Skilled Worker Visa for Construction Workers: UK Guide

How Construction Jobs Qualify

The Skilled Worker visa changed its skill level on 22 July 2025. A new applicant's job must now be at RQF level 6, which is degree level. Before that date, jobs at RQF levels 3 to 5 could also be sponsored. Your job decides whether it can be sponsored, not your own qualifications.

Roles below RQF level 6 are only sponsorable for a new applicant where the occupation code is on the Immigration Salary List or the Temporary Shortage List. A worker sponsored through either list cannot usually bring a partner or children. GOV.UK lists some exceptions for children: a child born in the UK, a child whose only living parent is the worker, and a child whose other parent is also sponsored in a medium-skilled job. Someone who already held Skilled Worker permission before 22 July 2025 and has kept it since can still be sponsored in a medium-skilled code without using a list.

Each job has a SOC (Standard Occupational Classification) code. The code sets the skill level and the going rate for the role. To check whether your role qualifies, look at the list of eligible jobs and find your SOC code.

Professional and Managerial Roles

Several construction roles sit clearly above the skill threshold. These include:

• SOC 1122 — production managers and directors in construction. Going rate £53,400.
• SOC 2121 — civil engineers. Going rate £50,400.
• SOC 2453 — quantity surveyors. Going rate £48,600.
• SOC 2451 — architects. Going rate £47,600.
• SOC 2455 — construction project managers and related professionals. Going rate £44,300.
• SOC 2452 — chartered architectural technologists, planning officers and consultants. Going rate £35,800, so here the general threshold of £41,700 is the higher figure.

If you work in engineering, you may also find the guide for engineers useful.

Skilled Trades

Building trades sit below degree level, so since 22 July 2025 they reach the route for a new applicant only through one of the two lists. On both lists the certificate of sponsorship must be issued before 31 December 2026.

On the Immigration Salary List — the threshold is £33,400, but the full going rate is still payable:

• SOC 5312 — stonemasons and related trades
• SOC 5313 — bricklayers
• SOC 5314 — roofers, roof tilers and slaters
• SOC 5316 — carpenters and joiners

On the Temporary Shortage List:

• SOC 5311 — steel erectors (going rate £35,000)
• SOC 5315 — plumbers and heating and ventilating installers and repairers (£38,100)
• SOC 5241 — electricians and electrical fitters (£38,800)
• SOC 5322 — floorers and wall tilers
• SOC 5323 — painters and decorators
• SOC 5330 — construction and building trades supervisors (£41,800)
• SOC 3114 — building and civil engineering technicians (£33,400)

SOC 5319, construction and building trades not elsewhere classified, has some jobs on each list: retrofitters on the Immigration Salary List; builders, divers, fence erectors, industrial climbers, remotely operated vehicle operators, and steel fixers and underpinners on the Temporary Shortage List. In every one of these cases, a worker sponsored through a list cannot usually bring a partner or children.

Two trades are closed to new applicants altogether: SOC 5321, plasterers, and SOC 5317, glaziers, window fabricators and fitters. They remain open only to someone who already held Skilled Worker permission before 22 July 2025 and has kept it since.

Roles That Do Not Qualify

Labouring and operative roles are not eligible for the Skilled Worker route at all, on any list. That includes SOC 8152 (road construction operatives), SOC 8153 (rail construction and maintenance operatives), SOC 8159 (construction operatives not elsewhere classified), and SOC 9129 (elementary construction occupations not elsewhere classified).

If your current job title does not qualify, a more senior or more skilled role with the same employer might. The role you are sponsored for must match what you actually do.

The Immigration Salary List

The Immigration Salary List replaced the shortage occupation list in April 2024. Being on it does two things: it lowers the general threshold from £41,700 to £33,400, and it reopens a medium-skilled code to new applicants. It does not discount the going rate, so the job must still be paid the full published going rate. Each entry on the list has a removal date, and the certificate of sponsorship must be issued before it; for the construction trades that date is 31 December 2026. A worker sponsored this way cannot usually bring a partner or children. Membership of the list changes, so check the current list before you rely on it.

Salary You Need

Your pay must meet the general salary threshold and the going rate for your SOC code, whichever is higher. The salary calculation uses your guaranteed basic gross pay. It does not count overtime, shift or bonus pay, whether or not those are guaranteed, and it does not count allowances. The general threshold is £41,700.

Going rates change. Treat any figure you read as a guide and check the current rates on GOV.UK before you apply.

Finding a Sponsor

You need an employer who holds a sponsor licence and is willing to give you a Certificate of Sponsorship. An employer without a licence can apply for one.

You can check the register of licensed sponsors on GOV.UK to see whether an employer can sponsor you.

Costs and Settlement

You will pay an application fee — £819 or £1,618 from outside the UK depending on the length of permission, £628 or £1,235 for a job on the Immigration Salary List — and the immigration health surcharge at £1,035 a year. See the cost guide for the full breakdown. The published qualifying period for settlement (indefinite leave to remain) on this route is 5 years; a move to 10 years has been proposed but is not law. The settlement guide and the settlement timeline explain the path.

Next Steps

Find your SOC code, confirm the role qualifies, and check the salary you need. Then look for an employer who can sponsor you.

Related guides:

• Skilled Worker Visa Guide
• Skilled Worker Eligible Jobs
• Immigration Salary List
• Skilled Worker Salary Threshold
• Sponsor Licence Guide

Questions and answers