- Salary floor
- GBP 41,700 (2026 figure)You need whichever is higher of the £41,700 standard rate or your occupation's own 'going rate'. Several conditions move that floor: on the Immigration Salary List, the minimum drops to £33,400 a year, but you must still meet your occupation's going rate. If you are under 26, a recent graduate, or in professional training, you may be paid 70% of the going rate. With a STEM PhD relevant to the job, 80% of the going rate. With a relevant PhD in another subject, at least £37,500 (90% of the going rate). Healthcare and education roles are not measured against £41,700 at all — the floor there is £25,000 a year or the applicable national pay scale rate, whichever is higher. A separate legacy rate — whichever is higher of £31,300 or the lower going rate — applies only if your first certificate of sponsorship (Tier 2 or Skilled Worker) was issued before 4 April 2024 and you have held Skilled Worker status continuously since, and only for applications made before 4 April 2030. Confirm which of these applies to your specific case before relying on any single figure.
- Qualification
- A confirmed job offer, on the eligible occupations list, from a Home Office-licensed sponsor, at or above the required skill level for that occupation code.
- Decision, applying from outside the UK
- Usually within 3 weeks of proving identity and providing documents
- Legacy salary rate for pre-4-April-2024 sponsorship
- Available for applications made before 4 April 2030
- Application fee, up to 3 years, from outside the UK
- £819
- Application fee, more than 3 years, from outside the UK
- £1,618
- Application fee, up to 3 years, from inside the UK
- £943
The procedure, step by step4 steps · 3 possible outcomes
- Confirm your prospective employer already holds a Home Office sponsor licence covering your occupation, and secure a certificate of sponsorship (CoS) reference number, job title, occupation code and annual salary from them.An employer without a sponsor licence cannot issue a CoS, and without a CoS there is no application to make on this route at all.
- Work out which salary rule applies to your job and your circumstances, and confirm your salary meets it — see the note on the salary threshold above.
- Prove your knowledge of English to at least level B2 of the Common European Framework (CEFR): reading, writing, speaking and understanding.Accepted evidence includes a UK school qualification, a degree taught in English (UK-awarded, or non-UK and verified through Ecctis), or a Secure English Language Test (SELT) with an approved provider. Nationals of certain English-speaking countries, and holders of specific regulated health-profession registrations, are exempt from providing proof.
- Apply online, either from outside or inside the UK, and prove your identity through the ID Check app or at a visa application centre.Applying from outside the UK, you'll usually get a decision within 3 weeks of proving your identity and providing your documents; this can take longer if your documents need verifying or you're asked to attend an interview.
Possible outcomes
- A Skilled Worker visa for up to 5 years at a time, tied to your sponsor and your job, renewable while you continue to meet the requirements.
- A route to indefinite leave to remain (settlement) after a qualifying period on the route, subject to the requirements in force when you apply.
- Refusal, where the sponsor licence, the certificate of sponsorship, the applicable salary threshold or the English requirement is not met.
- Qualification
- Evidence that you are already a leader, or have demonstrable potential to become a leader, in your field, judged against the endorsing body's own published criteria for that field. There is no fixed degree, occupation or salary requirement on this route.
- Endorsement decision (digital technology field)
- Usually 5 to 8 weeks
- Visa decision, applying from outside the UK
- Usually around 3 weeks
- Endorsement application (endorsement route only)
- £561
- Visa application
- £205
- Immigration health surcharge
- £1,035 per year
The procedure, step by step4 steps · 3 possible outcomes
- Check whether you hold a prize on the published eligible prize list. If you do, you can apply for the visa directly, without going through endorsement first.
- If you do not hold a qualifying prize, identify the endorsing body for your field and review its published criteria before you apply to it.For the digital technology field, the Home Office currently sends applications to be reviewed by Tech Nation, described on the guidance as 'a UK organisation ("endorsing body") with expertise in your field'.
- Apply for endorsement first. Only once you hold an endorsement — or a qualifying prize — can you apply for the visa itself; the two applications are separate and sequential.For the digital technology field, the guidance states an endorsement decision usually takes 5 to 8 weeks.
- Apply for the visa using your endorsement or your qualifying prize as evidence.Applying from outside the UK, a decision on the visa itself usually takes around 3 weeks.
Possible outcomes
- A Global Talent visa, granted for a period you choose of 1 to 5 years at a time, up to 5 years per grant.
- A route to indefinite leave to remain (settlement) after 3 or 5 years, depending on your field and how you qualified — the guidance does not break down which combination gets which figure on the pages reviewed; confirm the applicable period with the endorsing body or the Home Office before relying on it.
- Refusal, where endorsement is not granted and you do not hold a qualifying prize.
- Qualification
- A bachelor's, postgraduate, or doctoral-level qualification, awarded in the last 5 years by a university on the Home Office's published eligible-university list.
- Decision, applying from outside the UK
- Usually within 3 weeks
- Decision, applying from inside the UK
- Usually within 8 weeks
- Application fee
- £880
- Ecctis qualification-validity check
- £252, including VAT
- Immigration health surcharge, 2-year visa
- £2,070 total (£1,035 per year)
The procedure, step by step4 steps · 3 possible outcomes
- Check the Home Office's eligible-university list for the year you graduated, and confirm your awarding university is on it. The Home Office decides this list; no other check confirms university eligibility for you.
- Apply to Ecctis to have your qualification checked as valid and at the right level for this specific visa.The guidance states plainly that 'Ecctis will not check if your university is eligible' — that is a separate question you answer yourself against the Home Office list, not something this check confirms for you. This Ecctis product is not the Statement of Comparability described in `unitedKingdomDegreeRecognition`; do not treat the two as interchangeable.
- Prove your knowledge of English and show you have enough personal savings to support yourself, unless you have already held a valid UK visa for at least 12 months.
- Apply online. You can only ever hold this visa once, so confirm it is the right route before you use that one opportunity.You'll usually get a decision within 3 weeks if you apply from outside the UK, or within 8 weeks if you apply from inside the UK.
Possible outcomes
- A High Potential Individual visa lasting 2 years, or 3 years if your qualifying award was a PhD or other doctoral-level qualification.
- No route to settlement through this visa itself — the guidance states time on it does not count if you later apply to settle in the UK on another route.
- Refusal, where the awarding university is not on the eligible-university list, the qualification is not verified as valid, or the other conditions are not met.
