How to Switch Jobs on a UK Skilled Worker Visa
Without Losing Your Status

When an update is required

An update is normally required for a new employer, a change to a different occupation code, or moving from an Immigration Salary List job to one outside that list. Exceptions and special cases exist, including some graduate training changes. Check the official guidance with the sponsor.

Sources: GOV.UK: changing job or employer

Arrange the new sponsorship and application

• Check the new employer and job, then obtain the new CoS.
• Apply while you still have valid permission, following the identity and evidence instructions in the online application.
• You can normally continue in your existing sponsored job or work your notice while a valid application is pending.
• Wait for approval before starting the new sponsored role, and complete the employer’s right-to-work check.
• Do not travel outside the UK, Ireland, Channel Islands or Isle of Man while an in-country application is pending; doing so withdraws it.

Sources: GOV.UK: changing job or employer

Recheck salary and occupation eligibility

The new role must meet the rules applicable to you when you apply. Standard salary requirements are normally £41,700 and the relevant going rate. There are different salary options and protections for some existing workers; an old qualifying salary is not automatically sufficient.

First sponsorship before 4 April 2024 may matter for salary transition rules. First sponsorship before 22 July 2025 may matter for medium-skilled jobs. Continuous permission and other conditions must be checked separately; these are not interchangeable dates.

Sources: GOV.UK: changing job or employer · GOV.UK: Skilled Worker job eligibility

Budget for the application and possible IHS refund

Use the current in-country fee and surcharge guidance for your route and proposed stay. Your new sponsor has its own CoS and possible Immigration Skills Charge obligations.

Contrary to the previous text, overlapping IHS payments can be refundable after a successful in-country extension or switch. The overlap must reach six months and refunds are rounded down in six-month blocks.

Sources: GOV.UK: Skilled Worker application fees · GOV.UK: IHS refunds · GOV.UK: certificates of sponsorship

Job loss does not create an automatic 60-day visa

The Home Office can cancel or shorten permission after sponsorship ends. Where a 60-day period is allowed, it relates to the cancellation notice and cannot extend your original visa expiry. It is not a guaranteed grace period beginning on your last working day, and some circumstances can lead to immediate cancellation.

Read the notice and its deadline carefully. Seek regulated immigration advice promptly if employment ends, the sponsor loses its licence or an application is refused. Work rights depend on your actual permission and circumstances; do not assume either unrestricted work or a universal ban during every notice period.

Sources: Home Office: cancellation and curtailment guidance

Changing sponsor and settlement

A sponsor change does not by itself reset qualifying Skilled Worker residence. Current settlement rules still specify five qualifying years, subject to continuous residence and all other requirements. Other eligible work routes can sometimes be combined; Student, Graduate and dependant time do not generally count towards this five-year route.

The previous claim that all new Skilled Worker visas from 6 April 2026 require ten years for settlement was incorrect. Earned settlement proposals should not be treated as an enacted ten-year rule.

Sources: GOV.UK: qualifying time for settlement · Home Office: earned settlement consultation

If something changes or the application is refused

Do not assume a refusal always leaves the original permission intact or that review is never possible. Read the decision, your current status and any review deadline; the available remedy depends on the decision. Get qualified advice before making a further application or continuing work.

Sources: GOV.UK: visa administrative reviews

English evidence

The normal new-applicant standard is B2. Workers who had this visa before 8 January 2026 and are extending or updating it have the published B1 transition provision and do not need to prove English again. Exemptions and accepted professional assessments also matter.

Sources: GOV.UK: Skilled Worker English requirements

Keep the dates in writing

Agree a start date that allows for the visa decision and notice period. Keep the CoS, permission decisions, employer correspondence and absence records. The sponsor should check reporting duties if the actual start is delayed, rather than applying a blanket 28-day rule from the original CoS date.

Sources: Home Office: sponsor a worker guidance