The United Kingdom always welcomes skilled worker. The country offers several work visa routes for talented foreign professionals, and the most popular among them is the UK Skilled Worker visa, which replaced the previous Tier 2 (General) Work Visa.
This visa allows you to do an eligible job role for a licensed employer (also known as your sponsor). Sometimes, you may need to or want to change your employer or job. The skilled worker route allows this.
Skilled Worker visa allows you to change your employer or job or both. You will need to update your visa if you do change your employer. To change your employer, you will need to receive a new CoS (Certificate of Sponsorship) from your new employer, who must be an approved sponsor. Therefore, you must submit an application to update your Skilled Worker visa based on your new CoS.
You should not start your new job until you have received confirmation of your new permission from the Home Office.
Changing employers means you are leaving your current employer and moving to a new organisation or company. To do this, you must:
• Obtain a new CoS (Certificate of Sponsorship) from the new employer
• Apply to update your Skilled Worker visa
• Wait for the decision from the Home Office
• Start the new job only after approval
There is no cooling-off period for updating your skilled worker visa.
You can change employers at any time, including:
• Right after you receive your first skilled worker visa
• Before you start the job for your original sponsor
• After working for your current employer for only a short time
There is no legal requirement to remain with the original sponsor for a specific duration.
A Skilled Worker visa is tied to 3 key elements, namely your sponsor, your specific job role, and your occupation code (SOC code)
You get a Skilled Worker visa on the basis that you will do a specific job, at a specific salary, for a specific sponsor. When any of these 3 elements change (especially when moving to a new employer), the Home Office must approve your new job before you start working for your new employer.
Updating your visa is required to ensure:
• Your new job still meets the latest minimum skill level
• It meets the latest minimum salary threshold or going rate
• Your new employer is licensed to sponsor Skilled Workers
• You continue to meet immigration conditions
If you fail to update your visa, it can lead to:
• Curtailment of your Skilled Worker or T2 (General) Work visa
• Loss of right to work
• Issues with future UK immigration applications
• Risk of removal from the UK
Therefore, you must update your visa.
Salary is one of the most important components of the Skilled Worker route. If you change employer, the salary you have been offered must meet the latest (updated) thresholds for the year your CoS is issued.
On 22 July 2025, the UK updated the minimum salary thresholds and other eligibility rules for Skilled Worker visas. To change your employer or a new CoS issued on or after 22 July 2025, you do not need to meet the higher threshold rather you will need to be paid £31300 if you were initially sponsored before 4 April 2024. If you were sponsored 4 after April 2024 you will need to be paid £41700 or the going rate in table 1a, 2, 2aa of the Appendix Skilled Occupations, whichever is higher.
For health and care roles the minimum salary of £25000 or according to Table 3 and 3a Appendix Skilled Occupations, whichever is higher.
The new applicants after 22 July 2025 can only go for a job title under table 1, temporary occupation list, immigration salary list or table 3 Appendix Skilled Occupations. You must note that table 2a is only for applicant who were sponsored before 4 April 2024.
If you are entering the skilled worker route after 22 July 2025, the general annual salary threshold for jobs at skill level RQF 6 or above is increased to £41,700 or the job's going rate – whichever is higher.
You must be paid an annual salary of at least £33,400 if your new employer is sponsoring you for a job that appears on ISL. You still have to be paid at least the standard going rate for your job.
You can be paid 70% of the standard going rate for your job or annual salary of at least £33,400, which ever is higher. You cannot be sponsored for more than 4 years on a New Entrant salary and this includes the time spent on graduate visa.
If you have a PhD-level qualification in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, or Maths) that is relevant to your new job, you can be paid 80% of the standard going rate for your job, as long as you will still be paid an annual salary of at least £33,400.
If you have a non-STEM qualification relevant to your job, you can be paid 90% of the standard going rate for your job, as long as you will still receive an annual salary of at least £37,500.
You can be paid 70% of the standard going rate or £33400 for your job if you will be working in a postdoctoral position or postdoc in a certain science or higher education role for your new employer.
To qualify for salary discounts, your new job must be in one of the following occupation codes:
2111: chemical scientists
2112: biological scientists
2113: biochemists and biomedical scientists
2114: physical scientists
2115: social and humanities scientists
2119: natural and social science professionals not elsewhere classified
2162: other researchers, unspecified discipline
2311: higher education teaching professionals
Your total stay in the UK can only be up to 4 years if you apply to work in a postdoc at 70% of the standard going rate. This includes any time you have already spent in the UK on a Graduate visa.
If you obtained your CoS for your first skilled worker visa after 4 April 2024 but before 22 July 2025 and you want to change employer after 22 July 2025 you will need to have a new job offer at skill level RQF 6 or above and meet the new salary threshold as applicable after 22 July 2025 (mentioned above).
However, if your new occupation (job) code is listed as ‘medium skilled’ (Roles below degree level (i.e., RQF 3–5)), you can update your visa if you got your CoS for your first Skilled Worker visa before 22 July 2025 and you have continually held one or more Skilled Worker visas since then.
Please note that many medium-skilled jobs do not appear on the ISL or newly launched TSL.
The transitional period applies to those who got their CoS for their first Skilled Worker visa before 4 April 2024.
You may be able to meet lower salary requirements when you apply to update your Skilled Worker visa because of a change of employer if you got your CoS for your first Skilled Worker visa before 4 April 2024, and you have continually held one or more Skilled Worker visas since then.
In such a situation, if you apply to update your skilled worker visa, you can be paid an annual salary of at least £31,300 or the lower going rate for your job – whichever is higher.
Lower salary requirements will only be in place for applications to update skilled worker visa before 4 April 2030. These salary requirements are being updated regularly, and your salary will still need to increase in line with the updated going rates each time you apply.
You can be paid 70%-90% of your job's lower going rate if your annual salary is at least £25,000 and you meet one of the following criteria:
• You are aged under 26, studying or a fresh graduate, or in professional training
• You have a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering or Maths) qualification that’s relevant to your job (if you have a relevant PhD level qualification in a subject other than STEM, your annual salary must be at least £28,200)
If your new job is on the ISL, you must be paid an annual salary of at least £25,000 or the full going rate for your job, whichever is higher.
You can be paid 70% or more of the lower going rate for your job if your annual salary will be at least £25,000.
If you have a STEM qualification, you can be paid 80% or more of the lower going rate for your job if your annual salary will be at least £25,000.
If you have a relevant non-STEM qualification, you can be paid 90% or more of the lower going rate for your job if your annual salary will be at least £28,200.
You can be paid 70% or more of the lower going rate for your job if your annual salary will be at least £25,000.
Your total stay in the UK can be up to 4 years, including any time you have already spent in the UK on a T2 (General) or Graduate visa.
Visa and Migration can provide you with crucial guidance if you want to change employer, particularly with a change in salary requirements, which vary depending on when you got your original CoS (Certificate of Sponsorship)
We will help you by analysing whether your new job meets the current salary thresholds and the going rate for the job’s SOC code. We will advise you on whether your new job qualifies under standard rules, or if any discounts apply on the basis of the job listed on ISL, whether you are a new entrant or have a PhD-level qualification.
Depending on whether you were issued your CoS before 4 April 2024, between 4 April 2024 and 22 July 2025, or on or after 22 July 2025, we ensure that you meet the updated thresholds.
We will assist you in preparing documentation, coordinating with your new employer for a valid CoS, and submitting an application to update your Skilled Worker visa, reducing the risk of refusal due to incorrect salary assessment.
For more information and assistance, you can call us at +44 (0)20 3411 1261.
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