Skilled worker visas are issued for a maximum period of 5 years. After that period, if you want to remain in the UK, you would have to either apply to extend your stay, apply under another visa category, or perhaps become entitled to apply for settlement in the UK on a permanent basis. The reason is that the Skilled Worker visa is a pathway to UK settlement, more precisely known as indefinite leave to remain (ILR).
What is indefinite leave to remain (ILR) for UK Skilled Workers?
Indefinite leave to remain for UK Skilled Workers is permission to reside in the United Kingdom on a permanent basis, free from restriction of any kind relating to immigration. This is in contrast with further leave to remain (FLR) on this route, which would also allow you to stay in the United Kingdom as a Skilled Worker, but only for a limited time period and subject to adherence to certain conditions of stay. When it comes to ILR on a UK Skilled Worker Visa, after your initial grant of leave, you will generally be expected to apply for FLR before you can apply for ILR.
You can apply for a Skilled Worker visa extension as many times as you want as long as you still meet the requirements including the Salary Requirement for a Skilled Worker Visa. However, when you become eligible for Indefinite Leave to Remain, it will confer a right to live and work in the UK indefinitely, without having to apply further for extensions of stay.
With ILR, you will no longer have to pay the annual healthcare surcharge, because with ILR status, you would be able to access the National Health Service.
Having Resided in the UK with ILR for 12 Months further, you shall be able to apply for British Nationality with a British Passport.
What are the Requirements to Switch to ILR?
Until applying for an extension, the Skilled Worker visa shall allow an overseas national to work for up to 5 years for an eligible job in the UK with a licensed sponsor. It is also a potential pathway to settlement, meaning anyone having held permission in the UK under the Skilled Worker route for a qualifying period of 5 years either immediately following the initial grant of leave or following any extension(s) of stay can apply for ILR.
Various other requirements will have to be complied with under Appendix Skilled Worker of the UK’s Immigration Rules, such as continuous residence, sponsorship and salary, and, knowledge of life in the UK.
Continuous Residence Requirement
To be eligible for switching from a UK Skilled Worker visa to ILR, the applicant must have five years of lawful stay in the UK, but this five-year period does not have to be constituted solely of time spent in the UK on a Skilled Worker visa UK. Provided that you have or have been granted permission to stay in the UK as a Skilled Worker when applying for ILR, your qualifying residence period can include a period of stay with permission on any one of or any combination of:
- the Skilled Worker route
- the Global Talent route
- the Scale-up route
- International Sportsperson Route
- the Minister of Religion T2 route
- the Innovator route
- The Representative of an Overseas Business Route
- as a Tier 1 migrant rather than as a Tier 1 Graduate Entrepreneur.
If an applicant has spent any time outside of the UK, then any absences from the UK must be considered against Appendix Continuous Residence. It provides that the maximum period an applicant can remain outside the UK without breaking the continuous residence rule is 180 days in any one-year period.
There are, however, some circumstances where any time spent outside the United Kingdom will not count towards this limit, for example, where the absence is due to travel disruption caused by a natural disaster, pandemic, or military conflict. It can also be cases where there are compassionate and compelling personal circumstances, such as a life-threatening illness or the death or illness of a close relative.
Sponsorship Requirement
The sponsor mentioned in the applicant’s last permission must still be approved by the Home Office to sponsor Skilled Workers in the UK on the date of the decision of the ILR application and not simply that of the application.
Assignment of a new Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) to the applicant will not be required by the sponsor, but the sponsor must confirm that they still require the applicant to work for them in the future. Correspondingly, they must confirm that the salary to be paid to the applicant is at least the minimum threshold for settlement on this route.
ILR Salary Requirement
ILR salary requirement Skilled Workers in the UK with CoS assigned after 4 April 2024
In most cases, the salary must be equal to or greater than the general minimum Skilled Worker salary requirement, now set at £38,700 for Certificates of Sponsorship issued after 4 April 2024, or the going rate for the occupation, whichever is higher.
If your work falls within the Immigration Salary List (previously the Shortage Occupation List), or it did at the time you applied, then you must be paid either a minimum of £30,960 per year, or the going rate for that type of work.
Skilled Workers applying for ILR from 4 April 2024 onwards should make sure their salaries are aligned with the criteria set for the circumstances in question. Any switch from a Skilled Worker visa to an ILR must be done via the online application at GOV.UK. You have to apply while you are in the UK and certainly before your existing visa expires.
Conclusion
Having made your switch application from Skilled Worker visa to ILR and submitted your supporting documents, you should then receive a decision on the application within 6 months, however, faster processing may be applicable if you care to pay. Hiring immigration solicitors would be beneficial if you want to avoid delays in your visa processing.
