Changing Employer on a Skilled Worker Visa
Your Skilled Worker visa is tied to your sponsor and your job. If you want to move to a new employer, you usually need to make a new application before you start work for them.
What you need
A job offer from a new employer that holds a sponsor licence
A new Certificate of Sponsorship for the new role
A role and salary that meet the Skilled Worker requirements in force when you apply
When you can start the new job
You can usually start working for your new employer once you have submitted your application, provided you applied before your current permission expired and the new job is the one on your new Certificate of Sponsorship. You do not need to wait for the decision, but if the application is refused you must stop working in the new role.
Salary and skill rules
Your new job must meet the salary and skill level rules that apply to you. If you were first sponsored before 22 July 2025, transitional rules may let you stay in a role below the current skill level or on a lower salary threshold, as long as you have held Skilled Worker permission continuously. Check this carefully before you accept an offer.
Common pitfalls
Starting the new job before applying
Letting your current visa expire before applying
Assuming a role at a lower skill level will qualify without checking the transitional rules
Gaps between jobs that affect your continuous residence for settlement
How we can help
Waltham Law Chambers is an IAA-regulated immigration practice in Leyton, East London. We can check the new role against the rules and prepare a straightforward change of employment application. We do not guarantee outcomes.
This article is general information as at October 2026 and is not advice on your circumstances.
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