UK Skilled Worker Visa Salary Threshold 2026: What £41,700 Actually Means for You

If you are looking at UK roles that offer visa sponsorship, one number decides more applications than anything else on your CV: the salary attached to the job.

As of 2026, the general salary threshold for a UK Skilled Worker visa is £41,700 per year. Almost every guide stops there. That is why people get refused.

The rule is a dual test, and most people only know half of it

You must be paid whichever is higher of:

1. £41,700 a year — the general threshold, and
2. the going rate for your occupation code — a separate figure the Home Office publishes for every SOC code

Meeting the first does not help you if the second is higher. A software engineer role advertised at £42,000 clears £41,700 comfortably and can still fail, because the going rate for that occupation code sits above it. The going rate is expressed both as an annual salary and an hourly rate, and both have to work.

This is the single most common reason a sponsored application collapses after the offer stage. The candidate checked the famous number, the employer checked the famous number, and neither checked the occupation code.

Before you apply: find the SOC occupation code in the job advert or ask the recruiter for it, then look up its going rate on GOV.UK. If the advertised salary is below it, the role cannot sponsor you at that salary no matter how much the employer wants to.

What changed in 2026

Two things, and the second one is not widely discussed.

The threshold rose. The general figure moved to £41,700. For employers, the increase alone adds roughly £18,000–£35,000 a year in cost per sponsored worker depending on seniority — and that is before the sponsor licence fee, the Immigration Skills Charge and the Immigration Health Surcharge.

That number explains something you will feel as a candidate: sponsorship got more selective, not less available. Employers did not stop sponsoring. They stopped sponsoring roles where the business case was marginal. Senior and shortage-occupation roles are still sponsored freely; junior generalist roles largely are not.

Payroll compliance tightened. The March 2026 Statement of Changes inserted new provisions into Appendix Skilled Worker introducing measurable compliance thresholds across three-month and 12-week payroll periods. Salary can fluctuate — commission, variable hours — provided the compliance threshold is met across those defined windows.

For you, this matters in one practical way: be careful with roles where a large part of the package is bonus or commission. Sponsors are now measured on what actually lands in payroll over a defined period, so a base salary that clears the threshold only when bonuses are included is a risk to both of you.

What counts toward the threshold — and what does not

Counts:

• Basic gross salary
• Guaranteed, contractual allowances paid for the duration

Does not count:

• Bonuses, commission and other variable pay that is not guaranteed
• Overtime
• Employer pension contributions
• Benefits in kind — car, healthcare, accommodation
• Anything paid as a one-off relocation lump sum

So a "£45,000 package" advertised as £36,000 base plus bonus does not clear £41,700. Read the base.

Discounts exist, and they are narrower than people hope

Some applicants qualify at a reduced threshold — new entrants to the labour market, certain roles on the Immigration Salary List, PhD-relevant roles, and some health and education occupations with national pay scales. The discounts are real, but they are specific, they are checked, and they do not stack the way people assume.

If a recruiter tells you "we can get you in on the new entrant rate", ask which criterion you meet and when it expires. New entrant status is time-limited, and applicants have been caught out at extension.

How to check a job before you spend a week on it

1. Is the employer on the register? A company without a sponsor licence cannot issue you a Certificate of Sponsorship, whatever the advert implies. The Home Office publishes the full register of licensed sponsors as an open file. AlterCV's visa sponsorship job board matches every UK employer against it automatically.
2. What is the occupation code, and its going rate? Ask if it is not in the advert.
3. What is the base salary, excluding variable pay?
4. Is the role eligible at all? Being on the register does not make every vacancy sponsorable.

Only after those four does it make sense to tailor your CV and apply.

The uncomfortable part

A licence belongs to the company, not to the vacancy. Plenty of licensed sponsors advertise specific roles on a "must already have the right to work" basis — usually junior or high-volume positions — while sponsoring senior ones. Being on the register tells you a company can. It never tells you it will.

Ask early, in writing, in one sentence: "Is this role open to candidates who would need Skilled Worker sponsorship?" A no at that point costs you nothing. A no after four interview rounds costs you a month.

Where to look

Roles that can genuinely sponsor concentrate in a handful of places: technology, engineering, health and care, and specialist finance. Browse UK roles where the employer is checked against the Home Office register, then tailor your CV to the specific advert before you apply — for an international application the case has to be obvious on page one, because you are asking someone to take on cost and paperwork.

Figures verified August 2026. Salary thresholds, going rates and the Immigration Salary List change with each Statement of Changes — always confirm against GOV.UK before relying on a number.