UK visas explained: which one do I need?

The Skilled Worker route is the main work visa. It requires a job offer from an employer holding a sponsor licence, a Certificate of Sponsorship, a role at or above the required skill level, a salary at or above the applicable threshold, and English language ability. The salary threshold has been raised substantially in recent years and differs by occupation, so check the current going rate for the specific job code rather than the headline figure.

Sponsorship is the practical gate. An employer without a licence cannot sponsor you regardless of how much they want to hire you, and obtaining a licence takes time and money. Check the published register of licensed sponsors before applying for jobs — it is public.

The Health and Care Worker visa is a sub-route with lower fees and exemption from the health surcharge, for eligible health and care roles with an NHS or approved employer.

The Global Talent route requires endorsement by an approved body rather than a job offer, for leaders and potential leaders in academia, research, arts, culture and digital technology. It is one of the few routes with no sponsor requirement and considerable flexibility.

The Graduate route allows students who completed an eligible UK qualification to stay and work without sponsorship for a limited period. It does not lead directly to settlement but can bridge to a route that does.

Other routes include Senior or Specialist Worker for intra-company transfers, Scale-up, High Potential Individual for graduates of specified universities, Innovator Founder for business, and Temporary Work routes including the Youth Mobility Scheme for nationals of participating countries.

Not every route leads to settlement. Some, including several temporary and intra-company routes, do not count towards indefinite leave to remain at all — which matters enormously if long-term residence is the plan.

The Student route requires an unconditional offer from a licensed student sponsor, a Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies, evidence of funds to cover fees and maintenance for a prescribed period, and English ability. Work rights during study are limited and defined by the visa, and exceeding them is a serious breach.

Dependant rights on the Student route were restricted substantially, and are now generally limited to postgraduate research programmes and certain government-sponsored courses. Check the current position before assuming family can come.

Family routes cover partners, children, parents and adult dependent relatives of British citizens and settled persons. The partner route requires a genuine and subsisting relationship, adequate accommodation, English language ability and a minimum income requirement that has been increased significantly and is subject to ongoing change.

The financial requirement is where most family applications fail, and the rules on which income sources count and over what period are detailed and unforgiving. This is the route where professional advice most reliably pays for itself.

Visitor visas permit tourism, business meetings, and some study up to a limited duration, but not work or accessing public funds. Nationals of many countries do not need a visitor visa but from 2025 need an Electronic Travel Authorisation before travelling — check whether this applies to you, because it is easy to miss.

Overstaying, working in breach of conditions, or claiming public funds where prohibited all have serious consequences including re-entry bans, and are treated far more severely than the underlying breach might suggest.

The visa fee is the smallest part for many applicants. The Immigration Health Surcharge is charged per person per year of the visa, upfront, and for a family on a five-year route it routinely exceeds the visa fees several times over. It buys NHS access on the same basis as a resident.

There is also the Immigration Skills Charge, paid by the sponsoring employer rather than the applicant, and biometric enrolment costs.

Priority and super priority services reduce processing time for an additional fee and are frequently worth it where a start date matters, though availability fluctuates.

Evidence of funds must usually be held for a prescribed consecutive period before applying, and applications fail on this technicality routinely. Read the specification for the period and the acceptable document formats before moving money.

Refusals generally do not refund the fee, and a refusal is a fact you must disclose on future applications, which makes getting the first application right disproportionately valuable.

Where an application is refused, the remedy is usually administrative review or, in limited circumstances, appeal — with short deadlines. Do not let them pass while deciding what to do.

Only advisers regulated by the Immigration Advice Authority (formerly OISC) or qualified lawyers may give immigration advice in the UK. Taking advice from an unregulated agent is both risky and, for the adviser, a criminal offence.

Physical biometric residence permits have been replaced by eVisas — an online record of your status accessed through a UKVI account. Every existing holder must create the account and link their status, and travel and right-to-work checks now rely on a share code generated from it.

Create the account before you need it, and before travelling. Generate and keep a share code, and check that your passport details in the account match the passport you actually travel on — a mismatch causes boarding problems.

Indefinite leave to remain is usually available after five continuous years on a qualifying route, with requirements including absence limits, the Life in the UK test and English language ability. Absence limits are strict, and exceeding them resets the clock — track your days out of the country from the start.

Some routes have different qualifying periods, and some do not lead to settlement at all.

British citizenship by naturalisation generally follows twelve months after indefinite leave to remain, or immediately for spouses of British citizens who hold ILR, subject to residence, good character and knowledge requirements.

Keep every document permanently: visa grants, entry stamps, payslips, tenancy agreements and travel records. Settlement and citizenship applications require you to evidence years of history, and reconstructing it later is far harder than keeping it.

Report changes of circumstance — a change of employer on a sponsored route requires a new application, not merely a notification.