What you must earn for settlement
On the Skilled Worker route to settlement, the salary is tested twice over: against a general figure and against the going rate for the occupation code. This guide sets out the table in the Immigration Rules, which row applies to whom, and what the rules count as salary.
- Section
- ILR & Settlement
- Reading time
- 9 min
- Last checked
- 26 February 2026
- Source
- The published Immigration Rules and GOV.UK guidance, linked throughout this guide.
- Rowan does not
- Look at your own case, tell you which route to choose, or say what the Home Office will decide. This guide shows the published rules and where to read them.
In short
- Two tests, both of which must be met: a general figure and the going rate.
- The general figure for settlement is £41,700; the Immigration Salary List row is £33,400.
- Only guaranteed basic gross pay counts. Allowances, bonuses and overtime do not.
- The table in force at the date of application applies, not the one in force when the visa was granted.
Paragraph SW 24.3 of Appendix Skilled Worker sets the settlement salary requirement as a table. The general row is at least £41,700 a year and at least the going rate for the occupation. Lower rows cover Immigration Salary List jobs at £33,400 and certain health and education cases at £31,300 or £25,000, each against different going-rate tables. Salary means guaranteed basic gross pay only: overtime, bonuses, allowances, employer pension contributions and benefits in kind are all excluded.
Two Figures, Not One
On the Skilled Worker route the salary has to clear two separate bars at the same time:
- A general salary figure, set by the row of the table that applies to the case.
- The going rate for the occupation code, published in the GOV.UK going rates tables and in Appendix Skilled Occupations.
Paragraph SW 24.3 puts it as: the applicant's salary “must equal or exceed both salary requirements shown in the relevant row of the table”. Being above one and below the other is not enough. See our going rate guide.
The Settlement Salary Table
The rows of the SW 24.3 table, with the general figure and the going-rate table each uses:
- Row A, the general case: at least £41,700 a year, and at least the going rate in Table 1 or Table 1a of Appendix Skilled Occupations.
- Row B, sponsored for a job on the Immigration Salary List: at least £33,400 a year, and at least the going rate in Table 1 or Table 1a. Note that the Immigration Salary List lowers the general figure and the fee. It does not reduce the going rate.
- Row C, for the cases described in paragraph SW 4.2(b) of the rules: at least £31,300 a year, and at least the going rate in Tables 2 to 2a.
- Row D, previously on the Immigration Salary List or in a health or education occupation code: at least £25,000 a year, and at least the going rate in Tables 2 to 5.
- Row E, where the 5 years include Tier 2 (General) permission in specified older occupation codes: at least £25,000 a year, conditional on continued sponsorship in the same occupation codes.
Which row applies turns on the sponsorship history, so two people with the same job title today can face different figures. The general threshold on the visa itself has been £41,700 since 22 July 2025, with £33,400 as the lower threshold. See our income threshold timeline.
What Counts as Salary
Paragraph SW 14.1 says salary “only includes guaranteed basic gross pay (before income tax and including employee pension and national insurance contributions) and other guaranteed payments which are treated exactly the same as basic gross pay for tax, pension and national insurance purposes”.
Paragraph SW 14.2 excludes:
- Pay that cannot be guaranteed because the hours of the job fluctuate.
- Shift, overtime and bonus pay, whether or not it is guaranteed.
- Employer pension contributions and employer national insurance.
- Any allowances, including accommodation and cost of living allowances.
- Benefits in kind, such as equity shares, health insurance, school or university fees, company cars and food.
- One-off payments, such as a signing bonus.
- Payments covering immigration costs, such as the application fee or the immigration health surcharge.
- Payments covering business expenses.
Paragraph SW 14.4 pro-rates going rates by the hours actually worked, against the standard week used in the salary tables. Part-time hours therefore change the figure the going rate produces.
Periods of Reduced Pay
The Immigration Rules set the salary that must be met, and the evidence is the pay actually received. Statutory maternity, paternity, parental, adoption, shared parental and sick pay are dealt with separately in the rules from a general fall in salary. Our maternity and parental leave guide covers how those periods are treated.
A further rule applies from 26 March 2026: the salary must be paid in each pay period, so an annual figure reached by a later correction is not the same thing as meeting the requirement throughout.
Self-Employment
The Skilled Worker route is sponsored employment. Work must be for the sponsor in the sponsored role, so a Skilled Worker salary cannot be made up from self-employment. Where a different route allows self-employed income, the evidence rules differ. See our self-employment evidence guide.
Routes Without This Threshold
The SW 24.3 table applies to Skilled Worker settlement. Other routes to settlement do not use it:
- Long residence, after 10 years' continuous lawful residence, has no salary requirement.
- The partner route applies the family income requirement of £29,000, or an adequate maintenance test where the sponsor receives certain disability or carer benefits. See our partner route settlement guide.
- Global Talent has no salary requirement. See our Global Talent guide.
Whichever route applies, the knowledge of language and life requirements are separate from salary. Settlement English is B1 until 26 March 2027 and B2 from that date on routes including Skilled Worker. See our English language guide, our cost breakdown and our fees guide.
Questions and answers
What is the settlement salary threshold on the Skilled Worker route?
Paragraph SW 24.3 of Appendix Skilled Worker sets a table. In the general case the salary must be at least £41,700 a year and at least the going rate in Table 1 or Table 1a of Appendix Skilled Occupations. Lower rows apply to Immigration Salary List jobs (£33,400) and to some health and education cases (£25,000 or £31,300), each with their own going-rate tables.
Am I assessed on the threshold that applied when my visa was granted?
No. The salary is tested against the table in force at the date of the settlement application. Some rows of that table exist precisely because of earlier sponsorship, so history changes which row applies, but not which version of the rules is used.
Do overtime, bonuses and allowances count?
No. Paragraph SW 14.1 counts only guaranteed basic gross pay and other guaranteed payments treated exactly like basic pay for tax, pension and national insurance. SW 14.2 excludes shift, overtime and bonus pay whether guaranteed or not, employer pension and national insurance, all allowances including accommodation and cost of living, benefits in kind, and one-off payments.
Is there a settlement route without a salary threshold?
Several. Long residence, the family and private life routes, Global Talent and the protection routes do not apply the Skilled Worker salary table. Each has its own separate requirements.
This guide is general information about published immigration rules. It is not advice about an individual application under s.82 Immigration and Asylum Act 1999, and Rowan is not regulated by the Immigration Advice Authority. Immigration rules change several times a year. For advice on a particular situation, contact an adviser authorised by the Immigration Advice Authority or an immigration solicitor. Always check GOV.UK for the authoritative current rules.