The UK government offers several types of visas to non-UK citizens, and one of the prominent visa routes is the Skilled worker visa UK. The United Kingdom offers this visa route to non-EU or non-EEA citizens who want to work under a UK employer in the United Kingdom. If you are a skilled worker and want to settle in the UK, you will be required to obtain UK residency and British citizenship. This visa route can become your key to obtaining a permanent residency in the UK. However, several requirements and eligibility criteria for this visa are essential to fulfil for every visa applicant. This country offers impeccable benefits in terms of healthcare, education, work and study opportunities. People from all over the world want to become a part of the largest economy in the world. The enticing work environment and tremendous work opportunities attract migrant workers to work in this country. But to apply for this visa route and understand its legalities, you must consider seeking professional help from solicitors in London.
As a skilled worker, if you have a job offer from a UK employer, you can surely apply for this visa route. Apart from that, if you want to stay in this country and become a UK citizen, you must apply for indefinite leave to remain and for British citizenship. In this comprehensive guide, we have mentioned how you can settle in the UK and obtain citizenship and permanent residency. This guide will help you immensely to understand how this visa route can streamline your path to permanent residency in the United Kingdom.
An Overview of Skilled Worker Visa UK
The UK government has designed this visa route for skilled workers from all around the world. This route streamlines an ample of job opportunities for career enthusiasts around the globe. This visa route has replaced the Tier 2 General work visa, allowing non-EU or non-EEA citizens to work under a UK employer. To obtain this visa, you must have a valid job offer from a certified UK employer in hand. This visa allows you to stay in the United Kingdom for five years. After this period, you can apply for indefinite leave to remain and even for British citizenship as well. However, to obtain this visa, several eligibility criteria must be met. The UK Home Office is very particular about their requirements and eligibility criteria, which is essential for every applicant to fulfil. In our next section, we have mentioned several requirements and eligibility criteria for a Skilled worker visa. You must analyse these before you apply for this particular visa.
Eligibility Criteria & Requirements of Skilled Worker Visa UK
Before you apply for this visa route, it is essential that you must check whether you are eligible for this visa route or not. The UK visas and immigration authorities (UKVI) are very clear about the eligibility criteria and their requirements. If you are applying for this visa route, you must determine whether you are eligible. The second thing is requirements are also essential factors for applicants of this visa route. In this section, we have mentioned all those essential criteria that are required to be fulfilled.
- The first eligibility criteria for this visa route is you must have a valid job offer. Having a job offer from a UK employer is the utmost eligibility criteria for this visa route. You can not apply for this visa without a job offer.
- Another eligibility criteria is fulfilling the English language requirement. Since English is the national language of the United Kingdom, the UK government always ensures that every visa applicant must have a certain level of understanding of this language. You must know how to read, write and speak in the English language. To fulfil this requirement, you must obtain an English language certificate.
- Being a Skilled worker applicant, it is essential that you must meet the minimum salary requirements for this visa route. There are specific salary requirements for every job profession in the United Kingdom. Your employer must meet those requirements and provide you with a Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS). This certificate is required to be attached along with your visa application.
- Applicants must fulfil the financial requirements and attach their bank statements along with their application. The UK government always ensures that visa applicants must not depend upon government or public funds. Other than that, you must have a residential proof to attach along with your visa application.
Apart from the eligibility criteria, if we discuss the requirements, you will have to pay a visa application fee and the immigration health surcharge. Health surcharge fees are essential to pay to access national healthcare facilities in the United Kingdom.
How do you obtain indefinite leave to remain (ILR)?
If you successfully stay on a Skilled worker visa for five years in the United Kingdom, you will be eligible to apply for permanent residence or indefinite leave to remain. This specific immigration status allows non-UK citizens to live and work in the United Kingdom without further restrictions. Once you obtain permanent residency, you can access UK government services and other benefits like British citizens. However, to qualify for ILR, you will also have to meet specific eligibility requirements of the UK Home Office. It can be a daunting task to understand certain aspects of the ILR; in this regard, seeking professionals from solicitors in London can help you abundantly. There are certain immigration legal firms in the UK, such as A Y & J Solicitors. Their team of knowledgeable and experienced solicitors can help you understand the entire process of skilled visa application and assist you with the ILR application.
In conclusion, we can say that a skilled worker visa in the UK is one of the most beneficial routes. If you are a skilled professional with a particular talent in any specific field, you can choose this visa route to set up your career in the United Kingdom. This visa route will streamline your path to British citizenship and help you enhance your life to a certain level.
