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Working in the UK

UK Skilled Worker visa: the fee is £1,618, the five-year bill is £7,310.50 per adult

An ETA does not allow work. A Skilled Worker visa needs a job offer from a licensed sponsor, usually a graduate-level job paying at least £41,700, or the going rate if higher, and B2 English. From abroad, a 5-year visa costs £7,310.50 per adult: the £1,618 fee (since 8 April 2026) plus 5½ years of health surcharge.

The short answer

You cannot work in the UK on an ETA. GOV.UK says it does not allow "paid or unpaid work for a UK company or as a self-employed person", with narrow exceptions. ETA holders are visitors, who cannot switch to the Skilled Worker visa inside the UK, so you apply from abroad.

The visitor rules allow "interviews". They do not say "job interviews", so a job interview on an ETA relies on that general word. See what visitors can and cannot do.

Your passport decides, not where you live. Indian, Pakistani, Egyptian and Jordanian passport holders cannot get an ETA (Jordan left the list on 10 September 2024). They need a Standard Visitor visa even for an interview trip.

What the visa asks for today

A licensed sponsor and a CoS

You need a job offer from a UK employer licensed to sponsor that job and rated A. The employer assigns you a certificate of sponsorship (CoS), an electronic record, not a physical document. Apply within 3 months (90 days in some cases) of receiving it.

Graduate level, with two lists closing

Since 22 July 2025 new applicants need a job at RQF level 6 or above (graduate level). Two exceptions apply only to a CoS issued on or before 30 December 2026:

  • Temporary Shortage List: 52 occupations, including electricians, plumbers, welders and data analysts. No salary discount, and you cannot bring family.
  • Immigration Salary List: 25 occupations; all but care workers and senior care workers drop off on that date, and those two have been closed to applicants from abroad since 22 July 2025. So if you live in the Gulf, a UK care worker or senior care worker job offer cannot lead to this visa.

Salary: £41,700 or the going rate

Since 22 July 2025 the general threshold is £41,700 a year, or the occupation's going rate if higher (such as £54,700 for programmers and software developers). An electrician's shortage-list rate is £38,800, so £41,700 applies. Lower thresholds:

  • New entrants: £33,400 and 70% of the going rate. This includes people under 26, and those whose last UK visa (ignoring visits) was a Student visa for a UK degree or a Graduate visa, if that visa is still current or ended less than 2 years ago. See our Student visa post.
  • Relevant PhD: £33,400 and 80% (STEM), or £37,500 and 90% (non-STEM).
  • Listed health and education jobs: £25,000 or the national pay-scale rate, whichever is higher.

Allowances do not count. Only guaranteed basic gross pay counts, for up to 48 hours a week. Housing, transport and cost-of-living allowances do not, so a Gulf-style package with a modest basic salary can fall short.

English at B2

For applications since 8 January 2026 you need B2 in reading, writing, speaking and listening (it was B1). Nationals of Gulf and other Arab states are not exempt. Use an approved Secure English Language Test (SELT) taken within 2 years of applying, a UK degree, or an English-taught degree confirmed by the official assessment provider. An IGCSE or A level from a British-curriculum school in Dubai, Doha or Riyadh does not count.

What changed, and what is only proposed

  • 22 July 2025: RQF 6, £41,700, care roles closed to applicants from abroad.
  • 8 January 2026: English from B1 to B2.
  • 26 March 2026: Afghan nationals barred from applying from outside the UK.
  • 8 April 2026: fees up; pay must meet the required salary in every pay period.
  • Already in the Rules: the Graduate visa falls to 18 months for applications from 1 January 2027 (PhD graduates keep 3 years).

Proposed, not in force

  • A new shortage list. On 23 July 2026 the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) recommended giving 28 occupations, including electricians, plumbers and welders, access to the visa from January 2027 to the end of June 2028. Stage: advice only; as of 14 October 2026, no government response or rule change.
  • 10-year settlement. The "earned settlement" consultation (CP 1448) proposed raising the standard wait from 5 to 10 years. Stage: consultation closed 12 February 2026; no outcome or start date announced. The Rules still say 5 years.

The full bill, and who pays

You pay the fees in force on the day you apply.

CostAmountWho pays
Visa fee, up to 3 years£819You, per person
Visa fee, over 3 years£1,618You, per person
Health surcharge (IHS), per year£1,035 (under 18: £776)You, per person
Funds held for 28 days£1,270, plus familyYou*
Certificate of sponsorship£525Employer only
Skills charge, first year£1,320 (reduced: £480)Employer only
Sponsor licence£1,682 (reduced: £611)Employer only
Settlement (ILR)£3,226You, per person

Visa, licence and settlement fees apply from 8 April 2026, the health surcharge from 6 February 2024, the CoS fee from 9 April 2025 and the Immigration Skills Charge from 16 December 2025. The reduced figures in brackets are for small or charitable sponsors. After the first year the skills charge is £660 per 6 months (£240 for small or charitable sponsors). *Unless the sponsor certifies on the CoS that it will maintain and house you until the end of your first month. Add £285 for a partner, £315 for the first child and £200 for each other child, and make sure your newest evidence is dated within 31 days of applying.

Worked example: a 5-year visa from the Gulf. £1,618 plus £5,692.50 IHS = £7,310.50 per adult, plus £1,270 held unless the sponsor certifies maintenance. The IHS covers 5½ years (5 × £1,035 + £517.50): your permission runs to 14 days after the CoS end date, and GOV.UK charges a final part-year of 6 months or less at half the yearly rate. A 3-year CoS: £819 + £3,622.50 = £4,441.50. A medium or large employer pays £525 for the CoS and £6,600 in skills charge over 5 years (£3,960 over 3), plus £1,682 if not yet licensed. If your job qualifies for the Health and Care Worker visa, the fee is £324 up to 3 years or £628 over 3 years (since 8 April 2026), and you and your family pay no health surcharge; this does not reopen care worker roles to applicants from abroad.

Home Office sponsor guidance bars sponsors from recovering the CoS fee, the skills charge or the licence fee from you, or charging you for immigration advice; one that does will normally lose its licence. You pay the visa fee and IHS unless the employer chooses to.

Bringing your family

A new applicant can bring a partner or children only with a job at RQF 6 or above, or a listed health or education job; people in shortage-list and lower-skilled salary-list jobs, such as bricklayers and carpenters, cannot. Partners and children take no English test to enter.

On a 5-year visa a partner pays £7,310.50 and a child under 18 £5,886 (£1,618 + 5½ × £776). A couple with two children: £26,393, plus £2,070 held for 28 days (£1,270 + £285 + £315 + £200) unless the sponsor certifies.

How long it lasts, and settlement

The visa lasts up to 5 years before you extend it. You work only in the sponsored job, plus a second job of up to 20 hours a week in some cases. A new employer needs a new CoS.

Under the Rules today, you can apply for settlement (indefinite leave to remain, ILR) after 5 continuous years as the main Skilled Worker, with no more than 180 days outside the UK in any 12 months; time spent in the Gulf counts towards those 180 days. You usually still need £41,700 and the going rate, and the Life in the UK Test if aged 18 to 64.

English at settlement from 26 March 2027. GOV.UK's settlement page says no new English proof is needed, which is true today. From 26 March 2027 the Rules require B2 in speaking and listening, from partners and children too, and the Home Office says this will "apply to those already on a pathway to settlement".

Applying from the Gulf

After applying online you prove your identity by app or at a visa application centre, as the application directs. GOV.UK's centre finder links all six GCC states to VFS Global. A decision usually takes 3 weeks after that; GOV.UK says not to book travel until you have it. Since 1 July 2026 you get an eVisa, not a passport sticker: see our eVisa post.

TB test: where you have lived, not your passport

You need one if you are coming for more than 6 months and have lived in a listed country for 6 months or more, including some time in the 6 months before you apply. No GCC state is listed, nor are Egypt, Jordan or Lebanon; India, Pakistan and the Philippines are.

So an expat from a listed country living continuously in the Gulf for the last 6 months or more normally does not need a test. This is our reading of the Rules, not a Home Office example. If you need a test, use a Home Office-approved clinic; the UAE has two.

Criminal record certificates

In 69 listed occupations, mostly health, teaching and care roles, you and your partner need a criminal record certificate (in several Gulf states called a good conduct certificate) from every country where you spent 12 months or more in total in the last 10 years as an adult, including your Gulf state. For Saudi Arabia, Home Office guidance says the UK "is not currently aware of a process". If a certificate cannot reasonably be obtained, explain in detail what you tried.

No genuine employer sells a certificate of sponsorship

UKVI says "a legitimate employer would never ask for payment to secure a visa". Check the employer on GOV.UK's register of licensed sponsors before you send any documents, and never pay anyone for sponsorship.

On 23 July 2026 GOV.UK reported that Medrecruiter Limited, a fake care recruiter not on the register, was shut down after 23 overseas workers lost over £19,000 in upfront fees. More in our post on recruitment scams.

If an agent advises you from Dubai or Riyadh, you do not have the protection of the UK regulator, the Immigration Advice Authority (IAA), and GOV.UK warns you "cannot get your money back if an adviser is not regulated". Report sponsorship abuse to BusinessHelpdesk@homeoffice.gov.uk.

Where we fit. We are a private agency, not the Home Office, and we file UK ETAs only. An ETA is short-stay travel permission and gives no right to work in the UK. For a Skilled Worker visa, speak to your employer's sponsor team and a regulated UK immigration adviser (registered with the IAA or a member of an approved professional body). Nothing on this page is immigration advice.

Checked against the official sources below on 14 October 2026.

Sources

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