Skilled Worker visa holders can normally apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain after completing five years of continuous residence on qualifying routes, provided they meet the settlement requirements.
Settlement on the Skilled Worker route depends on more than completing the required period. The applicant’s current or most recent permission must be as a Skilled Worker, their sponsor must continue to support the application, their salary must meet the applicable settlement requirements, and they must satisfy the continuous-residence, Life in the UK and suitability requirements.
The salary element deserves particular attention. Applicants must satisfy the settlement salary rules applicable to their circumstances when they apply. This will not necessarily be the same salary test that applied when they were first sponsored.
However, the date of first sponsorship remains important. Workers whose first Tier 2 or Skilled Worker Certificate of Sponsorship was issued before 4 April 2024, and who have held continuous Skilled Worker permission since then, may benefit from transitional salary provisions for applications made before 4 April 2030. Those transitional thresholds and going rates can themselves be updated.
The applicant’s occupation code, going rate, working hours, sponsor history and any applicable healthcare, education or transitional provisions must therefore be checked. A salary that was sufficient for an earlier visa application may not necessarily be sufficient for settlement.
Position as at 25 August 2026: The existing five-year qualifying period remains in force. The government’s consultation on an “earned settlement” model proposed a ten-year default qualifying period, with a possible fifteen-year starting point for Skilled Workers in roles below RQF Level 6. It also proposed contribution and earnings-related requirements and possible reductions or increases to the qualifying period. The general earned-settlement model has not yet been implemented, and the position on transitional protection for people already on the route remains unresolved.
A separate confirmed change is that, unless an exemption applies, Skilled Worker settlement applications made on or after 26 March 2027 will be subject to a B2 English-language requirement.
Applicants who have, or were most recently granted, permission as a Skilled Worker and have completed the required five-year continuous qualifying period may apply.
The five years do not necessarily have to consist entirely of Skilled Worker permission. Time spent on certain other qualifying routes—including Global Talent, Innovator Founder, Scale-up and specified former work routes—may be combined, subject to the detailed requirements.
Correct as at 25 August 2026. This article provides general information only and does not constitute legal advice.
You must meet the settlement salary requirements applicable to your circumstances when you apply. Your sponsor must confirm that you are being paid, and will continue to be paid for the foreseeable future, at least the required salary.
Not every applicant is subject to the same threshold. Different rules may apply to healthcare and education occupations, jobs on the Immigration Salary List and applicants protected by transitional provisions.
Applicants whose first Tier 2 or Skilled Worker Certificate of Sponsorship was issued before 4 April 2024, and who have held continuous Skilled Worker permission since then, may qualify under lower transitional salary provisions if they apply before 4 April 2030. Those rates are still updated periodically. Both the applicant’s sponsorship history and the rules in force at settlement must therefore be checked.
Changing sponsors does not normally restart the five-year qualifying period. However, each change must have been made lawfully and any required change-of-employment application must have been approved before the applicant began working in the new sponsored role.
The sponsor connected to the applicant’s most recent permission must still be approved by the Home Office on the date of the settlement decision and must provide the required confirmation of continuing employment and salary.
Any gaps in permission, periods of unauthorised work or changes that were not properly reported or approved require careful assessment.
Time on the Graduate route does not count towards the five-year Skilled Worker settlement period. The Graduate route can provide a bridge into sponsored employment, but the five-year work-route qualifying period will normally begin only after the applicant switches to Skilled Worker or another qualifying settlement route.
Graduate permission can, however, count towards a separate application based on ten years’ lawful continuous residence, provided all the Long Residence requirements are met.
Applicants must normally have spent no more than 180 days outside the UK in any twelve-month period during the qualifying period.
Appendix Continuous Residence contains specified exceptions for certain absences, including some compelling and compassionate circumstances, humanitarian or environmental crisis work, travel disruption and approved overseas research in specified occupations.
Absences should be calculated across every rolling twelve-month period rather than by calendar year. Travel records should be reviewed well before the intended settlement application.
This is a serious obstacle because Skilled Worker settlement requires continuing sponsorship. The sponsor must confirm that it continues to require the applicant to work for it for the foreseeable future and that the required salary is being, and will continue to be, paid.
If the employment relationship or the sponsor’s licence is uncertain, advice should be taken early. Moving to another approved sponsor may be possible, but the applicant would need to obtain the appropriate Skilled Worker permission and allow enough time to establish their position before applying for settlement.
For Skilled Worker settlement applications made before 26 March 2027, applicants do not normally need to prove their English again because they met the applicable English-language requirement when they obtained their visa.
For applications made on or after 26 March 2027, a separate B2 English-language requirement applies at the settlement stage unless the applicant is exempt or can meet the requirement through an accepted form of evidence. Applicants who originally qualified at B1 should not assume that their previous evidence will automatically satisfy the new B2 requirement.
The consultation proposed increasing the standard qualifying period from five to ten years. It also raised a possible fifteen-year starting point for Skilled Workers employed in roles below RQF Level 6, together with earnings, contribution, English-language and compliance-related requirements that could shorten or lengthen the qualifying period.
The consultation proposed that the changes could affect people already on a route to settlement who had not obtained ILR before the new rules came into force. Whether transitional protection will be provided remains unresolved.
The general earned-settlement model has not yet been implemented, so the current five-year Skilled Worker route remains in force. Applicants approaching settlement should plan under the current rules while monitoring future Immigration Rule changes.
