Skilled Workers are eligible to apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain after completing five continuous years of lawful residence under the Skilled Worker route. However, the relevant migrant's visa must cover the full five-year period to meet this requirement.
If the migrant's current visa does not span five years, they will need to apply for an extension to complete the necessary period before applying for ILR.
In order to make the extension application, the migrant's sponsor will need to assign a new certificate of sponsorship to the migrant confirming the sponsorship work duration – read our article here for further details on determining the correct work dates.
Once the migrant has their new certificate of sponsorship reference number, they can start to consider making their visa application.
Important Note: Extending a Skilled Worker visa due to additional time requirements is distinct from making a Change of Employment visa application, which is required when changing employers or due to a change in Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) code prompted by a new role for the same employer.
Important Points to Note about the Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) for a Skilled Worker Extension
When extending a Skilled Worker visa, the Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) plays a key role in determining when the migrant can apply for their visa extension:
- The start date on the CoS should be the day after the worker's current skilled worker visa expires. NB for a change of employment application (see above), this restriction will not apply.
- The migrant must not apply for the visa extension more than three months before the start date on the new CoS.
For example:
If the migrant's visa is due to expire on 30 December 2025, then:
- The start date on the new CoS should be 31 December 2025.
- The earliest date the migrant can apply to extend their visa would be 01 October 2025.
Key Takeaway: Applying too Early will Invalidate the Visa Application
Applying too early, i.e. before the 3 month window, will mean that the skilled worker validity requirements will not be met and will result in the application being rejected by the Home Office.
The good news in these circumstances is that an invalid visa application will not result in the need for a new certificate of sponsorship.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
