Skilled Worker Visa Extension Guide: How to Extend

Who can extend

GOV.UK sets three conditions for extending a Skilled Worker visa or a Tier 2 (General) work visa. You can usually extend if all of these are true:

• you have the same job as when you were given your previous permission;
• your job is in the same occupation code as when you were given that permission; and
• you are still working for the employer who gave you your current certificate of sponsorship.

If your job is one GOV.UK lists as “medium skilled”, you can only extend if you got your first certificate of sponsorship before 22 July 2025 and have continually held Skilled Worker visas since. A prison officer (code 3314) can also extend, with a certificate of sponsorship dated on or before 31 December 2027, for up to 3 years, on a salary of at least £31,300 or the lower going rate for prison officers, whichever is higher.

When it is not an extension

You apply to update your visa, not extend it, if:

• you want a job with a different employer;
• your job changes to a different occupation code, and you are not on a graduate training programme; or
• you leave a job on the Immigration Salary List for one that is not on the list.

You do not need a new application if you stay in the same job and it is simply taken off the list. If you take a different job with your current employer, an application is only needed where the occupation code changes.

An update application can be made up to 3 months before the start date of the new job. You can carry on in your current job, including working a notice period, while it is decided, as long as you applied before your current visa expired. GOV.UK is explicit on the next point: do not start the new job until you have confirmation of the new permission. See changing jobs on a Skilled Worker visa.

A second job also needs an update application if it is more than 20 paid hours a week on top of the job you are sponsored for. It needs its own certificate of sponsorship and a covering letter giving your name, date of birth, current certificate of sponsorship reference number, and the date your current permission runs out.

Timing

• You apply from inside the UK.
• Apply before your current visa expires. If you do, section 3C of the Immigration Act 1971 continues your existing permission and conditions until the application is decided, so you can keep working.
• If your visa expires before you apply, that protection does not exist and you are in the UK without permission. See our overstaying guide.
• A decision inside the UK usually takes 8 weeks. Faster services are offered at extra cost — see our priority services comparison.

You must not travel outside the UK, Ireland, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man until you get the decision. GOV.UK says the application will be withdrawn if you do.

What the application needs

• a new certificate of sponsorship, assigned by your employer through the Sponsor Management System;
• a salary meeting the figure that applies to you and the going rate for your code;
• a valid passport or other identity document; and
• the application fee — £943 for up to 3 years or £1,865 for more than 3 years, or £628 and £1,235 for an Immigration Salary List job — plus the immigration health surcharge at £1,035 a year.

There is no fee for giving your fingerprints and photo. You will only need to provide other evidence again, such as money to support yourself, if you have been in the UK for less than a year. Our requirements guide covers the rest.

English on an extension

If you held this visa before 8 January 2026 and are extending or updating it, the level is B1 and you do not need to prove your knowledge of English again. B2 applies to new applications made from that date, and to switching from a visa other than Health and Care Worker.

Salary at extension

The figure that counts is the one in force at the date you apply, not the one that applied when you were first granted the visa. Since 22 July 2025 the general threshold has been £41,700 a year, or the going rate for your occupation code if that is higher.

Two things soften that. If you got the certificate of sponsorship for your first Tier 2 or Skilled Worker visa before 4 April 2024 and have continually held Skilled Worker visas since, lower salary requirements apply. And someone who held a Tier 2 (General) visa with a certificate of sponsorship assigned on or after 24 November 2016 can, on an application made before 1 December 2026, include guaranteed allowances such as London weighting in the salary figure — the only case in which allowances count at all. A handful of science and higher education occupation codes also have their own going rates for people coming from Tier 2 (General); those are listed on the GOV.UK extension page.

Our guide to how salary is calculated covers what counts, and recent changes lists what has moved and when.

Your partner and children

Their permission does not extend automatically with yours. If they do not apply, it stays valid until its original end date. They apply separately, either at the same time as you or at any point before theirs expires. See our dependants guide, including the conditions that apply to medium-skilled jobs and care work.

Extensions and settlement

An extension keeps your time in the UK running towards indefinite leave to remain after 5 years. Gaps in permission are what break it, along with more than 180 days outside the UK in any 12 months. Our continuous residence guide explains how the 5 years are counted.

Related guides

• Skilled Worker visa guide
• Skilled Worker extension: quick reference
• Certificate of sponsorship
• Section 3C leave explained
• Skilled Worker to settlement
• UK visa fees guide

Questions and answers