UK Skilled Worker Visa for Recent Graduates:
The New Entrant Salary Explained

What salary is required?

For the standard new entrant option E, pay must meet both £33,400 a year and 70% of the applicable going rate. The usual standard option A requires £41,700 and the full going rate. Other options cover eligible healthcare, education and transitional cases; £33,400 is not a universal minimum for every Skilled Worker application.

Going rates are adjusted for the contracted hours using the official rules. The fixed annual threshold is not simply reduced for part-time work. Do not assume a 37.5-hour minimum working week or count discretionary bonuses towards eligibility.

Sources: GOV.UK: when you can be paid less · Immigration Rules: Appendix Skilled Worker

Who can qualify?

You must satisfy at least one of the qualifying criteria below, as well as the salary and duration conditions. For the Student route criterion, the rules specify particular UK degrees and teaching qualifications, plus course-completion or PhD-study conditions. If Student or Graduate permission has expired, the relevant limit is less than two years since that permission expired, not two years since the qualification was awarded. A Government Authorised Exchange visa alone is not a new entrant criterion. Separate conditions apply when switching from Student permission.

• You are under 26 on the application date.
• Your job involves working towards a recognised UK qualification in a regulated profession, or full registration or chartered status for that job.
• You hold an eligible postdoctoral role in one of the specific science or higher-education occupation codes listed in the rules.
• Your most recent non-visitor permission was Student or Graduate permission, and you meet the detailed route conditions.

Sources: Immigration Rules: Appendix Skilled Worker · GOV.UK: switching to Skilled Worker

The limit is four years, including earlier permission

A new entrant grant must not take combined Skilled Worker, Graduate and Tier 2 permission beyond four years in total, including non-continuous periods. It is not a fresh three-year allowance after a Graduate visa.

For example, two years of Graduate permission can leave at most two years under the new entrant concession, assuming no other relevant permission. Have the sponsor check your actual dates before assigning the certificate. At a later application you must still meet a qualifying criterion and remain within the cap, or qualify under another salary option. Turning 26 does not itself cancel an existing grant.

Sources: Home Office: new entrant caseworker guidance

Check the job before calculating the discount

The concession does not override occupation eligibility. Jobs normally need to meet the higher-skilled requirement, with specific shortage-list or transitional exceptions for some other roles. Select the SOC 2020 code from the actual duties, then use the current official going-rate table.

Sources: GOV.UK: Skilled Worker job eligibility · GOV.UK: eligible occupations and SOC 2020 codes

Plan the next application before accepting an offer

• Ask the employer which salary option and occupation code it will use.
• Review the proposed hours, guaranteed basic pay and sponsorship end date.
• Discuss the pay needed when the concession ends; a promised future raise does not satisfy today’s salary requirement.
• Keep records of all relevant permission periods and recheck the rules before extending.

Sources: Immigration Rules: Appendix Skilled Worker