Have a job offer from a UK employer, or close to one? We complete your forms, translate and organise your documents, check everything against the official rules, and book your VFS appointment — so your work-visa application is accurate and ready to submit.
The UK Skilled Worker visa lets you live and work in the UK in one specific job for one licensed employer. To apply you first need a real job offer from that employer — an official document called a Certificate of Sponsorship — and the job must be skilled enough and pay enough to qualify.
It is the main long-term work route, and at the moment it can lead to settling in the UK after 5 years (though the rules on settling are changing — see below). This page explains, in plain language, the 2026 rules: whether your job qualifies, how much it must pay, the English and money requirements, who pays for what, the documents, the real cost in baht, the new digital visa (eVisa), and exactly what we prepare for you.
Job must be graduate-level (RQF Level 6), with a Certificate of Sponsorship from a licensed employer, and English at level B2. Over-3-year visas cost £1,618. Settling currently after 5 years but the rules are changing.
A Skilled Worker application stands on five legs. If any one is missing, the application does not work — so it helps to check them in order before you spend anything.
Since 22 July 2025 the job normally has to be skilled to RQF Level 6 — which is graduate (degree) level on the official skills framework. This is the first gate, and it matters more than ever: many jobs that used to qualify under the old, lower skill level no longer do.
Important: you yourself do NOT need to have a university degree — it is the JOB that must be at graduate level. Your employer picks the right occupation code from the official list when they prepare your Certificate of Sponsorship; that code decides both whether the job qualifies and what its going rate is.
Some jobs on the Immigration Salary List or a temporary shortage list can still qualify with extra rules. The safest first step is to check your job's occupation code on the gov.uk eligible-occupations list before going any further.
There are two numbers and the job must meet the higher of them. The first is the general minimum of £41,700 a year (about £17.13 an hour). The second is the normal going rate for your specific occupation code — many jobs have a going rate above the general minimum, in which case the going rate applies instead.
Some applicants — for example certain new entrants or younger workers — qualify on a lower minimum of £33,400 a year. Jobs on the Immigration Salary List get a reduced application fee and a salary floor of 80% of the going rate (that discount list is currently set to expire on 31 December 2026).
The pay must come from a genuine job offer from your sponsoring employer. We check the job code, the going rate and the salary against the published rules before you apply — but we do not assess your chances; the decision is the Home Office's.
For new applications from 8 January 2026 you need to read, write, speak and understand English at level B2 — an upper-intermediate, good working level. You can prove this with an approved UKVI English test (a four-skills test; note that the basic 'Life Skills' tests only go up to B1 and are not enough on their own for B2), a degree that was taught in English, or by being a national of a majority English-speaking country.
People who already held a Skilled Worker visa before 8 January 2026 and are only extending may still meet the older B1 level. We help you book the right approved test in Thailand and organise the proof.
On top of the visa fees, you usually need to show at least £1,270 of your own money to support yourself when you arrive. The money has to have been in your account for 28 days in a row, and the last day of that 28-day period must fall within 31 days of the date you apply.
There are two common exemptions: you do not need to show this money if your licensed employer ticks the box on your Certificate of Sponsorship to cover your costs for your first month (up to £1,270), or if you have already been in the UK on a valid visa for 12 months or more. If you are bringing family, you need extra savings for them too — we work out the exact figure with you.
This surprises many applicants, so it is worth being clear. Two of the biggest costs in this route are NOT yours to pay — they belong to the employer by law, and the employer is not allowed to pass them on to you (if they try, they can lose their sponsor licence):
The sponsor licence fee and the Immigration Skills Charge are your employer's responsibility by law — they are not allowed to pass these costs on to you.
What YOU pay is: your own visa application fee, your UK NHS health fee (IHS), any certified translation of your Thai documents, your TB test, your English test if needed, your VFS appointment costs, and any optional faster service.
The calculator below adds up only the costs that are actually yours.
You cannot use a Skilled Worker visa without a job from an employer who is on the official register of licensed sponsors. So before you rely on any job offer, check the employer's name on the gov.uk 'Register of licensed sponsors: workers'.
Many job adverts on UK job sites say 'visa sponsorship available' or 'Skilled Worker sponsorship' — those are the ones to focus on. If an employer is keen but not on the register, they would first have to apply for a sponsor licence themselves, which takes time.
We are a document-preparation service, not a recruitment agency, so we do not find you a job — but once you have an offer, we check that the employer is a genuine licensed sponsor and that the Certificate of Sponsorship matches the rules.
Tick off your pack below — it saves on this device and prints. Items that need a certified translation are tagged.
The all-in cost below covers the government fee (£819 for up to 3 years, £1,618 for over 3 years), the UK NHS health fee (IHS) of £1,035 a year, optional certified translation, and our service fee — in pounds and live baht. Remember the sponsor licence fee and the Immigration Skills Charge are paid by your employer, not by you.
Yes. Your husband or wife (or unmarried partner) and your children under 18 can usually apply to come with you as dependants. Each person pays their own government fee and their own UK NHS health fee (IHS) — £1,035 a year for an adult and £776 a year for a child.
You will also need to show extra savings to support them (added to your own £1,270), and partners and children are normally exempt from the English test. Time spent in the UK as your dependant can count towards their own settling later.
We can prepare the whole family's documents together so nothing is missed.
The Skilled Worker visa is one of the routes that can lead to settling permanently (indefinite leave to remain). Currently you can apply to settle after 5 years of continuous qualifying work, as long as you still meet the rules at that time. But this is changing.
The government is moving towards a longer 'earned settlement' system, with a baseline of 10 years rather than 5, plus conditions such as good conduct, English to a higher level and a record of National Insurance contributions. As of June 2026 no new rule was yet in force — the proposals were still being consulted on — so the 5-year route is still the current rule, but a new applicant starting now may face a longer or different path by the time they reach the settling stage.
Please treat the 5-year figure as 'currently 5 years, but changing', and always check the current settlement rules on gov.uk before relying on a timeline. We help you keep your paperwork in order from the first application so the later steps, whatever the rule, are smoother.
If you are already in the UK on certain visas — for example a Student or a Graduate visa — you can often switch straight into the Skilled Worker route from inside the country once you have a qualifying job offer from a licensed sponsor, without going back to Thailand first.
The requirements (skill level, salary, English, money) are the same, but the fee and some details differ for in-country switching. Not every visa allows switching, so check your exact current visa on gov.uk, or tell us which visa you hold and we will point you to the right path.
Here is a big 2026 change to expect: if your application is approved, you do NOT get a sticker (called a vignette) in your passport. Instead you get a digital visa — an eVisa. After the decision you receive an email telling you to set up a free UKVI account on gov.uk.
You sign in there to view your visa, check your permission and conditions before you travel, and create a 'share code' (valid 90 days) that proves your right to work or rent to employers and landlords. There is no card and no passport sticker to lose.
The most important thing is to keep the email address and password for your UKVI account safe and up to date — that account is now your proof that you can live and work in the UK.
No sticker in your passport — your visa lives in your UKVI account and you prove it with a share code on your phone.
Because a Skilled Worker visa is for more than 6 months and you have been living in Thailand, you must have a tuberculosis (TB) test before you apply. In Thailand the only UKVI-approved provider is IOM Bangkok (the Migration Health Assessment Centre on Silom Road); the chest X-ray is done at Bangkok Christian Hospital. The certificate is valid for 6 months.
Do not use any clinic that is not on the gov.uk approved list — a certificate from a clinic that is not approved will be rejected. We help you book this at the right place and time so it does not hold up your application.
In Thailand you give your fingerprints and photo (biometrics) and submit your documents at a VFS Global visa centre — in Bangkok (Belle Grand Rama 9) or Chiang Mai (Huay Kaew Road). Once your employer has issued the Certificate of Sponsorship and you have attended your biometrics appointment, a work-visa decision usually takes around 3 weeks (about 15 working days), counted from that appointment.
A Skilled Worker decision usually takes around 3 weeks (about 15 working days) from your biometrics appointment — apply early so a slow week does not put your start date at risk.
Optional paid services can speed this up or add comfort: a Priority service (around £500) for a faster decision where available, a Super Priority service (around £1,000), a premium lounge, document courier/return, scanning help, and a 'keep my passport while you wait' option. Use the planner below to work out when to start so your documents are ready and your start date is not at risk.
A Skilled Worker (work) refusal usually does not give a full right of appeal — in most cases you fix the problem and apply again with a stronger, complete application. The most common problems are a salary that does not quite meet the right figure, a job offer (Certificate of Sponsorship) that does not match the rules or the right occupation code, missing proof of English at level B2, or not having the £1,270 of savings held for the full 28 days.
Two important warnings: you must DECLARE every previous UK or other-country visa refusal on every application; and giving false information (deception) can lead to a re-entry ban of up to 10 years. We prepare, translate, organise and check your whole pack against the published gov.uk rules first, and check the salary and job details against your employer's paperwork.
This is document preparation — it improves completeness and accuracy; it is not a guarantee of the outcome, and we never assess your chances. Only the Home Office decides.
Our service fee is separate from the government fee and the UK NHS health fee above.
Last reviewed: June 2026. The figures on this page come from public gov.uk sources and were correct when last checked, but fees and rules change — especially the settlement rules, which are under review. Always confirm the current figures and your exact job's going rate on gov.uk before you apply. This page is general information and document-preparation guidance, not regulated immigration advice.
Tell us about your job offer and we'll come back with a clear plan and a price — no obligation.
Your details are kept private (PDPA / UK-GDPR). General information, not regulated immigration advice.
