N.B. This is not legal advice. Consult an immigration adviser or lawyer before making decisions that could significantly impact your life.
UK work visas
- Tier 2 (General) is the category for regular work visas.
- Check that the company sponsors Tier 2 visas. This handy site UK Tier Sponsor Register scrapes the data from Tiers 2 and 5 register of sponsors daily and renders them in a searchable list.
- Companies who are visa sponsors might not offer visa sponsorship for a particular role because they have more than enough UK/EU applicants e.g. popular graduate schemes.
- There’s no harm asking whether a company would consider becoming a visa sponsor in order to sponsor you if they couldn’t otherwise fill a role. 🤔 The additional cost of around £2k are negligible compared to holding the role vacant for longer.
- The classification of new entrant is
age < 26and experienced worker to have surpassed their 26th birthday during the job start date. The reasoning behind this is that an experienced worker should have reached the median UK salary for their job role due to their experience.
Graduate roles
- The roles must pay
max(£20800, {appropriate new entrant rate for job role})for new entrants ormax(£30000, {appropriate experienced rate for job role})for experienced workers.
Examples of common job roles and their associated salaries:
| SOC code and description | New entrant | Experienced worker |
|---|---|---|
| 2135 IT business analysts, architects and systems designers | £26,500 | £34,700 |
| 2136 Programmers and software development professionals | £24,000 | £32,000 |
| 2137 Web design and development professionals | £17,900 | £24,000 |
| 2139 Information technology and telecommunications professionals not elsewhere classified | £21,600 | £28,900 |
- The rules for switching from Tier 4 student to Tier 2 (General) are more lax as they are not subject to Certificate of Sponsorships (CoS) quotas or the Resident Labour Market Test (RLMT).
- If your Tier 4 student visa is no longer valid at the time you apply for a Tier 2 (General) visa, your employer’s request for a CoS would be subject to the monthly quota for applicants outside the UK and the RLMT being carried out.
- Therefore, start looking for graduate jobs early!!
- Check UK Tier 2 (General) Visa Eligibility for the latest rules and salary thresholds.
Switching employers
- More employers are willing to sponsor visas for mid-level roles as there is a much smaller pool of applicants.
- See above. The following rules also apply:
- The Resident Labour Market Test (RLMT) needs to be carried out to prove that there are no suitable UK/EU candidates for the role.
- It is recommended to use the same-day premium visa service to get a decision on the same day so as not to delay the start date of your new job. It’s not advisable to quit your job before getting the new visa approved.
- Unfortunately, the NHS health surcharge for the remaining years of your old visa will not be refunded.
Tier 1 Visa
- This category is usually for enterpreneurs and startups who have access to funding.
- Tech City can act as an endorser for visa applications.
