Skilled Worker visa: sponsors, roles and the route

Occupation codes, going rates and salary rules interact.

Use the current official guidance for your circumstances.

Identity, sponsorship, English-language and financial evidence may be required.

Rules and fees can change.

Check the conditions attached to the permission, the timing of travel and how employer or role changes may affect status.

Confirm the sponsor’s legal name, licence status, role, occupation code, salary basis, working hours and location.

Understand which costs the employer will pay and whether repayment clauses apply. A verbal promise of sponsorship is not the same as a valid certificate or compliant role.

Keep recruitment evidence and ask for inconsistencies to be corrected before building housing or resignation decisions around the offer.

Employment changes can affect immigration status, so know who will manage sponsorship, how absences are recorded and what happens if the role, salary, location or employer changes.

Keep copies of the application, decision and employment documents. Do not rely on old forum answers: use current GOV.UK rules and, where the consequences are significant, obtain advice from a properly regulated immigration adviser.

Include healthcare charges where applicable, document services, travel, temporary accommodation and family costs.

Check whether dependants apply at the same time and how timing affects work or school plans. Keep an emergency margin in case processing or start dates move.

Never pay a third party for a guaranteed decision; sponsorship and visa approval remain separate official processes.