Which jobs can get a UK Skilled Worker visa?

A sponsor licence tells you an employer can sponsor. Whether it can sponsor your job depends on the job's occupation code. Here is the answer for all 412 SOC 2020 codes, as the Immigration Rules stand, with the salary needed and the dates the shortage lists end.

Quick answer: Of the 412 SOC 2020 occupation codes, 121 are eligible for a new applicant: the degree-level (RQF 6 and above) occupations in Tables 1 and 3 of Appendix Skilled Occupations. Another 67 are open to new applicants only through a shortage list or in limited cases, and 224 are closed to new applicants. Checked against gov.uk on 23 October 2026.

121
Eligible: 56
Shortage list only: 11
Some cases only: 224
Not for new applicants

Checked against gov.uk on 23 October 2026. Counts are for someone not already sponsored as a Skilled Worker.

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Search by job title or code. Each code has its own page with the full answer, the salary working and the rules behind it. Don't know your code? Ask the employer, who chooses it, or try the CASCOT coding tool.

Answer

Showing 412 of 412 occupation codes

1. Managers, directors and senior officials (42)

2. Professional occupations (97)

3. Associate professional occupations (68)

4. Administrative and secretarial occupations (27)

5. Skilled trades occupations (57)

6. Caring, leisure and other service occupations (29)

7. Sales and customer service occupations (19)

8. Process, plant and machine operatives (39)

9. Elementary occupations (34)

The rules in plain English

Degree-level jobs are eligible (121 codes)

Appendix Skilled Occupations Tables 1 and 3 list the occupations skilled to RQF level 6 (degree level) or above. An employer with a sponsor licence can sponsor a new applicant in any of them, from abroad or switching in the UK, if the salary rules are met.

Medium-skilled jobs need a shortage list (64 codes open now)

Since 22 July 2025, occupations skilled to RQF levels 3 to 5 are only open to new applicants while they are on the Temporary Shortage List (52 codes, certificates of sponsorship issued before 31 December 2026) or the Immigration Salary List (25 codes, removal dates 31 December 2026 and 22 July 2028). Some entries cover only certain jobs within a code, or only one UK nation. Unless the Home Office extends them, these pages switch to the answer without the list on the day each date passes, and say so.

Care workers can only be sponsored from inside the UK

Care workers (6135) and senior care workers (6136) cannot be sponsored on a new visa from abroad. The rules allow an in-country application by someone already sponsored in one of those jobs, or by someone switching from another visa who has worked legally for the sponsor in the role for at least 3 months, applying before 22 July 2028. In England the sponsor must be registered with the Care Quality Commission. The care worker page has the detail.

Everything else is closed to new applicants (224 codes)

111 medium-skilled codes stay open only to people already sponsored in them under the rules before 22 July 2025. 9 codes reassessed below RQF level 3 stay open only to people first sponsored before 4 April 2024 who stay with the same sponsor, and only until 4 April 2030. The other 104 are in Table 6 and cannot be sponsored on the Skilled Worker route at all. No salary changes any of these.

The salary has to clear two bars

The job must pay at least £41,700 a year and the going rate for its code, whichever is higher. A new entrant (for example, under 26, or in the UK on a Graduate visa) can be paid 70% of the going rate with a £33,400 minimum. Jobs on the Immigration Salary List need £33,400 and the going rate. Health and education jobs paid on a national pay scale need £25,000 and the pay-scale rate, and ten health and care codes with an NHS or regulated care employer use lower going rates and a £31,300 floor. Going rates assume a 37.5-hour week and are pro-rated to the contracted hours; the flat minimums are not, which is why part-time jobs are hard to sponsor.

The employer chooses the code, not you

The sponsor picks the occupation code on the Certificate of Sponsorship, and the Home Office can refuse an application if a less appropriate code was chosen to get round the eligibility or salary rules (Appendix Skilled Worker SW 6.2). The job's duties decide the code, not its title, so ask the employer which code an offer will use.

Common questions

Which jobs can be sponsored for a UK Skilled Worker visa?

Of the 412 SOC 2020 occupation codes, 121 are eligible for a new applicant: the degree-level (RQF 6 and above) occupations in Tables 1 and 3 of Appendix Skilled Occupations. Another 67 are open to new applicants only through a shortage list or in limited cases, and 224 are closed to new applicants. Checked against gov.uk on 23 October 2026.

Can care workers still be sponsored for a UK visa?

Not from outside the UK. Since 22 July 2025 the rules only allow care workers (6135) and senior care workers (6136) to be sponsored from inside the UK: someone already sponsored in one of those jobs, or someone switching from another visa after at least 3 months working legally for the sponsor in the role, applying before 22 July 2028.

What is the minimum salary for a Skilled Worker visa?

For most jobs, the higher of £41,700 a year and the going rate for the occupation code. A new entrant can be paid 70% of the going rate with a £33,400 minimum, a job on the Immigration Salary List needs £33,400 and the going rate, and health and education jobs paid on a national pay scale need £25,000 and the pay-scale rate. Going rates are pro-rated to the contracted hours; the flat minimums are not.

When do the shortage lists end?

As the rules stood on 23 October 2026, the Temporary Shortage List covers certificates of sponsorship issued before 31 December 2026, and the Immigration Salary List entries have removal dates of 31 December 2026 and 22 July 2028. The Home Office can extend, change or end either list through a statement of changes to the Immigration Rules, so check gov.uk near those dates.

Then find the employer

This is information, not immigration advice. It sets out what the published Home Office rules say about each occupation code. It cannot see your history or your offer. Confirm on gov.uk, ask the employer which code they will use, and take advice from an adviser regulated by the Immigration Advice Authority before making a decision that matters.

Sources, checked on 23 October 2026: Appendix Skilled Occupations, Appendix Skilled Worker, Appendix Immigration Salary List, eligible occupations, going rates, Temporary Shortage List and the Health and Care Worker visa pages. Occupation codes are SOC 2020. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.