Salary Threshold for Skilled Worker Visa

The Skilled Worker visa is the primary route through which UK employers can hire and sponsor qualified foreign workers.

To qualify for the Skilled Worker route, you must have a qualifying job offer from an approved employer in the UK. Your pay for the job must meet the standard minimum salary requirement for a Skilled Worker visa or the going rate for your occupation code.

Although there’s a standard salary threshold for the Skilled Worker visa, the actual salary requirement for each applicant varies depending on various factors, including:

• The going rate for your occupation
• Whether your occupation is on the Immigration Salary List
• Whether you qualify as a new entrant
• Whether you have a relevant PhD-level qualification
• Whether you work in healthcare or education

The minimum salary rules apply to all Skilled Worker visa applicants regardless of whether you’re applying from abroad, switching from a different route in the UK, or applying to extend your stay as a skilled worker.

Page Content

• Understanding the Salary Threshold for the Skilled Worker Visa UK
• General Salary Threshold
• Exceptions to the Salary Threshold
• New Entrants Salary Threshold
• Exceptions for PhD Holders
• Exceptions for Education Workers
• Exceptions for Jobs on the Immigration Salary List
• Healthcare Worker Salary Thresholds
• What Sponsors Must Know About Salary Thresholds
• How Can Total Law Help?
• FAQs

As of 2026, the standard salary threshold for the Skilled Worker visa is £41,700 per annum or the ‘going rate’ for your occupation code, whichever is higher. Each job has a specific occupation code on the Standard Occupational Classification published by the Home Office. The going salary rate for each occupation is updated annually on the going rates table.

Hence, if your job offer pays up to the standard threshold but the going salary rate for your occupation is higher, you do not meet the salary requirement for the Skilled Worker route. For example, if you have a job offer that pays £43,000 but the going rate for your job is £46,000, you’re not eligible for a Skilled Worker visa.

In addition to meeting the annual salary requirement, your job must also meet the minimum hourly rate of £12.71 if you are over 21 years old, £10.85 if you are between 18-20 years, and £8 if you are under 18 or you are an apprentice. The Home Office calculates this rate based on a standard 37.5-hour working week. This means that if you work fewer hours per week or work part-time, you must still meet the hourly threshold for your category, which must be reflected in your overall annual salary figure.

Note that only guaranteed gross basic pay counts towards the salary threshold. Bonus payments, commission, and other performance-related earnings cannot be included in the calculation, even if they form a significant part of your overall remuneration package.

While £41,700 is the minimum requirement for most Skilled Worker roles, certain exceptions apply that allow lower salary thresholds for applicants in specific roles and those with specific qualifications.

Lower salary thresholds are typically available for new entrants, applicants with relevant PhDs, health and care workers, and Immigration Salary List roles, provided they meet all other requirements for their roles.

We’ll look at the thresholds for each of these categories in detail below.

UK immigration rules allow for a lower Skilled Worker visa salary threshold for applicants who qualify as new entrants to the labour market. The new entrant salary threshold is 70% of the going rate for the relevant occupation code, provided it is up to at least £33,400 per year.

You may qualify as a new entrant if you are under the age of 26 on the day you apply and meet one or more of the following criteria:

• You are switching to the Skilled Worker route from a Student visa, and your course of study was at a bachelor’s degree level or above.
• You’re currently in the UK on a Graduate visa, or you’ve held one within the last 2 years
• You are entering a postdoctoral position.
• You are working towards a recognised professional qualification in a regulated profession, such as post-study legal or medical training.
• You are working towards chartered status or full registration in the job you’re being sponsored for.

You can stay in the UK as a new entrant for up to 4 years, after which you must meet the general threshold for the Skilled Worker route. The 4-year time limit also includes time already spent in the UK on the Graduate route. For example, if you held a Graduate visa for 1 year before finding a sponsored job, you can only qualify for sponsorship as a new entrant for 3 years.

You may be eligible for a lower salary threshold if you have a PhD relevant to your job. This is known as a ‘PhD salary discount,’ and applies to specific job types. You can check if your job qualifies for a PhD salary discount on the Home Office’s website.

The PhD discount allows you to be paid 80% or 90% of the going rate for your occupation, depending on your field of qualification.

If you have a PhD in a STEM (science, technology, engineering, or maths) subject, you can qualify for a Skilled Worker visa if you’re paid at least 80% of the going rate for your occupation code, provided that you’re not paid less than £33,400 per annum.

If you have a PhD in a non-STEM subject, you can be paid 90% of your occupation code’s salary rate, provided that you’re paid at least £37,500 per year.

Regardless of your subject area, you must provide evidence that you have a UK PhD or an overseas doctoral degree that’s equivalent to a UK PhD. You must also be able to demonstrate that your PhD is relevant to the job you’re being sponsored for.

You can qualify for a lower salary threshold for the Skilled Worker route if you have been granted a postdoctoral position in specific science and higher education roles. You can be paid 70% of the going rate for your occupation code if you have an eligible postdoctoral position.

To qualify for this salary discount, your job must fall within one of the following occupation codes:

• 2311: higher education teaching professionals
• 2162: researchers in other unspecified disciplines
• 2119: natural and social science professionals not classified elsewhere
• 2115: social and humanities scientists
• 2114: physical scientists
• 2113: biomedical scientists and biochemists
• 2112: biological scientists
• 2111: chemical scientists

Note that your total stay in the UK cannot exceed 4 years if you apply for a Skilled Worker visa via this route. The 4 years also include time spent in the UK on the Graduate route.

Jobs listed on the Immigration Salary List (ISL) are subject to lower salary requirements. Skilled Worker visa applicants whose jobs are listed on the ISL also pay lower visa application fees.

If you’re employed for a role on the ISL, you must be paid at least £33,400 per annum or 100% of the standard going rate for your occupation code.

It’s important to note that roles are added to or removed from the Immigration Salary List annually based on current labour market conditions. So you should check the current list before starting your Skilled Worker application.

Also, a job can be on the Immigration Salary List for part of the UK but not all of it due to differences in labour market demands. For example, your job may be on the ISL for Scotland but not on the list for England, Wales, or Northern Ireland.

In such a situation, the lower salary threshold will only apply to jobs in Scotland. You will need to meet the standard salary requirement for the same job in other parts of the UK.  You should check to ensure that your job is listed on the ISL for the part of the UK you’ll be working in before applying.

Healthcare workers’ salary requirements do not follow the same rules as those of other occupations in the skilled worker route. Instead, it follows the National Health Service (NHS) national pay scale.

To qualify for a Health and Care Worker visa, you must be paid at least £29,000 or the national pay scale rate for your job, whichever is higher. Your job must also be on the list of eligible healthcare jobs.

The going rates apply for eligible jobs regardless of whether you’re employed in the public or private sector.

UK employers who wish to sponsor workers under the Skilled Worker route must first obtain a sponsor licence from the UK Visa and Immigration (UKVI). You will also be responsible for ensuring your overseas employees’ salaries meet the Home Office requirements. Failure to meet these obligations can result in serious consequences.

When assigning a Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) to a new or existing worker, you must confirm that their salary meets the applicable threshold for the role, the worker’s. This includes correctly identifying the going rate for the applicable SOC code and ensuring the offered salary meets or exceeds both the general threshold and the going rate, whichever is higher.

You must also factor in all necessary salary deductions when calculating salary threshold compliance. A worker receiving less than the required amount at any time during their employment, whether due to late payment, unpaid leave, or deductions, is considered a breach of sponsorship duties and can result in the downgrade or loss of your sponsor licence.

The salary requirements also apply to Skilled Worker visa extension and settlement applications. In addition to reviewing their expected salary stated on their CoS, UKVI often conducts payroll audits going as far back as 4 years to ensure the worker’s salary has continuously complied with the Skilled Worker route requirements.

For existing workers seeking a visa extension, the salary thresholds that apply will depend on when the worker was first sponsored. Your employees who were first granted leave on the Skilled Worker route before 4 April 2024 may qualify under the transitional arrangements with a lower salary threshold of £31,300 if they apply for an extension before 1 December 2026.