Skilled Worker sponsorship

A Skilled Worker application requires a genuine job with a licensed sponsor, at or above the required skill level, paid at or above the relevant salary requirement for the occupation, together with English language ability and the applicant's own suitability under the general grounds.

The salary test compares the general threshold and the going rate for the occupation code, with different rules for new entrants, certain listed occupations and some transitional cases. It is a test the employer controls, so it should be modelled before the offer is made rather than after.

There is no resident labour market test, but the Home Office can and does examine whether the role is genuine, whether the duties match the code, and whether the arrangement is really employment by the sponsor rather than the supply of labour to a third party.

Roles created around a particular individual, unusually broad job descriptions, and third-party working arrangements attract scrutiny. Each can be legitimate, and each needs to be evidenced.

Sponsorship is not complete when the visa is issued. You must record right to work, keep contact details, monitor attendance and absence, report changes to role, salary, location or employment status, and keep the documents specified in the sponsor guidance.

Where sponsored workers are supervised by managers who have never been briefed on sponsorship, ordinary decisions such as a promotion, a pay review or a move to another site can create unreported changes.