The skilled worker visa (Tier 2: General Work Visa) is only suitable for people who have already obtained a job offer in the UK. Applicants must be employed by a licensed sponsor, but cannot own more than 10% of their sponsor's shares, and cannot apply for a second job before starting this job. Holders of this visa can stay in the UK for a maximum of 5 years and 14 days, or for one extra month after the period stated on their sponsorship certificate, whichever is shorter. During this period, you can enter and leave the UK, study, do volunteer work, and limited part-time work. If the total duration of stay is less than 6 years, the visa can be extended for an additional 5 years. However, during your residence using the worker visa, you are ineligible for any monetary subsidy schemes from the UK government.
Applying for the visa is simple, just submit an application through the Immigration Bureau’s website, and head to your local visa application center to upload your fingerprint scans and ID photos. If you are currently residing in the UK, you can easily switch from your concurrent visa to the skilled worker visa. For family members who wish to live together in the UK, they would also have to apply for the same visa using the same procedure, labeling themselves as dependent family members.
The application fee for this visa varies according to the occupation and the validity period of the visa. For overseas applications, the application time for this visa is generally about 3 weeks, and the application can be made as early as three months before entering the UK. The applicant can pay an additional fee to speed up the processing time. The time required for switching visa applications within the UK takes about 8 weeks. In addition to visa fees, applicants also need to pay an annual health care surcharge, which adds up to around £400 per year, if the stay is less than half a year, the health care surcharge will be counted as half a year.