United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland visa salary thresholds
The UK Home Office sets separate salary floors for different variants of the Skilled Worker route and for the Health and Care Worker route. Each floor is compared against the occupation-specific "going rate" published in Appendix Skilled Occupations, and the higher of the two applies.
Last checked 30 May 2026. Every figure is mapped to a primary government source and re-verified over time; recorded changes appear in the changelog.
Source auto-reconfirmed 23 July 2026 by the daily automated check (figures unchanged since last review).
What salary do you need for a skilled-work visa in United Kingdom?
The main skilled-work salary floor in United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is £41,700 / year (Skilled Worker — general threshold), effective 22 July 2025. Occupation-specific going rates may bind higher.
Verified against GOV.UK — Appendix Skilled Worker on 30 May 2026.
UK work-route money stack
UK Skilled Worker cost, salary and settlement answer
Read the UK Skilled Worker route as one stack: visa fee, IHS, maintenance funds, salary floor and the 5-year ILR planning clock. The Health and Care Worker route is kept separate because its IHS and salary rules are materially different.
Skilled Worker costs
Application fee £819; IHS £3,105; show-only maintenance £1,270.
Modelled paid-away range: £3,924-£4,044; show-only range: £1,270.
Salary floor
General floor £41,700/year; discounted ISL/tradeable floor £33,400/year.
The occupation-specific going rate can still bind higher than the headline floor.
Health and Care split
Application fee £324; IHS £0; salary floor £25,000/year.
The IHS exemption is the reason this route should not be collapsed into a generic Skilled Worker cost claim.
- Full UK migration cost builder
- Skilled Worker cost-to-complete
- Skilled Worker fee breakdown
- Skilled Worker points calculator
- UK ILR date calculator
- Health and Care Worker route
- Health and Care cost-to-complete
- Health and Care fee breakdown
Source dates: cost models checked 30 June 2026 and 1 July 2026; UK salary thresholds checked 30 May 2026. These links support retrieval and review, not ranking, traffic or market-share outcome claims.
Threshold table
| Route | Amount | ~USD | In force since | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Skilled Worker — general threshold# The default minimum salary for Skilled Worker applications, raised to £41,700 on 22 July 2025 (the required skill level also rose to RQF 6 / degree level). Applicants must also meet the occupation-specific "going rate" — whichever is higher. Changed 22 July 2025: was 38700 GBP (annual); now 41700 GBP (annual). Change record. | £41,700 / year | $49,000 | 2025-07-22 | GOV.UK — Appendix Skilled Worker |
Skilled Worker — Immigration Salary List discount# Reduced floor (£33,400 from 22 July 2025) for occupations on the Immigration Salary List, the successor to the Shortage Occupation List. Changed 22 July 2025: was 30960 GBP (annual); now 33400 GBP (annual). Change record. | £33,400 / year | $39,000 | 2025-07-22 | GOV.UK — Immigration Salary List |
Skilled Worker — Health and Care Worker / education national pay-scale# Applies to Health and Care Worker roles and to school-teacher roles on national pay-scales; the absolute floor rose to £25,000 on 9 April 2025. Going rate is set by reference to the NHS Agenda for Change bands or the relevant teacher pay-scale. | £25,000 / year | $29,500 | 2025-04-09 | GOV.UK — Health and Care Worker |
Skilled Worker — PhD relevant to job (Tradeable point C)# Discounted cash floor (£33,400 from 22 July 2025) where the applicant holds a PhD relevant to the job; the going rate still applies at 90%. | £33,400 / year | $44,000 | 2025-07-22 | GOV.UK — Appendix Skilled Worker |
Skilled Worker — STEM PhD / new-entrant / shortage# Tradeable-options floor (£33,400 from 22 July 2025) for STEM PhD holders relevant to the role, new-entrant applicants (under 26 or switching from student/graduate visas), and ISL occupations. | £33,400 / year | $39,000 | 2025-07-22 | GOV.UK — Appendix Skilled Worker |
Health and Care Worker — absolute minimum# Absolute salary floor for Health and Care Worker applications, raised to £25,000 on 9 April 2025; most NHS Agenda for Change bands 3+ meet this automatically. Changed 9 April 2025: was 23200 GBP (annual); now 25000 GBP (annual). Change record. | £25,000 / year | $29,500 | 2025-04-09 | GOV.UK — Health and Care Worker |
Global Talent — endorsement tier pay expectations (indicative)# Global Talent has no headline salary floor. Endorsing bodies (Tech Nation successor — UK Research and Innovation, Royal Society, Royal Academy of Engineering, British Academy, Arts Council) evaluate evidence of recognition or exceptional promise. | No fixed published floor | — | 2023-02-01 | GOV.UK — Global Talent |
Cite or reuse this dataset
This figure is free to reuse under CC BY 4.0. Cite the Visa Atlas page for the compiled, dated dataset, and cite the official source for the underlying government rule.
Suggested citation
Visa Atlas, "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland visa salary thresholds", https://visaatlas.org/salary-thresholds/uk. Last verified 30 May 2026.
- JSON endpoint
- https://visaatlas.org/api/public/salary-thresholds
How often this changes
The general rate rose from £26,200 to £38,700 in April 2024, then to £41,700 on 22 July 2025 (when the skill level also rose to RQF 6 / degree level); the Health and Care absolute floor rose to £25,000 on 9 April 2025. Revised via Statements of Changes — watch for the next adjustment.
Frequently asked questions
What is the minimum salary to qualify for a work visa in United Kingdom?
The UK Home Office sets separate salary floors for different variants of the Skilled Worker route and for the Health and Care Worker route. Each floor is compared against the occupation-specific "going rate" published in Appendix Skilled Occupations, and the higher of the two applies.
How often do United Kingdom salary thresholds change?
The general rate rose from £26,200 to £38,700 in April 2024, then to £41,700 on 22 July 2025 (when the skill level also rose to RQF 6 / degree level); the Health and Care absolute floor rose to £25,000 on 9 April 2025. Revised via Statements of Changes — watch for the next adjustment.
Does meeting the headline threshold guarantee approval?
No. Headline floors are one of several criteria. Most jurisdictions also apply an occupation-specific going rate, character and health checks, and — for sponsored routes — employer/sponsor compliance. Failing any one of these can lead to refusal even where salary is above the threshold.
Related
Reviewed by Sam Parks, Editor and lead researcher.