Skilled Worker

What is the Skilled Worker route?


The Skilled Worker route enables licensed employers to sponsor non-UK nationals (including from the European Economic Area (EEA)/Switzerland) to take up skilled positions that cannot be filled from within the resident labour workforce.

Key features

  • Work: additional part-time employment, voluntary work and study is permitted with restrictions.
  • Dependants: the spouse or partner and/or children of Skilled Worker migrants may join or remain with them in UK as dependants. Generally, these individuals may work and study in the UK subject to certain restrictions.
  • Switching: individuals will now be able to switch from within the UK into the Skilled Worker route from most other UK immigration routes.
  • Settle: individuals in this route may extend their stay in the UK indefinitely. After five years of continuous residence in the UK, Skilled Worker migrants may qualify to apply for settlement.

How we can help


We provide a full-service approach tailored to the specific needs of each client with at least two principal lawyers assigned to each matter to ensure that responsive, high-level service is maintained throughout the process.

Our legal fees


Fixed fees

We work on a fixed fee basis. Our fees for individual Skilled Worker applications typically range between £4,500 – £5,000+ plus VAT and disbursements depending upon the issues, urgencies and complexities involved. In most cases, these service charges involve assisting the sponsor with the assignment of the Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS), including acting as a Level 1 User on the sponsorship management system (SMS) and advising on the preparation and evidencing of the sponsor’s compliance with their record keeping and reporting duties. Additionally, we will manage the immigration permission application process from beginning to end.

Disbursements
You can expect the main disbursements to include:

  • Home Office filing fees (click here for the government’s visa/entry clearance fee calculator and here for a list of all Home Office fees);
  • Immigration Health Surcharge fees, if applicable;
  • Optional premium service fees for in-country and out-of-country applications; and
  • other ancillary disbursements such as UK National Academic Recognition Information Centre (NARIC) fees, biometric enrolment, translations, courier and postage charges, etc.

Dependants
For dependant application fees, please refer to our Dependants section. Dependants typically incur the same disbursements as main applicants.

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