r/SkilledWorkerVisaUK

I have completed final round of interviews. The HR have asked for my visa details and uk entry date and said they will be checking if they can legally hire me.

Does that mean they have made decision to sponsor me and hire me??

Hi, I've been with the company for more than 5 years and my job currently is classified as medium skilled. I'm trying to workout with my company and potential promotion to high skilled job. This will be a soc change but within the same company. As I have held SWV from 2022, do I still qualify for the lower rate? If the lower rate is 40,500, is there another minimum threshold that supercedes this? Your help is appreciated.

An immigration lawyer on social media has said there was an increase to the going rates for SWV on 8th April 2026. Is this right ? As far as I was aware it was mainly payroll changes and some compliance updates for employers.

Hi all

My sponsor submitted my application on the 23rd of March and I’m still waiting to hear back.

I know the website says 8 weeks (or usually 8 weeks) but all of my friends heard back in a few days or a week or so.

What’s the current timeline for everyone or are people still waiting to hear back?

Hello,

I have got an extension to my skilled worker visa. My previous visa was expiring on 8th April. I submitted my application for renewal on 1st April and did biometrics on 10th April.

My application has been approved. The new eVisa mentions valid from 14th April.

Would the gap between 8th April and 14th April be an issue?

Hi,

I am on a student visa and I have overall 10 years experience in Magento and Shopify developer mostly in e-commerce industry also I am completing my msc computer science in September where I learnt and build projects using Machine learning.

All of the jobs I apply to or get approached from recruitment agencies on LinkedIn do not offer sponsorship but only job if I have work Authorization.

I hope someone from a similar background and similar situation can help me understand what I am doing wrong?

Thank you

Hi friends, my wife is currently on the spouse Visa. She is due to reach the 5 year mark this year to apply for the ILR, and has passed the Life in The UK test last week. Her visa is valid until 21 June 2026, and we have been told she can apply 28 days before expiry.

She was first accepted for her visa on the 28th April 2021, so would that date take precedence over the expiry date, can she start applying for her ILR now? Any help or steer would be appreciated.

I was laid off in October 2025 after 3.5 years working on a Skilled Worker Visa, and have been searching for sponsored jobs since. I haven’t received my curtailment letter yet, so it seems like I might still have a chance, but in this job market companies apparently aren’t willing to sponsor visas at all.

I try to explain to recruiters that they would only need to transfer my existing visa rather than start the process from scratch, but it often feels like many of them aren’t very familiar with how the visa process works.

In the meantime, I had to move back to my home country and leave behind part of my family who moved to the UK long before Brexit, as it would have been financial suicide to stay in London while unemployed.

Is anyone in a similar situation? Do you have any tips? I worked in a mid-senior marketing role in financial services, but at this point I’m willing to take almost anything to be able to move back to London.

Hi, I am on my PSW visa which is valid for another 6 months (i know it's really less time). How likely is it that I would be able to obtain a sponsored job as an Interior Designer in the UK? I have just over 2 years of experience and currently working in Dubai.

I have scenarios of people getting sponsored jobs with just three months left in their visa validity for PSW. I'd like to hear some insight on it.

Got ILR approved earlier this week for me and my partner! Happy to answer questions while details are still fresh in my mind.

Timeline:

- SWV decision date from the visa sticker - May 12, 2021

- Application submitted via gov.uk - April 14, 2026

- Biometric appointment - April 15, 2026

- Approval email - April 15, 2026

I’ve paid 500 GBP/pp for priority processing to get decision in 5 days, but shockingly got an email from Atlas just 7 hours after leaving TLS Contact centre.

Immigration status was updated to “Settled” in the eVisa straight away.

Few things, which were not entirely clear and what I did:

- Cohabitation proof: There is no clear guidance about how many documents HO wants, but I’ve ended up submitting a mix of council tax bills for the last 2 years, few joint bank account statements, mortgage statements and few bills in sole name for us both for the same month. Intervals between dates on the documents were 3-4 months

- PDFs from online banking were ok, I didn’t bother going to a branch to get stamped statements

- Previous passport scans: I’ve scanned all passport pages, including blank ones, after reading somewhere that it’s recommended. However, in the TLS centre they are always scanning your current passport and I’ve noticed that employee scanned only pages with stamps or visas + personal info page. So, scanning blanks in the olds passport was probably excessive

- Availability of the dates for biometric appointment was good in London: appointment with documents scanning service were available even next day and free appointments from next week. If you pay 50 GBP/pp for documents scanning service, you are still allowed to upload everything online in advance. TLS is just artificially limiting number of completely free appointments to make more money

- It’s possible to pay visa fee using Amex, so you can easily hit welcome bonus for one of their reward cards, if you want to, and then cancel it after transferring out

Hi Everyone,

I was on skilled worker visa and came with my dependents in July 2021.

I switched my employer 10 month ago for a better role (AI product management).

They first extended my probation on some random issues. Then suddenly one day, without any bad feedback or any warning, just terminated me.

I am just 2 months away from my ILR and requested a lot to just put me on unpaid leave but they are non responsive.

I am applying for new sponsored job but not getting so quickly.

Please suggest what else I can do. 🙏🙏

More context on what happened:I

The new company/manager took exceptions from CPO to match my salary as I was getting good salary (130k+) in my old company.

My manager assumed I will join immediately within 2 weeks without even checking with me. Obviously I couldn't due to longer notice period.

Since then, I believe he kind of hold the grudge.

For first 3 months, everything was okay. He was asshole but did not find any issue with my work.

Then suddenly one day, he said we will have mid probation check-in (no other employee had to go through this) and wrote random stuff from his own preconceptions.

He was extremely nitpicking and was digging for any minor issues or manufacturing issues.

I tried to work through his madness. Came up with a plan and started doing things that made him happy e.g. telling every single thing which I was doing.

He started giving good feedback but extended my probation saying I need to show this performance for longer time.

I worked with HR to get a clear objective criteria for passing probation.

I worked hard and delivered on those criteria.

Since it was objective, there were no black and white.

I was pretty confident that I should be fine.

I used to check with him weekly and he would say yes everything is on track.

Suddenly one day, he secretly pulled HR in our 1:1 and told me I failed my probation.

They gave me 2 week severance and that's it.

All of my access was suddenly gone.

I wrote email to the HR , escalated to VP of HR to just put me on unpaid leave till my ILR.

They are inhuman and not even responding.

What should I do.

I am from India and I recently got the UK Youth Mobility Scheme Visa. I am looking for jobs in data science and data analytics. I have been applying to 10-20 jobs everyday only to face rejection. I have also gotten a UK Virtual number for job hunting. Am I doing something wrong? Do you guy have any tips for me?

My\_qualifications: 4 years of experience in data science and data analytics and Masters degree in Operations Research.

I am from India and I recently got the UK Youth Mobility Scheme Visa. I am looking for jobs in data science and data analytics. I have been applying to 10-20 jobs everyday only to face rejection. I have also gotten a UK Virtual number for job hunting. Am I doing something wrong? Do you guy have any tips for me?

My\_qualifications: 4 years of experience in data science and data analytics and Masters degree in Operations Research.

Hi All,

So I have been in the UK for last 9+ years and eligible for ILR under Long Residence route in April 2027 (less than a year's time). For 5 years I was on student visa and for last 4yrs I was on Skilled Worker visa. 

I changed my sponsors about 8 months ago and there was a 6-month probation. Unfortunately a very close family member passed away in the interim and I had to temporarily leave the UK in very short notice. I was away for 3 months, as I had to financially and logistically manage funeral back home. My new employer waited for me to return to the UK and upon my return informed me that my role will not be confirmed after probation, i.e. job loss. I have since been let go.

I have subsequently rec'd a work visa curtailment letter (expiring May 8th) couple of weeks ago and actively applying like crazy, but no luck yet. Couple of interviews, offers even, gets stuck in the visa issue.

I would be grateful if someone could please refer me in their org or share any contact, otherwise my 9 years of residence will be lost overnight. The life I have built here will amount to nothing. My family in my home country depends on me.

My career profile: 4+ years full-time work experience in governance, risk assurance, compliance, internal audit etc. Worked across private sector multinationals, public sector councils/NHS/civil service. UK MSc, MBA. Part qualified Charatered Accountant (ACCA).

I am eligible for pre April 2024 lower salary thresholds and have been sponsored before under various SOC codes e.g. 3115, 2421, and 3565.

Please help me. Feel free to comment or DM me.

Thank you.

In total I have 4.5 years of experience with background in architecture then 3 years in interior design.

I have previously worked in London in high end residential interior design firm on PSW visa then had to move back to India. I’m just not settling down in working culture here and wish to return back to Uk.

Anyone has any clue on list of firms has sponsorship license?

Dear All,

I’m in the process of switching jobs on skilled worker visa. Can I take a break for one week between the last day of current organisation and joining date at new organisation? I have the CoS and approved visa from new org. From ChatGPT, answer is it’s allowed to take a short break under 60 days.

I want to check if anyone had such a short break during the employment switch and had no impacts to ILR process.

Appreciate your thoughts.

Hi, We have been married for a year. He says he works in an org but doesn’t work a lot. Has issue with ukvi account so his visa is not linked but has COS and confirmation email from ukvi saying he has visa and there is a linking issue. He has no @companyname.com email. Only @gmail.com email. But I saw a mail from that company he sending him his payslip. That email has @companyname.com. He is sus with financials. I see many personal loan searches in his history. I heard him in call with someone. I heard few sentences and when I reverse searched it was completely an YouTube video. He played YouTube video and pretended to be in a call. I can’t understand what is happening. I linked with someone he says his manager in uk in linkedin. Casually spoke to him and introduced myself as his wife and he recognised. There is no one email from anyone in his org or a teams message. Only some mails from a hr but she has @gmail.com. So not credible. I’m going crazy with all this. What do I do? Can someone help me with bg verification?

For a year he is working but tier 2 visa is not linked.

Hi everyone, I’m in a bit of a panic and would really appreciate advice from anyone who has been in a similar situation or has relevant knowledge.

My situation:

•	Currently on a Graduate visa expiring 26/04/2026 — 7 days from now

•	I have a confirmed job offer as a Software Test Engineer with a licensed sponsor

•	The original CoS was assigned but had to be withdrawn due to an administrative error on the New Entrant field

•	Employer submitted a priority allocation request to UKVI on 13 April to enable a new corrected CoS to be issued

•	They have been sending daily priority emails since Monday with no response

•	No dependants

My questions:

1.	Has anyone successfully had a UKVI allocation request approved urgently in similar circumstances — how long did it take?

2.	Is there any legitimate way to protect my leave beyond April 26 while waiting for the allocation without leaving the UK?

3.	Is there anything else I or my employer should be doing right now that we haven’t thought of?