Skilled Worker: the 5 years to settlement

The 5-Year Timeline

A Skilled Worker visa can be granted for up to 5 years at a time. To settle, you need 5 years living in the UK on this route or on another route that counts, such as Tier 2 (General), Health and Care Worker, Scale-up Worker, Global Talent or Innovator Founder. Time spent in the UK as someone else's partner or child does not count. Here is the typical timeline:

• Year 0 — Initial Visa: Your employer sponsors you on a Skilled Worker visa. You begin accumulating qualifying residence.
• Years 1-4 — Working and Residing: You work for your sponsor and your salary must keep meeting the requirement for your job. If you change employers, each new employer must sponsor you and you must apply to update your visa.
• Before visa expiry — Extension (if needed): If your initial visa was granted for less than 5 years, you will need to extend before it expires.
• Year 5 — Settlement application: The earliest you can apply is 28 days before you have been in the UK for 5 years on a qualifying visa. Applying earlier than that can get the application refused. See our guide to indefinite leave to remain.

Earned Settlement: Announced on 2 November 2026

On 2 November 2026 the government announced its decision on earned settlement. It is not yet in the Immigration Rules: the Home Secretary told Parliament the changes will begin to be laid from the December 2026 rules and will be brought in during 2027. Until then, the 5-year rules on this page apply. For the Skilled Worker route, the government's response to the consultation (CP 1707) sets out four paths (Table 1, page 42):

Other points in the response for this route:

• The 15-year path proposed in 2025 for jobs below degree level (Regulated Qualifications Framework level 6) was dropped. Those jobs use the 10-year path (page 38).
• Skilled Workers sponsored before the April 2024 salary changes "can extend their visas on their current terms until 2035", an extension of the current 2030 date (page 40).
• Everyone must meet new minimum requirements, including B2 English, no criminal record in the UK, no outstanding government debt and the Life in the UK test (pages 4 to 8).
• The response says applications are ordinarily decided under the rules in force on the date of the settlement decision, and that there is no general exemption for people already in the UK (pages 37 to 38).

The listed public service occupations are health, teaching and social work jobs paid on national pay scales; see our guide to the public service jobs list. Our earned settlement guide covers the whole framework and what has not yet been published.

The salary requirement

You must meet the salary requirement at the time you apply to settle. Which figure applies depends on your job and on when you were first sponsored.

The usual requirement

You must usually be paid whichever is higher of:

• £41,700 a year, or
• the standard going rate for your occupation code.

Healthcare and education jobs

Eligible healthcare and teaching jobs use national pay scales instead of a single going rate. For those jobs you must be paid whichever is higher of £25,000 a year or the going rate for your role and pay band under the published pay scales.

Immigration Salary List jobs

If your job is on the Immigration Salary List, or was when you applied, you must be paid at least £33,400 a year or the standard going rate for the job, whichever is higher. Being on the list does not reduce the going rate.

If you were first sponsored before 4 April 2024

If you got a certificate of sponsorship for your first Skilled Worker (or equivalent) visa before 4 April 2024 and have held Skilled Worker visas ever since, you must be paid whichever is highest of £31,300 a year, £25,000 a year if your job is on the Immigration Salary List, or the lower going rate for the job.

The full rules and the going rate tables are on GOV.UK.

If your salary is below the figure that applies to you

The salary requirement is a rule of the route, so an application that does not meet it can be refused. See our settlement refusal guide for what happens next.

Time outside the UK

GOV.UK states the rule simply: you must have spent no more than 180 days outside the UK in any 12 months of the 5 years. Trips count whatever the reason for them, including work travel and holidays. The Home Office publishes separate guidance on how the 12-month periods are counted and on the limited circumstances it treats differently.

Time you spent in the UK as someone else's partner or child on a visa does not count towards the 5 years.

Keep a travel log from day one, recording every trip with the exact dates you left and returned. The full rule is on GOV.UK.

Changing Employers During the Qualifying Period

Changing employer does not reset the 5 years. GOV.UK says you cannot change job or employer unless you apply to update your visa. That means:

• the new employer holds a sponsor licence;
• the new employer assigns you a certificate of sponsorship;
• you apply to update your visa, and you wait until the new permission is granted before you start the new job; and
• the new role meets the salary requirement and the skill level for the route.

If your sponsorship ends before you have a new sponsor, your permission is normally cut short to 60 days from the date your sponsor reports it, or to your existing visa expiry date if that is sooner.

Documents for the settlement application

For the full list, see our settlement documents checklist. Documents that matter on this route include:

• Your current passport
• Your immigration status. Biometric residence permits stopped being issued at the end of 2024; status is now an eVisa in a UKVI account, proved with a share code that lasts 90 days
• Certificate of sponsorship reference number
• A letter from your sponsor confirming you are still needed for the job and will still be paid at least the required salary after you settle
• Payslips and P60 certificates covering the period claimed
• Contract of employment
• Life in the UK test pass notification, if you are 18 to 64
• A record of your absences over the 5 years

Life in the UK test and English

If you are 18 to 64 you must book and pass the Life in the UK test before you apply. It costs £50, has 24 questions in 45 minutes, and the pass mark is 75%. You must book at least 3 days ahead.

On English, GOV.UK says: “You do not need to prove you meet the English language requirements when you apply to settle using your Skilled Worker, Health and Care Worker, T2 or Tier 2 visa. This is because you did this when you applied for your visa.”

A change of rules published in March 2026 raises the settlement English requirement on this route to CEFR level B2 from 26 March 2027. Until then the position above applies. Our English language guide covers the tests and the levels.

What it costs and how long it takes

Settlement costs £3,226 for each person applying. Your partner and children can be included on the same form if they are eligible. There is no fee for giving your fingerprints and photo.

A decision usually arrives within 6 months of you giving your fingerprints and photo. Paying an extra £500 for the priority service brings that to 5 working days; an extra £1,000 for the super priority service brings it to the end of the next working day, or 2 working days if your appointment is at a weekend.

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

Redundancy and Sponsorship Issues

Losing your job on a Skilled Worker visa is stressful because your visa is tied to your employer. Here is what happens:

• Your sponsor reports the change: Your employer is legally required to report to UKVI when your employment ends.
• 60 days: Your permission is normally cut short to 60 days from the date your sponsor reports the change, or to your existing visa expiry date if that is sooner. In that time you can be sponsored by a new employer and apply to update your visa, or apply on another route you are eligible for.
• Starting the new job: GOV.UK says you cannot change job or employer unless you apply to update your visa. Do not start work for the new employer until the new permission has been granted.
• If you cannot find a new sponsor: You must leave the UK, switch to another visa route if eligible, or explore other options with legal advice.

The time spent looking for a new sponsor does not count against your continuous residence, provided you remain in the UK. However, if your visa is curtailed and you do not make a new application, you could become an overstayer. See our overstaying guide.

After you settle

Once you have indefinite leave to remain, you are no longer tied to a specific employer. You can:

• Work for any employer without sponsorship
• Be self-employed or start a business
• Apply for benefits, if you are eligible
• Apply for British citizenship after 12 months

Indefinite leave to remain lapses if you spend more than 2 continuous years outside the UK. If you plan extended time abroad, consider applying for citizenship first, as citizenship cannot be lost through absence. See our settlement and citizenship compared.

What the settlement application draws on

The application looks back over the whole qualifying period:

1. Absences from the UK, with exact dates, counted against the 180-days-in-any-12-months limit
2. Pay records such as payslips, P60s and employment contracts
3. Salary against the figure that applies to the occupation code
4. A Life in the UK test pass, for applicants aged 18 to 64
5. Travel history, which the Home Office can provide where a passport lacks stamps

Two timing rules from GOV.UK: the earliest an application can be made is 28 days before 5 years on a qualifying visa, and the current visa must not run out first, or it has to be extended before the settlement application. Travel outside the UK, Ireland, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man after applying leads to the application being withdrawn.

Questions and answers