New entrant Skilled Worker visa: who counts and how the salary works

A new entrant is someone “at the start of their career” who meets one of the rules in SW 12.2. For example, they are under 26 on the day they apply. Under option E, their salary must be at least £33,400 a year and 70% of the going rate. There is a 4-year limit (SW 12.3).

What is a new entrant?

A new entrant is the name for someone at the start of their career. The points table in SW 4.2 gives option E to “a new entrant at the start of their career”. SW 12.1 to SW 12.3 give the detail. The rules do not define the term in one sentence. Instead, SW 12.2 lists who qualifies.

Home Office caseworker guidance, published on GOV.UK, says: “A ‘new entrant’ means a new entrant to the labour market, in other words someone who is near the start of their career, who meets certain criteria. It does not mean an applicant who is making their first Skilled Worker application or entering the UK for the first time.”

Who counts as a new entrant?

You must meet one or more of these rules (SW 12.2):

Rule	Who qualifies
SW 12.2(a)	You are under the age of 26 on the date you apply.
SW 12.2(b)	Your job is a postdoctoral position in one of eight listed SOC 2020 codes (listed below).
SW 12.2(c)	Your job is in a UK Regulated Profession and you are working towards a recognised UK professional qualification for that profession.
SW 12.2(d)	You are working towards full registration or chartered status with the professional body for the job.
SW 12.2(e)	Your most recent permission (not counting permission as a visitor) was as a Student, and you meet the further conditions below.
SW 12.2(f)	Your most recent permission (not counting permission as a visitor) was as a Graduate. If it has ended, it must have ended less than 2 years before you apply.

Postdoctoral jobs (SW 12.2(b))

A postdoctoral position is a research job done after a doctorate. These are the SOC 2020 codes named in the rule:

SOC 2020 code	Job
2111	Chemical scientists
2112	Biological scientists
2113	Biochemists and biomedical scientists
2114	Physical scientists
2115	Social and humanities scientists
2119	Natural and social science professionals not elsewhere classified
2162	Other researchers, unspecified discipline
2311	Higher education teaching professionals

Former students (SW 12.2(e))

All of these must be true:

1. Your most recent permission (not counting permission as a visitor) was as a Student.
2. If that Student permission has ended, it ended less than 2 years before you apply.
3. In that Student permission or an earlier one, you were sponsored to study one of these courses. Other qualifications of an equivalent level do not count.
   • a UK bachelor’s degree
   • a UK master’s degree
   • a UK PhD or other doctoral qualification
   • a Postgraduate Certificate in Education
   • a Professional Graduate Diploma of Education
4. You have finished the course, or you are applying no more than 3 months before you are expected to finish it. The other way to meet this is that you are studying for a PhD and have done at least 12 months of study in the UK.

Graduate visa holders (SW 12.2(f))

This applies if your most recent permission, other than as a visitor, was as a Graduate. The caseworker guidance describes this as a Graduate route permission that is current, or that ended less than 2 years before you apply.

What salary does a new entrant need?

You must meet the going rate salary requirement for the SOC 2020 code, as shown for your option in Appendix Skilled Occupations (SW 12.1). The points table has two new entrant options:

Option	General minimum	Share of the going rate	Who can use it
E	£33,400 a year	70%	Options A to E are the default (SW 4.2(a))
J	£25,000 a year	70%	People who meet SW 4.2(b), described below

In both cases your salary must be at least both figures.

Options F to J are only for some people (SW 4.2(b)). They are for:

• people sponsored for a Health and Care ASHE salary job
• people who apply before 4 April 2030, were granted permission as a Skilled Worker under the rules in place before 4 April 2024, and have had continuous permission as a Skilled Worker since

See salary thresholds for the minimum figures. See going rates for the rate for each SOC 2020 code. See when you can be paid less for the other salary discounts.

The new entrant option is one of eleven ways to score the 20 tradeable points. See tradeable points.

GOV.UK’s “when you can be paid less” page covers these cases too. Look under “You’re under 26, studying or a recent graduate, or in professional training” and “You have a postdoctoral position in science or higher education”. Both give 70% of the standard going rate. The top of the page gives the £33,400 a year minimum.

Is there a time limit?

Yes. The rule says: “Granting the application must not mean the applicant’s combined permission as a Skilled Worker, Graduate and/or Tier 2 Migrant would be more than 4 years in total, whether or not the permission is for a continuous period.” (SW 12.3)

GOV.UK’s “when you can be paid less” page says your total stay in the UK cannot be more than 4 years if you apply on these grounds. This includes any time you already spent in the UK on a Graduate visa.

The caseworker guidance adds two points:

• A person cannot be a new entrant for only part of the time they are applying for.
• A person cannot score tradeable points as a new entrant if they apply for more than 4 years. The same is true if the grant would take their total permission as a Tier 2 migrant and/or Skilled Worker above 4 years.

What does my sponsor have to confirm?

The caseworker guidance sets out what it expects from the sponsor for each case:

• Under 26: nothing, because the age is checked from the passport.
• Postdoctoral position: the occupation code on the certificate of sponsorship, and a job title or description that confirms a postdoctoral position.
• Working towards a UK professional qualification: which recognised qualification you are working towards, accepted by the regulatory body for the profession.
• Working towards full registration or chartered status: who the professional body is, and that you are working towards full registration or chartered status.
• Student route: confirmation from you or your sponsor that the course is finished, or the expected finish date, or 12 months of UK study towards a doctorate.
• Graduate route: nothing, because your immigration history is checked.