Explore the potential of the UK to offer you the most attractive job opportunities in industrial sectors like banking & finance, construction, healthcare, and IT. Plan to work in the UK to get a work visa that suits your specialized requirements.
The UK work visa, a visa pathway, attracts skilled workers globally, considering that the UK is one of the most robust economies even after it exited from the EU and withstood the COVID-19 pandemic.
Know the features, processes, and methods relevant to work in the UK. Understand what it takes to secure a work visa and what possibilities exist for you to gain permanent residency in the UK. Here, we will explore more about the UK work visa, and the pathways that allow you to get the opportunity of working in the UK.
Some interesting features about the UK- the country.
It’s a major decision to live in the UK and relocate to it. Before you apply for a work visa in the UK, know the reasons why a UK work visa is valuable.
Access NHS (National Health Scheme), UK’s high-standard healthcare system, which will provide you with free or highly subsidized medication.
Before you shift to the UK on a work visa, know the most prominent cities in the country. They are as follows:
A Skilled Worker visa is for people intending to move to the UK and working in a job considered eligible by an approved employer there. This visa is a substitute for the earlier Tier 2 (General) Work Visa.
The visa is valid for five years, after which it can be extended. You can even apply to settle permanently in the UK.
With this visa, medical professionals can enter and stay in the UK and work in occupations deemed eligible by the NHS or by being a supplier for it, or in adult social care.
This work visa is convenient if you are planning to stay in the UK and are employed in a job your employer deems eligible. This visa could be either of the two given below:
You get this visa if you intend to do unpaid work of a voluntary nature for a charitable trust.
This visa is given to you if you have in hand a job offer as a creative worker in the UK.
This visa allows you to stay and work in the UK for a minimum of two years after successfully concluding a course in the country.
You need to be in the UK to apply for this work visa. Apart from that, it would help if you met the following conditions:
The visa is eligible for two years. It will be valid for three years if you have a Ph.D. or any other doctoral qualifications. These visas are not extensible. To increase your stay, you need to switch to another visa type.
Skilled Shortage Occupation list Visa
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Here’s a list of the top demanding jobs, along with their average salaries in the UK:
Job Occupation |
Average starting salaries |
Programmers and Software Developers |
£26,000 |
Cyber Security Specialists |
£25,000 |
Architects |
£28,000 |
Health Services and Residential Care |
£21,000 – £30,000 |
Graphic Designers |
£18,800 |
Physical Scientists |
£29,000 |
Sales Assistant |
£16,977 |
Customer Service Advisor |
£18,801 |
Operations Manager |
£42,500 |
Business Analyst |
£42,000 |
Acquiring some of the UK work permits can be tricky based on visa requirements. Candidates who fulfill the eligibility criteria with proper submission of the requirements can get their visas processed within the due time. The candidate must have an offer letter for a job that meets a licensed employer’s minimum salary and skill requirements. To make the work permit process easy, it is suggested that the candidate applies at least three months before the travel date.
Individuals applying for the U.K. work permit must submit proof of financial funds. The candidate must have at least £1,270 in their bank account as proof to support themselves in the country. The money must be unused for 28 consecutive days, starting from applying for the visa.
The processing time for a U.K. work visa usually takes around three weeks to 8 weeks, based on where you apply from. The processing time for work visas that are applied from outside the U.K. is as follows:
Skilled worker visa: 3 weeks
Health and Care worker: 3 weeks
Global Talent: 3 weeks
Scale-up worker: 3 weeks
High Potential Individual (HPI): 3 weeks
Temporary work visa: 3 weeks
Innovator Founder: 3 weeks
The processing time for work visas that are applied from inside the U.K. is as follows:
Skilled Worker – 8 weeks
Health and Care Worker – 8 weeks
Global Business Mobility visas – 8 weeks
Temporary Work visas (selected categories) – 8 weeks
Innovator Founder – 8 weeks
Global Talent – 8 weeks
High Potential Individual (HPI) – 8 weeks
Scale-up Worker – 8 weeks
The different UK work permit categories or Tiers are mentioned below:
Tier 1 visa: The Tier 1 visa, or the Entrepreneur or UK Innovator visa, is specifically for highly skilled individuals like investors or business people. The Tier 1 visa is a special category visa for Non-EU candidates that are exceptionally talented and are willing to invest at least £200,000 in the UK.
Tier 2 visa: The Tier 2 visa is a work visa that allows transfers of skilled immigrants with a job offer or sponsorship to the UK. The candidate with a Tier 2 visa must score at least 60 points and is required to have an employment offer in the country.
Tier 3 visa: The Tier 3 visa is for low-skilled workers to fill job vacancies when there is a demand.
Tier 4 visa: The Tier 4 visa is a type of student visa for international students who wish to pursue higher education in the UK with two years to look for jobs in the country.
Tier 5 visa: The Tier 5 visa, also known as the Temporary Worker visa, is for individuals who can work in the UK temporarily. Charity workers, sportspersons, or Government exchange schemes are eligible for the Tier 5 visa.
Candidates applying for a UK work visa must show minimum proof of funds as a requirement. The individual must have at least £1,270 as evidence of funds to support their stay in the UK. The money in the account must be left unused for 28 consecutive days. The 28 days will be calculated as a part of 31 days from the date of applying for the visa.
The Skilled Worker Visa was introduced in place of Tier 2 (General) Sponsored Worker visa. This UK work visa is for businesses in the country that can sponsor both European and non-European nationals to work from January 1, 2021, in the UK.
A Global Talent visa allows you to work in the UK as a skilled employee if you are currently in the capacity of leader or prospectively going to be one shortly in the domain of digital technology.
Digital technology includes sectors like artificial intelligence (AI), cybersecurity, financial technology (fintech), etc. You are allowed to apply if you have earned an eligible award.
You are allowed to work in the UK both on long-term and short-term work visas.
The work visa you will need will depend on four different factors –
The type of work you will perform in the UK
There are certain jobs in the UK which do not require any work experience. These include menial jobs, including cleaning and driving occupations. Employers want work experience of a minimum of one year in most such jobs. There are instances where employers are not inclined to waste time training employees. Obtaining work experience is possible. Instead of waiting for a job advertisement, you need to walk into the companies directly and ask for jobs.
You can try such organizations by telling them that you intend to provide your services on an experimental basis. The places where you can try are advertising agencies, hairdressers, and factories, among others.
Yes. Usually, you would require a sponsor who invites you to work in the UK. You must have the work experience, necessary qualifications, and skills for the jobs you get through sponsorship and an invitation to the UK. Employers who would sponsor you will provide a sponsorship certificate.
Providing a sponsorship certificate is to support overseas workers’ applications. With this certificate, it will be ensured by the authorities that the employer will shoulder all the employees’ responsibilities during their employment tenure in the UK.