Immigration Salary List: which jobs are on it and what they must pay

What is the Immigration Salary List?

It is a table in the Immigration Rules, Appendix Immigration Salary List, and it is part of the Skilled Worker visa. GOV.UK’s guide puts it in two sentences:

The immigration salary list is a list of skilled jobs which have lower salary requirements. If your job is on the immigration salary list you also pay a lower fee to apply for your visa.

Which jobs are on the Immigration Salary List?

These are the 25 entries in GOV.UK’s table, in code order, checked on 14 November 2026. A code is the 4-digit occupation code the employer gives the job. The title and the criteria are GOV.UK’s words, except where shown in square brackets, which are our notes pointing to GOV.UK’s full wording: “all jobs” means every job in that code, and “only” means just the job types named. The last column is our check of Appendix Skilled Occupations Table 1 and 1a: “Yes” means the code’s going rate, which is for a 37.5-hour week, is higher than £33,400.

Three entries count in Scotland only: 1212, 2111 and 5235. The other 22 count in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. GOV.UK’s full criteria for 3414, too long for the table:

3414 Dancers and choreographers – only skilled classical ballet dancers or skilled contemporary dancers who meet the standard required by internationally recognised UK ballet or contemporary dance companies. The company must be endorsed as being internationally recognised by a UK industry body such as the Arts Councils (of England, Scotland or Wales).

On the list, a code’s going rate can be higher than £33,400. Biological scientists (2112), for example, have a going rate of £40,300 for a 37.5-hour week:

2112 Biological scientists • Agricultural scientists • Biologists • Botanical and horticultural scientists • Microbiologists and bacteriologists • Pathologists • Pharmacologists • Zoological scientists • Biological scientists not elsewhere classified £40,300 (£20.67 per hour)

Is your job on the Immigration Salary List? How to check

• Get the job’s 4-digit occupation code from the employer or the advert.
• Find the code in the table above and read its criteria: “all jobs”, or “only” the job types named.
• Check the “Where in the UK” column against where the job is based.
• Check the removal date against the date the certificate of sponsorship will be issued (see the section on when the list ends).
• Compare the salary with the option that applies, quoted in the next section, and with the code’s going rate.
• Code not in the table, such as any IT, software or data code? Then this list does not cover the job; our SOC code and going rate guide has the going rate for every code.

SW 11.1. The applicant must be sponsored for a job in an eligible SOC 2020 occupation code (or, where relevant, an eligible job within a SOC 2020 occupation code) listed in Appendix Immigration Salary List for the nation of the UK where that job is based, unless SW 11.2. applies.

In short: the job has to be on the list for the nation where it is based, unless the SW 11.2 case, quoted in the section on when the list ends, applies.

Whether a particular job is sponsored, and under which option, is for the employer and the Home Office. General information, not immigration advice. Check GOV.UK or a regulated adviser for your own case.

What salary does a job on the Immigration Salary List need?

D The applicant is being sponsored for a job on the Immigration Salary List and their salary equals or exceeds both: • £33,400 per year; and • the going rate for the SOC 2020 occupation code

In short: GOV.UK’s rules set out salary routes as lettered options, and this one is option D. The salary has to reach both £33,400 a year and the going rate for the code. GOV.UK’s rules give a second option for list jobs, option I, quoted next, followed by who can use it:

I The applicant is being sponsored for a job on the Immigration Salary List and their salary equals or exceeds both: • £25,000 per year; and • the going rate for the SOC 2020 occupation code.

(b) An applicant can only be awarded points from options F to J if: (i) they are being sponsored for a Health and Care ASHE salary job; or (ii) the date of application is before 4 April 2030, they were granted permission as a Skilled Worker under the rules in place before 4 April 2024, and they have had continuous permission as a Skilled Worker since then (except that where the Exceptions for overstayers section of Part Suitability applies, that period of overstaying will be disregarded).

In short: option I needs £25,000 a year and the going rate. Two groups can use it. The first is people sponsored for a Health and Care ASHE salary job, GOV.UK’s term defined in SW A1.1 below. The second is people who apply before 4 April 2030, were granted Skilled Worker permission under the rules in place before 4 April 2024, and have had it continuously since (with the overstayer exception in the quote).

SW A1.1. For the purpose of this Appendix “Health and Care ASHE salary job” means a job in one of the following SOC 2020 occupation codes: • 1171 Health services and public health managers and directors • 1231 Health care practice managers • 1232 Residential, day and domiciliary care managers and proprietors • 2113 Biochemists and biomedical scientists • 2114 Physical scientists • 3111 Laboratory technicians • 3211 Dispensing opticians • 3212 Pharmaceutical technicians • 6135 Care workers and home carers • 6136 Senior care workers; where the applicant is sponsored, employed or engaged:

In short: five codes on the list (1232, 3111, 3212, 6135 and 6136) are in the SW A1.1 list. They count as a Health and Care ASHE salary job only where the applicant is sponsored, employed or engaged as SW A1.1 sets out. That part is long, so read it on GOV.UK.

SW 11.3. The applicant must meet the going rate salary requirement for the SOC 2020 occupation code they are being sponsored for a job in, as shown for the relevant option in: (a) Table 1 or Table 1a of Appendix Skilled Occupations, if being awarded points under option D; or (b) Table 2, Table 2aa or Table 2a of Appendix Skilled Occupations, if being awarded points under option I.

In short: option D uses the going rate in Table 1 or 1a, and option I uses Table 2, 2aa or 2a. Our SOC code and going rate guide lists the going rate for every code.

SW 14.4. Going rates will be pro-rated to the applicant’s working pattern, as follows: (a) going rates for SOC 2020 occupation codes listed in Tables 1 to 2a of Appendix Skilled Occupations are based on a 37.5-hour week and will be pro-rated as follows: (the going rate for the SOC 2020 occupation code stated in Tables 1 to 2a of Appendix Skilled Occupations) x (the number of weekly working hours stated by the sponsor ÷ 37.5)

In short: the going rates in Tables 1 to 2a are for a 37.5-hour week. The going rate for the job is that figure multiplied by the weekly hours the sponsor states, divided by 37.5.

When does the Immigration Salary List end?

GOV.UK gives each entry a removal date: 31 December 2026 for 23 entries, and 22 July 2028 for care workers (6135) and senior care workers (6136). A certificate of sponsorship is the reference the employer assigns for the visa application. GOV.UK ties the removal date to it:

An occupation is only included on the list where an application has been made using a certificate of sponsorship issued by a sponsor to an applicant before the removal date stated in the table.

In short: a job counts as on the list only if the certificate of sponsorship used for the application was issued before the removal date in its row.

SW 11.2. If, on or before the date the sponsor assigned the Certificate of Sponsorship to the applicant, the applicant’s job was removed from Appendix Immigration Salary List (or the previous Appendix Shortage Occupation List), both of the following conditions must be met: (a) the applicant’s most recent permission was as a Skilled Worker in which they were sponsored to work in a job listed in Appendix Immigration Salary List (or the previous Appendix Shortage Occupation List) under the applicable rules at that time; and (b) the applicant is being sponsored to continue working in the same job for the same sponsor as in their previous permission.

In short: this covers a job removed on or before the day the certificate of sponsorship was assigned. The list then still applies only to someone whose most recent Skilled Worker permission was for a job on the Immigration Salary List (or the previous Appendix Shortage Occupation List) under the rules at that time. They must now be sponsored to continue in the same job for the same sponsor.

Immigration Salary List visa fee and the standard fee

The fee for each person applying is: £628 if you’re staying for up to 3 years £1,235 if you’re staying for more than 3 years The fee is the same whether you’re applying from inside or outside the UK.

If you’re applying from outside the UK, the standard fee depends on whether you’ll be in the UK for: up to 3 years - £819 per person more than 3 years - £1,618 per person If you’re applying from inside the UK to extend, switch or update your visa, the standard fee depends on whether you’ll be in the UK for: up to 3 years - £943 per person more than 3 years - £1,865 per person

Immigration Salary List vs Temporary Shortage List

The difference: the lower salary option and the lower fee on this page come only from the Immigration Salary List. The Temporary Shortage List is a separate list in Appendix Skilled Worker (SW 6.1A); our glossary page covers it. By our count on 14 November 2026, 18 codes on the Immigration Salary List are in Table 1a of Appendix Skilled Occupations, six are in Table 1 (2111, 2112, 2115, 2142, 3415 and 3416), and 6131 is in neither. Table 1a codes carry this limit, which names both lists:

Except where option D or the Temporary Shortage List in SW 6.1A applies, sponsors may ONLY sponsor Skilled Worker applicants in these SOC2020 occupation codes if the applicant was granted permission as a Skilled Worker under the rules in place before 22 July 2025, and they have had continuous permission as a Skilled Worker since then.

In short: Table 1a codes have a limit. Sponsors may only sponsor people granted Skilled Worker permission under the rules in place before 22 July 2025, with continuous permission since. That limit does not apply where option D (the Immigration Salary List option quoted in the salary section) or the Temporary Shortage List applies. Care codes 6135 and 6136 have their own conditions, in the care section.

Care workers and senior care workers: the extra conditions

6135 Care workers and home carers – all jobs, except jobs with a working location in England are only eligible in this SOC 2020 occupation code where the sponsor holds registration with the Care Quality Commission and is currently carrying on a regulated activity. Eligibility for Skilled Worker applicants to be sponsored in this SOC 2020 occupation code is restricted, as set out in SW 6.1B of Appendix Skilled Worker. Private households or individuals (other than sole traders sponsoring someone to work for their business) cannot sponsor Skilled Worker applicants.

In short: in England, a 6135 job counts only where the sponsor holds registration with the Care Quality Commission and is currently carrying on a regulated activity. Eligibility in the code is restricted as SW 6.1B sets out, quoted next. Private households or individuals cannot sponsor, other than sole traders sponsoring someone to work for their business. GOV.UK’s 6136 entry for senior care workers has the same wording, without the private households sentence.

SW 6.1B. If the applicant is being sponsored in the SOC 2020 occupation code “6135 Care workers and home carers” or “6136 Senior care workers”, the application must be for permission to stay, and either: (a) (i) the applicant must have been legally working for the sponsor in one of these SOC 2020 occupation codes for at least the three months ending on the date the certificate of sponsorship was issued by the sponsor to the applicant; and (ii) the date of application must be before 22 July 2028; or (b) the applicant must have permission as a Skilled Worker, sponsored in either of these SOC 2020 occupations codes (or the SOC 2010 occupation codes “6145 Care workers and home carers” or “6146 Senior care workers”) (except that where the Exceptions for overstayers section of Part Suitability applies, that period of overstaying will be disregarded).

In short: for care workers (6135) and senior care workers (6136), the application must be for permission to stay. On top of that, one of two things applies. Either the person has legally worked for the sponsor in one of these codes for at least the three months ending on the date the certificate of sponsorship was issued, and applies before 22 July 2028. Or they have Skilled Worker permission in one of these codes (or the old SOC 2010 codes 6145 or 6146), with the overstayer exception in the quote.

SW 6.1C. If SW 6.1B applies and the applicant: (a) was previously granted permission as a Skilled Worker, sponsored in the SOC 2010 occupation code “6145 Care workers and home carers” or “6146 Senior care workers”, under the Rules in force before 11 March 2024; and (b) since then, has continuously had permission as a Skilled Worker, sponsored in either or both these SOC 2010 occupation codes, or SOC 2020 occupation codes “6135 Care workers and home carers” or “6136 Senior care workers” (except that where the Exceptions for overstayers section of Part Suitability applies, that period of overstaying will be disregarded); and (c) is applying to continue working with the same sponsor as in their most recent grant of permission, the Care Quality Commission regulation requirement for these occupation codes does not apply.

In short: where SW 6.1B applies and all three conditions are met, the Care Quality Commission regulation requirement for these codes does not apply. The person was granted Skilled Worker permission in SOC 2010 code 6145 or 6146 under the Rules in force before 11 March 2024. They have continuously had Skilled Worker permission since, in those codes or in 6135 or 6136 (with the overstayer exception in the quote). And they are applying to continue with the same sponsor as in their most recent grant.

Common questions