If a UK employer has offered you a job and mentioned visa sponsorship, there’s one number that decides everything before your application even reaches an immigration officer’s desk: your salary. Not your qualifications, not your interview performance, not how badly the company wants you. The salary. Get it wrong and the application is refused at that stage alone, no appeal, no second look.
Most people applying for the Skilled Worker visa think there’s a single figure to hit. There isn’t. There are two, sometimes three, and the Home Office always takes the highest one as your real threshold. This guide breaks down exactly how that works, what the current numbers are, and where people lose out without realising it.
The two numbers that actually matter
Since 22 July 2025, the general salary floor for most Skilled Worker applications sits at £41,700 a year. That’s the headline figure most job boards quote, and it’s the one that trips people up, because it’s only half the story.
Every sponsorable role also carries its own “going rate” — a salary benchmark tied to the job’s Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) code, based on median UK earnings data for that specific occupation. Your employer has to pay you whichever is higher: the £41,700 general floor, or your occupation’s going rate.
So a software developer offered £45,000 might feel comfortably clear of the £41,700 minimum. But if the going rate for that SOC code sits at £49,000, the offer still falls short. Meanwhile, a warehouse operations manager on £43,000 might clear both thresholds easily, because their going rate is lower than the general floor. The job title on the offer letter means nothing until you check the SOC code behind it.
There’s also an hourly floor that runs alongside both of these — sponsors can’t get around the annual figures by cutting your contracted hours, since the pay has to hold up per hour worked too.
Why this catches people out
Two things go wrong constantly with Nigerian applicants specifically.
First, recruiters and “relocation agents” quote the £41,700 figure like it’s universal, then go quiet when you ask what the going rate is for your actual SOC code. If your employer can’t tell you the SOC code they’re using for your Certificate of Sponsorship, that’s not a paperwork gap — sponsors are legally required to know this before they issue an offer. Treat it as a warning sign, not an oversight.
Second, only guaranteed basic pay counts. Bonuses, overtime, commission, allowances, pension contributions, stock options — none of it touches your threshold calculation. An offer letter that reads “£38,000 base plus performance bonus up to £8,000” is a £38,000 offer as far as the Home Office is concerned, and it fails.
Where the going rate actually lands, by sector
These are illustrative 2026 figures for commonly sponsored roles, based on published Home Office data. Going rates are updated annually, so treat this as a starting benchmark and always confirm the live figure for your exact SOC code before signing anything.
Tech and digital: Software developers (SOC 2136) sit around £49,000+. IT business analysts (2135) run higher, often above £52,000. Cybersecurity roles (2139) land in a similar band. Tech is one of the few sectors where the going rate consistently beats the general £41,700 floor, so don’t assume the headline figure protects you here.
Healthcare: This sector plays by different rules entirely. Health and Care Worker visa roles aren’t measured against the £41,700 general threshold at all — nursing, medical practice, and allied health professions have their own salary floor, generally around £29,000 or the relevant NHS Agenda for Change pay band, whichever is higher. Worth noting: this route has tightened sharply. Care worker and senior care worker roles (SOC 6135 and 6136) stopped accepting new overseas applications from 22 July 2025. That door is shut for fresh applicants, though workers already sponsored in the UK can extend or switch employers under transitional rules until July 2028. Nurses, doctors, and other clinical roles remain unaffected by that closure.
Engineering and skilled trades: A mixed picture. Some engineering SOC codes clear £41,700 comfortably; others, particularly at the more junior or trade-qualified end, rely on discounted routes to qualify at all.
The discounts that can lower your number
Five groups can be sponsored below the standard threshold, and this is where a lot of otherwise-qualified applicants give up too early, assuming they’re priced out.
New entrants to the labour market — broadly, under 26, within a couple of years of graduating, or switching from a UK Student or Graduate visa — can be sponsored at a reduced going-rate percentage rather than the full 100%. This exists specifically to keep early-career international graduates in the pipeline.
Roles on the Immigration Salary List (ISL) carry a discounted general threshold, reflecting occupations where the UK genuinely can’t fill vacancies domestically. The going rate for the specific role still applies on top of the discount , the ISL only touches the general floor, not your occupation’s benchmark.
PhD holders in a relevant field, particularly STEM, can qualify at a reduced threshold too.
Roles on the Temporary Shortage List, covering some occupations below the standard graduate skill level, can still be sponsored at a lower floor, though this list is scheduled for review and roles can be removed from it with little warning.
None of these discounts remove the going-rate test entirely. They lower the cash floor you’re measured against, not the requirement to check your specific occupation code.
Before you accept any sponsored offer
Ask for the SOC code in writing. Cross-check it against the current Appendix Skilled Occupations on gov.uk yourself rather than trusting a recruiter’s summary , the figures get updated annually, and a screenshot from six months ago is not proof of what applies now. Confirm whether the number quoted is guaranteed basic pay or includes anything conditional. And check the sponsor’s licence status on the public register before you pay a single fee to anyone. A genuine sponsor will never be cagey about any of this. An agent who gets vague when you ask for the SOC code is telling you something, even if they never say it directly. to your success!
