Everything You Should Know About Work Visa in the UK
The minimum wage in the UK comes up to around £10.10. This means that in a year, you can expect to get paid £25,600. That’s a little more than £2,000 per month. Considering these rates, it’s highly understandable why the UK is the first choice of many immigrants when it comes to work purposes.
This being said, if you’re one of those who want to work in the UK, the first thing that you need to do is process your immigration. Specifically, you need to apply for a worker visa.
What is a work visa, and how do you process it? We will walk you through everything you need to know about this aspect in the following sections.
What is the UK Work Visa?
The UK Work Visa, more commonly known as the Skilled Worker Visa, is reserved for immigrants who are looking into working in the UK. This can either be short-term or long-term, but the validity of one work visa lasts five years on average.
With this visa type, you can freely work under your employer, participate in relevant company-held events, start voluntary work, and even travel to another country for work-related purposes and then go back to the UK without restrictions. Moreover, you can serve as a sponsor for your dependents, a.k.a. family members who want to stay in the UK.
Who Can Apply for a Work Visa in the UK?
Generally, any person who has received a guaranteed job offer from a UK-based employer can apply for a work visa. However, there are also a few requirements that you need to comply with. Here are some:
Type of Job
Not all job titles are permitted under a Skilled Worker Visa. To know if you’re eligible for it, you need to look up your occupation code here. On the flip side, here is the list of occupation codes for those who don’t know what theirs are. Find the one corresponding to your title, and go from there.
If you find your job title, then you can rest assured that you’re fully qualified for the visa. If you don’t, then a helpful tip would be to find a related one. For example, if you’re a cook, you can look into the chef’s occupational code. You can also look into the other subtypes of work visas, such as the Healthcare Worker Visa, Specialist Worker Visa, and likes.
Salary Requirements
According to the UK’s immigration policies, your job offer should include paying you at least the minimum salary requirements of the country. This means that you should either be offered a minimum of £10.10 per hour or £25,600 yearly. This may still increase or decrease depending on the specific going rate of the field you’re in. You should largely depend on your job title’s going rate.
There are some instances when you will be permitted to earn a lower regular salary. It’s best to have your immigration lawyer look into this matter if your current pay doesn’t fit the requirements.
Employer Approval
Your employer should be considered a UK Approved Employer before you can be qualified for a Skilled Worker Visa. This is necessary since it will indicate that the employer is ready to sponsor your stay in the UK. If your employer doesn’t have this title yet, then you need to ask them to apply for one first.
Can You Extend a UK Work Visa?
As we said previously, a regular UK work visa will be valid for five years. You can extend this for another five years once it expires. The only requirement is that you need to have the same job scope or employer.
You can also switch to another visa type if you change your plans in the long run. For instance, look into a UK Settlement Visa if you want to stay in the country permanently.
For those that are still not sure if they’re qualified for a work visa or not, it’s best to get an immigration lawyer advice. Professionals will be able to provide you with a clearer insight into your options and everything else you need to do to get your work visa approved.
Summary
To sum it up, a UK Work Visa is what you need to apply for if you want to start working in the UK. Considering that you have passed all the requirements, you can rest assured that your visa will get approved in no time.
Note that if you’re still testing the waters and you’re not yet sure whether you will like working in the UK or not, then we recommend looking into a visitor visa first. This will let you stay in the UK for up to six months. You will also be able to work during the period.
