SOC 2020 code 3111 · Associate professional occupations

Laboratory technician visa sponsorship UK: on the shortage list until 31 December 2026 (SOC 3111)

Official occupation name: Laboratory technicians

Yes, for now

Can a new applicant be sponsored in this job today?

Yes, for now. Laboratory technicians (SOC 3111) is a medium-skilled occupation, and since 22 July 2025 the rules only open those to new applicants while they are on a shortage list. This one is on the Temporary Shortage List and the Immigration Salary List, which cover certificates of sponsorship issued before 31 December 2026. The job must pay at least £41,700 a year, or £33,400 for someone who qualifies as a new entrant.

Salary needed: £41,700; a year at 37.5 hours a week
New entrant: £33,400; 70% of the going rate, at least £33,400
Health and Care ASHE salary job: £31,300; with an NHS body or regulated care provider

The going rate for this code (£33,400 a year) is lower than the £41,700 general salary threshold, so £41,700 is the figure to meet. Going rates are set for a 37.5-hour week (£17.13 an hour for this code) and are pro-rated to the hours on your contract. The flat minimums are not reduced for part-time hours, so a part-time job can meet its pro-rated going rate and still fall short.

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Checked against gov.uk on 23 October 2026. Sources: Appendix Skilled Occupations, Appendix Skilled Worker, Appendix Immigration Salary List, Health and Care Worker visa: your job.

What the rules say about code 3111

Appendix Skilled Occupations lists this code in Table 1a, and the gov.uk eligible occupations table labels it “Medium Skilled”.

Tables 1a and 3a are for medium-skilled occupations (RQF levels 3 to 5). Since 22 July 2025, sponsors may only use them for someone granted Skilled Worker permission under the rules in place before 22 July 2025 who has held it continuously since, unless the job is on the Temporary Shortage List or the Immigration Salary List (Appendix Skilled Worker SW 6.1).

Table 1 marks this code as eligible for PhD points, so a PhD relevant to the job lowers the bar: £33,400 with a STEM PhD, £37,500 with a non-STEM PhD. The PhD has to be relevant to the job, and the employer confirms that.

Jobs that meet this code's Immigration Salary List criteria (below) need £33,400 instead, because the general minimum for jobs on the list is £33,400.

The new-entrant rate applies, for example, to someone under 26 on the date of application, someone in the UK on a Student visa studying at degree level or above, or someone on a Graduate visa (each also covers the last two years in some cases). Total time in the UK on new-entrant terms is capped at four years, including time on a Graduate visa. The full conditions are on gov.uk.

Shortage lists

Temporary Shortage List

Certificates issued before 31 December 2026

Every job in the code is on the list. The list (Appendix Skilled Worker SW 6.1A) lets a medium-skilled job be sponsored for someone applying from abroad or switching in the UK, but it does not lower the salary: the standard going rate and the £41,700 threshold still apply. Gov.uk list.

Immigration Salary List

Until 31 December 2026

Covers: only jobs requiring 3 or more years’ related on-the-job experience. This experience must not have been gained through working illegally.

Listed in every UK nation. A job on the list needs at least £33,400 and the going rate, rather than £41,700, and gov.uk says the visa fee is lower. The certificate of sponsorship must be issued before the removal date. Appendix Immigration Salary List.

Health and Care Worker visa

Gov.uk lists code 3111 as eligible for the Health and Care Worker visa, including for a first application. That visa needs a job offer from the NHS, an organisation providing medical services to the NHS, or an organisation providing adult social care. Gov.uk says people on it, and their partner or children, do not pay the healthcare surcharge.

It is also one of the ten “Health and Care ASHE salary jobs” in Appendix Skilled Worker (SW A1.1) when the sponsor is, for example, an NHS trust, a provider registered with the Care Quality Commission, or another listed health or care body. Those jobs are paid against the lower going rate (£25,000 a year for this code), with lower floors.

Health and Care ASHE salary options for code 3111
Option	Rule	At least
F	£31,300 and the lower going rate	£31,300
J	New entrant: £25,000 and 70% of the lower going rate	£25,000

Health and Care Worker visa: your job · different salary requirements · overview

Job titles in code 3111

Examples from the Immigration Rules and the gov.uk eligible occupations table. They are examples, not the full list: a job belongs in this code because of its duties, whatever it is called.

Biological laboratory technicians
Chemical laboratory technicians
Health physics monitors
Laboratory food technicians
Medical laboratory technicians
Laboratory technicians not elsewhere classified

Who chooses the occupation code

The employer does, not you and not GoRizzume. The sponsor picks the code when it assigns the Certificate of Sponsorship, and Appendix Skilled Worker (SW 6.2) lets the Home Office refuse the application if it has reasonable grounds to believe a less appropriate code was chosen because the right one is not eligible, has a higher going rate, or is not on the Immigration Salary List. The duties decide the code, not the job title.

So treat this page as the rules for code 3111, not a verdict on any particular offer. Ask the employer which code they will use, then check that code. If you are unsure, the CASCOT coding tool suggests codes for a job title, and gov.uk says to make sure the description matches what you will actually do.

Other occupations in minor group 311

Find an employer that can sponsor

Only an employer on the Home Office register of licensed sponsors can sponsor a Skilled Worker visa, and a licence means they can sponsor eligible roles, not that every job comes with sponsorship.

Common questions

Can laboratory technicians be sponsored for a UK Skilled Worker visa?

What salary do laboratory technicians need for a Skilled Worker visa?

At least £41,700 a year for a 37.5-hour week. The going rate for this code (£33,400 a year) is lower than the £41,700 general salary threshold, so £41,700 is the figure to meet. Someone who qualifies as a new entrant, for example by being under 26 on the date of application or by being in the UK on a Graduate visa, can be paid 70% of the going rate with a £33,400 minimum: £33,400 here. If the job counts as a Health and Care ASHE salary job (for example with an NHS body or a provider registered with the Care Quality Commission), the rules use a lower going rate and floor: £31,300.

Is SOC 3111 (laboratory technicians) on a UK shortage list?

It is on the Temporary Shortage List, for certificates of sponsorship issued before 31 December 2026. It is on the Immigration Salary List (only jobs requiring 3 or more years’ related on-the-job experience) in every UK nation, until 31 December 2026. Checked against gov.uk on 23 October 2026.

Can laboratory technicians get a Health and Care Worker visa?

Yes. Code 3111 is on the gov.uk list of jobs eligible for the Health and Care Worker visa, which needs a job offer from the NHS, an organisation providing medical services to the NHS, or an organisation providing adult social care. Gov.uk says people on that visa, and their partner or children, do not pay the healthcare surcharge.

Who decides which occupation code goes on a Certificate of Sponsorship?

The employer. The sponsor chooses the code when it assigns the certificate, and the Home Office can refuse the application if it has reason to think a less appropriate code was chosen to get round the eligibility or salary rules. A job title alone does not decide the code: the duties do. Ask the employer which code the offer will use.

This is information, not immigration advice. It sets out what the published Home Office rules say about occupation code 3111. It cannot see your history or your offer, and real cases turn on details it does not model. 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.

Rules checked against gov.uk on 23 October 2026. Occupation codes are SOC 2020. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.