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Changing Employer on a UK Skilled Worker Visa: What Filipino Workers Must Apply For, and What If Your Sponsor Loses Its Licence

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By iStart Editorial Team·Published November 3, 2026

Changing Employer on a UK Skilled Worker Visa: What Filipino Workers Must Apply For, and What If Your Sponsor Loses Its Licence

Maybe it is a better offer from a hospital across town. Maybe it is the third month of night shifts that are nowhere in your contract. Either way, the same question arrives late at night: can I leave this job without losing my visa?

You can change employer on a Skilled Worker visa, but the visa does not move with you. You make a new application, and the order you do things in matters. Of everything readers ask us about this visa, the start date matters most, because getting it wrong is the costly mistake. This guide follows gov.uk and the Home Office's guidance as they stood on 26 October 2026.

Can You Change Employer on a Skilled Worker Visa?

Yes, as long as you apply to update your visa first: gov.uk says you need to do this when you want to change your job and the new one is with a different employer. You also need to update it when your work moves to a different occupation code, or when you leave a job on the immigration salary list for one that is not on it. A different role with the same employer needs an update only when the occupation code changes. The same rules cover Health and Care Worker visas and older Tier 2 (General) work visas.

There is no "transfer". The Home Office's sponsor guidance calls this a change of employment application: you are assigned a new certificate of sponsorship (CoS), and you make a new application, even if your current permission has years left. No new application is needed if the business you work for is transferred under the TUPE rules (the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations) and your occupation code stays the same, or if your sponsor changes while your employer and occupation code stay the same.

If you are still working out how the route works in the first place, start with our guide to how the Skilled Worker route works.

The Change of Employment Application, Step by Step

A change of employment application is a seven-step process, and the order is your protection.

  1. Check the new employer on the Home Office's register of licensed sponsors. For a change of employer, the Immigration Rules require it to be A-rated, and the register shows whether its sponsor licence covers Skilled Workers, and its rating.
  2. Ask for the occupation code and the salary of the new role in writing, and check whether they meet the rules that apply to you (below).
  3. Get your new certificate of sponsorship, which shows the new job meets the eligibility requirements. It is an electronic record with a reference number, not a paper document. You must apply within 3 months of getting it, and you can apply up to 3 months before your start date.
  4. Make the visa application online before your current visa expires. You prove your identity with the UK Immigration: ID Check app or at a UKVCAS service point. If yours is a Health and Care Worker visa, you still apply on the Skilled Worker form and say yes when the form asks.
  5. Gather your documents. You provide other evidence again only if you have been in the UK for less than one year. If you had your visa before 8 January 2026, the B1 English level you proved carries over, and gov.uk's page for your route says whether you show that proof again.
  6. Continue working in your current job, or work out your notice, while you wait.
  7. Do not travel outside the UK, Ireland, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man until you have a decision. The application is withdrawn if you do.

A decision usually comes within 8 weeks for a Skilled Worker application and within 3 weeks for a Health and Care Worker one, according to gov.uk. "Usually" is the honest word: it is not a promise. Your partner and children make their own applications, at the same time as you or at any time before their visas expire.

When Can You Start the New Job?

You can start the new job only once your new permission is confirmed. gov.uk's update page puts it plainly: "You should not start your new job until you've got confirmation of your new permission." The other half of the same rule protects you: "You can continue working in your current job while your new application is being considered, or to work out your notice period - as long as you apply before your current visa expires."

The sponsor guidance says the same from the employer's side: the application must be approved, and the new sponsor must carry out right to work checks, before you begin. You prove your right to work with an online share code or an eligible document. In our view the practical lesson is simple: line the start date up with the decision, and never resign into a gap you cannot afford.

Changing employer on a UK Skilled Worker visa, the safe order as of 26 October 2026: check the sponsor is on the register of licensed sponsors and A-rated; get the new certificate of sponsorship, paying nothing for it; apply before your current visa expires; keep working or work your notice; start the new job only once your new permission is confirmed. Do not travel outside the UK, Ireland, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man until you have a decision.

The Salary Rules When You Change Employer

Your new job must meet the salary rule that applies to you on the day you apply. As gov.uk's pages stood on 26 October 2026, the general salary threshold is £41,700 a year or the going rate for the occupation code, whichever is higher, and the minimum may be lower when you update. Several groups have rules of their own.

If the certificate of sponsorship for your first Tier 2 or Skilled Worker visa came before 4 April 2024 and you have held Skilled Worker visas continuously since, the threshold is £31,300 or the lower going rate for your occupation, whichever is higher. That lower rate applies only to "applications made before 4 April 2030", and your salary must still rise with the updated going rates each time you apply.

If the new role is on the immigration salary list, you must be paid at least £33,400 a year and the standard going rate. If you are in the before-4-April-2024 group above, the floor for a listed job is £25,000 or the full going rate, whichever is higher.

If your job is on gov.uk's list of eligible healthcare and education jobs, the floor is £25,000 or the going rate based on national pay scales, such as the NHS's, if that is higher. Nurses check the national pay scales table for their band and area.

You may also be paid less if you are under 26, studying or a recent graduate, or in professional training; if you have a PhD relevant to the job; or if you have a postdoctoral position in science or higher education. gov.uk's "When you can be paid less" page allows 70% to 90% of the standard going rate for these, with a salary of at least £33,400 (£37,500 for a relevant PhD in a subject outside science, technology, engineering and maths). In the before-4-April-2024 group, the same options apply to the lower going rate, with a floor of £25,000 (£28,200 for a PhD outside those subjects). The under-26, graduate, training and postdoctoral options limit your total stay in the UK to 4 years, counting earlier time on a Graduate visa (and, in the before-4-April-2024 group, a Tier 2 (General) visa), so check the conditions on the page before you rely on one.

If the code you are moving into is listed as "medium skilled", you can update into it only if both of these apply: your first certificate of sponsorship came before 22 July 2025, and you have held the visa continuously since. Some codes kept open under transitional rules can be continued only with the same sponsor, so ask the new employer to confirm the code is eligible for you before you resign.

One more rule since March 2026: the required salary must be paid in every pay period, not just across the year, so the Home Office can act on underpayment without waiting a full year. Keep every payslip.

A change of employer is the one moment the system lets you choose your next rung on paper. The new certificate records an occupation code and a salary, and those two lines are what your next extension, and as the rules stand your settlement application, will be measured against. So the move worth making is the one that builds that record: a code that stays open to you, a salary that keeps pace with the going rate, and a sponsor whose licence you checked before you signed.

A Filipina network engineer connects a fibre cable at an open equipment cabinet in a quiet UK data centre aisle, absorbed in her work.

Care Workers and the Health and Care Worker Visa

Care workers (occupation code 6135) and senior care workers (6136) can change sponsor on the Health and Care Worker visa, within those codes. The Immigration Rules set the condition: you must already have permission as a Skilled Worker sponsored in those codes, and the application is for permission to stay. The 22 July 2028 date in the same rule is for people switching in from another visa after three months with the sponsor, not for a care worker moving between sponsors.

In England, the new employer must be registered with the Care Quality Commission. For a job in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland, the Home Office's guidance on sponsoring a Skilled Worker says a sponsor carrying out regulated (or equivalent) care activities there must be registered with that part of the UK's regulator: the Care Inspectorate, Care Inspectorate Wales or the Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority. Check before you accept. The threshold for these codes is usually £31,300 or the lower going rate, whichever is higher, with the exceptions gov.uk lists.

If your employer's sponsor licence has been revoked and you are a care worker or senior care worker in England on the Health and Care Worker visa, the Department of Health and Social Care funds regional partnerships, continued for 2026 to 2027, to help displaced international care workers into new sponsored employment. Its support-offer page lists the email for your area. What a revocation means for your permission, including a temporary protection for care roles, is set out below under If Your Sponsor Loses Its Licence.

What It Costs, and What Your Sponsor Must Pay

The cost of a change of employment application depends on your visa. On a Skilled Worker visa, applying from inside the UK costs £943 per person for up to 3 years or £1,865 for more than 3 years (£628 or £1,235 for a job on the immigration salary list), plus the healthcare surcharge, usually £1,035 a year. On the Health and Care Worker visa the fee is £324 for up to 3 years or £628 for more, with no surcharge. These are the standard fees as gov.uk's pages stood on 26 October 2026.

The Immigration Skills Charge on your new certificate of sponsorship is the sponsor's to pay. The Home Office's guidance on sponsor duties and compliance makes recovering any of it from you a ground for revoking the licence, and its guidance on sponsoring a worker says a sponsor must not pass it on. For a Skilled Worker CoS assigned on or after 31 December 2024, asking you to pay the CoS charge or its administrative costs is also a ground for revoking the licence. Anyone asking you to pay for a CoS is asking for money the rules put on the employer. Walk away.

What Happens to Your Visa If You Resign

Resigning sets two things moving: your sponsor must report it to the Home Office within 10 working days, and your permission to stay may then be cancelled. The sponsor guidance lists a resignation, a dismissal or a redundancy among the changes a sponsor reports, and the Immigration Rules (Part Suitability) allow cancellation once you stop working for your sponsor.

The 60 days you may have heard about is not a grace period that starts when you resign. It is what the Home Office may leave you with if it acts. Its caseworker guidance on cancellation and curtailment of permission (version 12.0, published 11 September 2026) tells caseworkers to consider cancelling permission to 60 days when someone on a sponsored route has "ceased work", unless they decide to cancel with immediate effect or to a different date. Its examples of when immediate cancellation is normally appropriate include stopping work for the sponsor with no reasonable explanation and evidence. The same guidance says caseworkers do not consider cancelling if you have already been granted new permission, and if your new application is still waiting, cancellation is considered only if that application is refused. So the safe order is the one gov.uk describes: the new certificate first, the application in before your current visa expires, and your notice worked while you wait.

If Your Sponsor Loses Its Licence

When the Home Office revokes a sponsor licence, it will normally cancel the permission of the workers it sponsors. If you were not involved in the reasons, it will normally shorten your permission so you have "only 60 calendar days' left", and it will not normally shorten it if you already have 60 days or fewer. By the end of that period you must have applied to stay on a route you qualify for, or leave the UK.

Care roles are treated differently for now. Since its September 2026 update (version 12.0), the Home Office's caseworker guidance on cancellation says caseworkers must not cancel the permission of someone on the Skilled Worker or Health and Care Worker route as a care worker (occupation code 6135, or 6145 under the older codes) or senior care worker (6136, or 6146) when the sole reason would be the revocation of the sponsor's licence. The guidance calls this arrangement temporary and subject to regular review, and any other reason for cancellation is still considered in the usual way.

What may happen to your UK Skilled Worker permission, as the Home Office's guidance stood on 26 October 2026. If you resign: your sponsor reports it within 10 working days; permission may be cancelled to 60 days or with immediate effect, but not once new permission is granted. If your sponsor loses its licence: you are told promptly; if not involved, your permission is normally cut to 60 calendar days; care roles have a temporary protection. The 60 days is not a grace period.

You will be told about the revocation promptly, but not the reasons for it. If you have an application waiting on the old sponsor's certificate, you must change it to a different sponsor before a decision, or it will be refused. A suspension alone does not affect your permission unless the licence is then revoked.

One case is harsher. Anyone who knowingly went along with the reasons, and the guidance's own example is agreeing to a job that does not exist, will normally lose all remaining permission. A "job" that costs you money is never worth it.

The 2026 Rule Changes, and Settlement

Four rule changes since January 2026 touch a change of employer:

  • 8 January 2026 (HC 1333): new applicants need English at level B2; if you had the visa before that date, B1 carries over when you update it.
  • March 2026 (HC 1691): your required salary must be paid in every pay period.
  • 8 October 2026 (HC 584): a Skilled Worker with a positive Conclusive Grounds decision as a victim of modern slavery, made during their current permission, may work for any employer for the rest of it.
  • 26 March 2027 (set by HC 1691): English at B2 for settlement.

As the rules stand, settlement (indefinite leave to remain) comes after 5 years of continuous, lawful residence on an eligible route, and time on Skilled Worker and Health and Care Worker visas counts in any combination, so your years with the old sponsor and the new one can count together. You also need your employer to confirm you are still needed, and no more than 180 days outside the UK in any 12 months. On 20 November 2025 the Home Office announced plans to lengthen the settlement period, with transitional arrangements to follow a consultation. Check the rules when you apply.

When It Is More Than a Bad Job

A held passport, a "debt" you are told you owe for the job, or work you never agreed to is more than a bad job. Our guide to the Modern Slavery Helpline explains what to do when it is more than a bad job. Since 8 October 2026, a Skilled Worker who receives a positive Conclusive Grounds decision during their current permission may work for any employer for the rest of it.

Before You Hand In Your Notice: A Checklist

  • The new employer is on the register of licensed sponsors, A-rated
  • For care work, the new employer holds the care-regulator registration its part of the UK requires (the Care Quality Commission in England)
  • The occupation code and salary are in writing and checked against your rule
  • You have the CoS reference number, and you paid nothing for it
  • You know how you will prove your right to work: an online share code or an eligible document
  • Your application is in before your visa expires and within 3 months of the CoS
  • You keep working or work your notice, and start nothing until the new permission is confirmed
  • No travel outside the UK, Ireland, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man while you wait
  • Your partner and children make their own applications
  • Payslips, CoS references and decision emails sit together in one folder

The Questions Filipinos Ask Us Most

How long does a change of employment application take? A decision usually comes within 8 weeks for a Skilled Worker application and within 3 weeks for a Health and Care Worker one, according to gov.uk, which is not a promise. You can continue working in your current job meanwhile, as long as you applied before your current visa expired.

Can I start working for my new employer while I wait? No. gov.uk says you should not start your new job until you have confirmation of your new permission.

Do I have to pay for my new certificate of sponsorship? No. The sponsor pays the Immigration Skills Charge and must not pass it on to you, and for a Skilled Worker CoS assigned on or after 31 December 2024, asking you to pay the CoS charge is a ground for revoking the sponsor's licence.

Does my time with the new employer count toward settlement? As the rules stand, time on Skilled Worker and Health and Care Worker visas counts toward the 5 years in any combination, so your years with the old sponsor and the new one can count together. The Home Office announced changes to settlement in November 2025, so check the rules when you apply.

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