The UK laws and regulations are constantly changing. You can expect a new amendment every week and with that you can gain tremendous opportunities to work in the UK and directly gain settlement and eventually British citizenship.

If you are a skilled professional in the USA, looking for career opportunities and giving yourself and your family a good lifestyle and education then you must seek a Skilled worker visa UK.

The skilled worker visa allows you to come to the UK and do an eligible job with an authorised UK employer who holds a valid sponsor licence.

Let us see how you can make a successful application.

Check your job eligibility for a skilled worker visa

  • The foremost eligibility criteria is that you apply for a job under the UK employer who holds a sponsor licence.
  • Then you must see that the UK employer assigns you a genuine vacancy and a certificate of sponsorship(CoS) validating the genuineness of the employer and the job role being offered.
  •  The job you are applying for must be in the eligible job occupations list
  • The employer must be able to pay the minimum threshold salary or the job going-rate as per your specific job description.

The salary threshold is either of the following:

  • £10.10 per hour
  • £25,600 per year
  • the ‘going rate’ for the type of job

If you are in the health care and education sector then this may change as per the national pay scale.

If you do not meet the salary requirements, or are not working in the healthcare or education sector, then your threshold salary may reduce to £20,480 per year and at least £10.10 per hour.

What are the eligible job sectors in which you can apply

  •  There are many eligible jobs one can take and apply for a skilled worker visa UK. A few most popular ones are in these sectors:
  • Health and care
  • IT
  • Production
  • Construction
  • Social and humanities
  • Civil engineering
  • Mechanical engineering
  • Electrical and electronic engineering
  • Design and development
  • Production and process engineering
  • IT business analysts
  • IT architects and designers
  • Research and development
  • Medical
  • Education

A complete list of eligible job can be accessed from the official government website

  • English language proficiency

English proficiency is another important aspect of eligibility.

You must prove that you have B1 level of English language proficiency in speaking, writing and understanding as per CEFR levels.

You can prove this by:

  • Passing IELTS form an authorised provider
  • You have Scottish national qualification of level 4 or 5
  • You have a degree from a UK recognised university or college.
  • You are above 18 years to prove all this.

Validity of the visa

The skilled worker visa UK allows you to stay in the UK for 5 years. You can renew it once it expires. You can also apply for settlement (ILR) after 5 years of continuous residence.

You can also bring your dependents along with you to the UK.

Benefits of skilled worker visa

Working in the UK, the world’s epicenter of talent is surely benefiting in every way.

You get the opportunity to work in the best office work spaces, study and bring your dependents along with you. You can work additional hours upto 20 hours a week apart from your regular job, do some voluntary work, travel abroad and return to the UK and eventually apply for settlement and get British citizenship.

If you already have a job offer

Your employer is also called a sponsor. If you already have a job offer with you, your employer can check whether you have the job eligibility or not. Then depending on your eligibility they will assign you a certificate of sponsorship.

Once you have this electronic record then you can apply for a skilled worker visa within 3 months.

Documents checklist

You need the following documents

  • Certificate of sponsorship
  • Job details with salary
  • Job occupations code
  • English proficiency certificate
  • Employer details and sponsor license number
  • Personal savings to be able to support yourself in the UK
  • Tuberculosis test, if applicable
  • Proof of your relationship with family members

Application and fees

You need to make an online application from outside the UK and upload all the aforementioned documents.

You also need to book your biometrics appointment for photograph and signature. The other option is to use UK Immigration: ID Check’ app to scan your identity documents.

Coming to the UK can be most exciting, you must seek appropriate legal advice from

immigration lawyer UK, who can help you through the process.

A Y & J Solicitors are bespoke immigration and visa experts in the UK.