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Working in the UK from abroad: the Skilled Worker visa, what it needs and how to avoid visa scams

8 minute read · Updated 2026-10-07

Checked on GOV.UK on 7 October 2026. Visa rules and fees change several times a year, so check the GOV.UK page named in each section before you pay anything. This is general information. For advice on your own case, use a solicitor or an adviser regulated by the Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner (OISC), never an unregulated "agent".

The short version

  • You need a job offer from a UK employer that holds a sponsor licence.
  • The job has to be eligible, and the pay has to meet the threshold.
  • The employer gives you a certificate of sponsorship, a reference number, and you apply for the visa yourself, online.
  • Nobody can sell you a job or a certificate. A genuine employer pays its own sponsorship costs.

Which jobs qualify

Since 22 July 2025 a new Skilled Worker visa from outside the UK generally needs a job at degree level ("higher skilled" in the government's table of eligible jobs), paid at least £41,700 a year or the going rate for that job, whichever is higher. Some "medium skilled" jobs still qualify if they are on the Immigration Salary List or the Temporary Shortage List. Every job has a 4-digit occupation code: ask your employer for it, or find it with the CASCOT tool, then check it in the table. Source: Skilled Worker visa: your job.

Doctors, nurses and other health professionals may qualify for the cheaper Health and Care Worker visa instead. Care worker and senior care worker jobs can no longer be filled from abroad: those roles are now only open to people already in the UK on a visa who are extending or switching. Anybody offering you a care worker visa from abroad today is offering something that does not exist. Source: Health and Care Worker visa: your job.

What it costs you

  • The application fee: from £819 to £1,865, depending on your circumstances (lower if the job is on the Immigration Salary List).
  • The immigration health surcharge: usually £1,035 for each year of the visa, paid when you apply.
  • Money to support yourself: usually at least £1,270 available when you arrive, unless your employer certifies it will cover you.

Source: Skilled Worker visa: how much it costs. That is the whole list. You do not pay for the certificate of sponsorship, the employer's licence or the immigration skills charge: by law those are the employer's.

Check the employer is real before you believe anything

  1. Find the business on the government's register of licensed sponsors. It is free and updated every working day. Not on it means it cannot sponsor you.
  2. Check the company on Companies House: when it was set up, what it does, whether it files its accounts.
  3. Contact the employer yourself, using the phone number or email on its own website, not the one in the message you received.
  4. For care and health jobs in England, the employer should also be registered with the Care Quality Commission.

The signs of a visa scam

  • Any request for money for a job, a certificate of sponsorship, "processing", "placement" or "visa fees". A certificate of sponsorship is free to you.
  • A job offer with no interview, or an interview only by WhatsApp or text.
  • Pay far above the going rate, or a "guaranteed" visa.
  • Pressure to pay quickly, or to pay a person rather than the government.
  • An employer you cannot find on the sponsor register.

If you have paid, report it to Action Fraud and to the police, and keep every message and receipt. Read more in our page on staying safe when looking for work.

On HIRING UK

We never charge a jobseeker anything, and we take down any advert that asks a candidate to pay for a visa or a certificate. If you see one, report it and we will act the same day.