Indian professionals get a UK Skilled Worker visa in four steps: a job offer from an employer on the Home Office sponsor register, a certificate of sponsorship, an application at a visa application centre in India, and a decision that usually takes 3 weeks. The salary must meet the going rate for the occupation code (for example £54,700 for software developers, SOC 2134, or 70% of that for new entrants), the visa fee from outside the UK is £819 for up to 3 years, the Immigration Health Surcharge is £1,035 a year, and applicants from India need a tuberculosis test from a Home Office-approved clinic. On 29 October 2026 Tarve listed 19,616 live sponsored jobs from 2,007 licensed employers; the largest groups were engineering (1,046 jobs), nursing (837), software (765) and sales (481). Source: gov.uk Skilled Worker visa and TB test pages; Home Office fees as verified in April 2026; Tarve live jobs matched to the sponsor register; checked 29 October 2026.
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Jobs now: live sponsored jobs · employers with a licence and live jobs · software engineers · nurses
The rules: salary threshold calculator · costs with worked examples · decision times
TL;DR: UK visa sponsorship from India, October 2026
- Route: Skilled Worker (or Health and Care Worker for eligible health roles). The employer must hold a sponsor licence; 127,383 organisations do, but only a fraction are hiring at any time.
- Salary: the higher of £41,700 and the going rate for the occupation code; new entrants (under 26, or recent UK graduates) can be paid 70% of the going rate with a £33,400 floor.
- English: B2 for new applications since 8 January 2026, by an approved test or a degree taught in English confirmed by Ecctis.
- TB test: required for applicants from India, from an approved clinic, before applying.
- Cost to you: £819 visa fee (3 years) plus £1,035 a year health surcharge, unless the employer pays; the employer pays the licence, the certificate (£525) and the Immigration Skills Charge.
- Timing: certificate about 1 working day; visa decision usually 3 weeks from India, 5 working days with priority (about £500).
Fees are the gov.uk figures as verified for our costs guide (April 2026); check gov.uk for the current amounts before paying. Tarve is not a regulated immigration adviser.
Step 1: find an employer that can sponsor
Only an organisation on the Home Office Register of Licensed Sponsors can sponsor you, and a licence does not mean the employer is hiring internationally. The practical filter is live jobs from licensed employers: every job on Tarve is matched to a register entry and re-checked daily, and each employer page shows the licence routes, the rating and the jobs open now. By volume on 29 October 2026, engineering (1,046 live jobs across 374 employers), nursing (837), software (765, half of them in London), sales (481) and care (458, in-country only) were the largest groups. If you browse LinkedIn or Indeed instead, the free Tarve Chrome extension shows the licence check on each job page.
Step 2: check the occupation code and the salary
The employer assigns a SOC 2020 code to the job and the going rate follows the code: £54,700 for programmers and software developers (2134), £50,400 for civil engineers (2121), £49,200 for chartered accountants (2421), national pay-scale rates for nurses and doctors. The minimum for a standard application is the higher of £41,700 and that going rate; new entrants can be paid 70% of the going rate with a £33,400 floor. gov.uk also classes each code as higher or medium skilled, and medium-skilled codes can only be used while they are on the Immigration Salary List or the Temporary Shortage List. The calculator gives the figure for any code and hours; the SOC lookup shows the skill level.
Step 3: documents from India
- Certificate of sponsorship: issued by the employer; a defined certificate for an overseas hire is usually approved by the Home Office within one working day and is valid for 3 months.
- English at B2: an approved Secure English Language Test taken at an approved centre, or an Ecctis confirmation that your degree was taught in English. Indian degrees are not automatically accepted as taught in English; check Ecctis.
- Tuberculosis test: India is on the gov.uk list of countries whose residents need a TB test for a UK visa of more than 6 months; it must be from a Home Office-approved clinic and the certificate goes in your application.
- Maintenance: £1,270 in savings for 28 days unless the sponsor certifies maintenance on the certificate (most do).
- Criminal record certificate: needed for some health, education and social care roles; the job advert or sponsor will say.
- Application: online on gov.uk, then biometrics at a visa application centre in India run by the Home Office's commercial partner; the 3-week clock starts at the biometrics appointment.
Step 4: cost and timing
| Item | Who pays | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Visa application (outside the UK, up to 3 years) | You, unless the employer offers to | £819 (£1,618 for more than 3 years) |
| Immigration Health Surcharge | You, unless the employer offers to | £1,035 a year, paid up front; dependants £1,035 (adult) or £776 (child) |
| Priority decision | Optional | About £500 for 5 working days; super priority about £1,100 |
| Certificate of sponsorship | Employer (cannot be passed to you) | £525 |
| Immigration Skills Charge | Employer (cannot be passed to you) | £1,320 a year (medium or large employer), £480 (small or charity) |
A 3-year visa therefore costs an Indian applicant about £3,924 (£819 plus three years of surcharge) before travel and tests, and the employer about £4,485 on top of its licence. The costs guide has six worked scenarios. Standard decisions from India are usually 3 weeks; see decision times by route.
After you arrive
Your visa is an eVisa linked to a UKVI account; employers check your right to work with a share code (see the eVisa guide). You can change employer with a new certificate and a new application, and you can bring a partner and children unless the job is a care worker role or a Temporary Shortage List occupation (see the dependants guide). Settlement is currently after 5 years; the government's earned settlement proposals may change that and are tracked in the ILR guide.
Frequently asked questions
How can an Indian citizen get a UK work visa with sponsorship?
Through the Skilled Worker route: a job offer from a licensed sponsor at or above the going rate for the occupation code, a certificate of sponsorship from the employer, B2 English, a TB test from an approved clinic, and an online application with biometrics at a visa application centre in India. Decisions usually take 3 weeks.
Which UK companies sponsor visas for Indian applicants?
Any licensed sponsor can; none is restricted by nationality. On 29 October 2026, 2,007 licensed employers had live sponsored jobs on Tarve, led in software by Graphcore, Palantir UK and Faculty, in engineering by ALTEN, BWB Consulting and BAE Systems, and in nursing by Ramsay Health Care and NHS trusts.
Do I need IELTS for a UK Skilled Worker visa from India?
You need to prove English at B2 for new applications since 8 January 2026. That can be an approved Secure English Language Test (IELTS for UKVI is one of them) or an Ecctis confirmation that your degree was taught in English.
Is a TB test mandatory for Indian applicants?
Yes, for a visa of more than 6 months, from a clinic approved by the Home Office; the gov.uk list of approved clinics covers the main Indian cities.
The Tarve team researches UK visa sponsorship directly from official gov.uk and Home Office sources — the register of licensed sponsors, the Immigration Rules, and published salary and going-rate data — to produce clear, regularly updated guides for international professionals. Tarve is an independent information and job-search service, not a regulated immigration adviser.
Figures and rules on this page are taken from official gov.uk and Home Office publications and were last verified on 2 November 2026. Tarve is an independent information and job-search service, not a regulated immigration adviser: guidance here is for information only, and you should always confirm the current rules on gov.uk.