Changing employer on a Skilled Worker visa without putting your UK status at risk

You cannot simply hand in your notice and start a new job while on a Skilled Worker visa. Your permission is tied to your specific sponsor, role and Certificate of Sponsorship, so changing employer means your new employer must assign you a new Certificate of Sponsorship and you must apply to update your visa before your first day in the new role. Starting early, even by a day, can put your immigration status at risk.

This catches people out more often than you would expect, usually because a new employer is keen to get someone started quickly, or because the applicant assumes a Skilled Worker visa works like ordinary employment law, where you simply serve notice and move on. It does not.

What actually has to happen

Your new employer needs a valid Skilled Worker sponsor licence covering your occupation. If they do not already hold one, that has to be sorted first, which can take weeks on its own. Once they do, they assign you a new Certificate of Sponsorship referencing your new role, salary and occupation code, and you use that reference number to apply online to update your visa. You must not apply more than three months before the start date on the Certificate of Sponsorship.

Step	What is required
New employer’s licence	Must hold a valid Skilled Worker sponsor licence
New Certificate of Sponsorship	Assigned by the new employer before you apply
Application	Submitted online before you start the new role and before your current permission expires
Working meanwhile	You can normally stay in your current job or work your notice while the application is pending
Starting the new job	Only once the updated visa has been approved

The salary test still applies, at current rates

Your new role has to meet the current Skilled Worker salary rules, using the rules in force when you apply, not the ones that applied when you got your original visa. For most applicants, the role must meet the general salary threshold or the occupation-specific going rate, whichever is higher, unless a recognised discount or transitional rule applies. Rates and eligible occupation rules have changed more than once in the last two years, so do not assume the figure a colleague quotes from their own application still holds.

Our guide to the current salary rules has the detail, and it is worth checking against the specific occupation code your new role will use, not just the general figure.

Timing: do not resign before the process is safe

You can keep working in your current job, or work out a notice period, while your update application is being processed, as long as you applied before your existing permission expires. Processing can take several weeks, so build that into any negotiation over your start date with the new employer.

What you should not do is resign, finish up and start the new job on the assumption the paperwork will catch up. If the right to work check at your new employer shows you working without valid permission for that role, both you and the employer are exposed, and it can affect your record for future visa or settlement applications.

If it is not your choice to leave

Losing your job unexpectedly is different from choosing to move, and it carries its own time pressure. Your sponsor must report that your employment has ended, and the Home Office may then shorten your permission, often to 60 days or to the end of your current permission if sooner.

That window is your time to find a new sponsor, make a valid application, switch route or leave the UK. If that happens to you, get advice quickly rather than waiting to see what turns up, since the sponsorship route generally depends on your new employer being ready to act fast.

Get this checked before you hand in your notice

The cost of getting this wrong is not just a rejected application. It can mean a period of working outside your visa conditions that follows you into future applications, including settlement. Before you agree a start date with a new employer, Athi Law's immigration team can check your specific timing and salary position.

We also support clients more broadly through property, family and wills and probate matters, so if a job change coincides with buying a home or updating a will, we can help with that too. Visit Athi Law or contact us to talk through your move before you commit to it.