham region has automotive manufacturing and a central position on the motorway network. Driver jobs in the West Midlands.

South East

The region containing Dover and the Channel Tunnel at Folkestone — the road freight gateway to the European mainland, and the busiest corridor in the country. Driver jobs in the South East.

London

The capital and by far the largest concentration of licensed sponsors, with the biggest services economy and a dense distribution network serving the South East. Driver jobs in London.

Yorkshire and the Humber

Home to the Humber ports of Immingham and Hull, handling more tonnage than anywhere else in the UK, plus North Sea ferry links. Driver jobs in Yorkshire and the Humber.

North West

The Manchester and Liverpool region has a major port, a large airport and a strong warehousing base. Driver jobs in the North West.

North East

The Tyneside region, with the port of Tyne, has ferry links to the Netherlands and a manufacturing base. Driver jobs in the North East.

South West

The Bristol region and the far west, with docks, aerospace and long distances to the rest of the country. Driver jobs in the South West.

Scotland

A large, sparsely populated nation with whisky, seafood and energy freight, and very long hauls to the southern ports. Driver jobs in Scotland.

Wales

With Holyhead, Fishguard and Pembroke Dock — the ferry routes to Ireland — and a manufacturing and agricultural base. Driver jobs in Wales.

Northern Ireland

The only part of the UK with a land border with the EU, and subject to distinct arrangements for goods movement under the post-Brexit settlement. Driver jobs in Northern Ireland.

Related guides

• EU work visa — overview
• United Kingdom residence permit
• Health insurance in the United Kingdom
• British citizenship

Official government sources

• Skilled Worker visa — the official guidance on eligibility, salary and applying.
• Register of licensed sponsors — the official list of employers able to sponsor workers.
• Immigration Rules — including Appendix Skilled Occupations and the shortage lists.
• Migration Advisory Committee — the body advising on shortage occupations.

Information only — not legal or immigration advice. UK immigration rules changed substantially in July 2025 and again in 2026, and the shortage lists are being phased out or reviewed. Always confirm current requirements on GOV.UK before you apply or pay anyone.