Skilled Worker Visa Documents 2026: Full Checklist

TL;DR

For a UK Skilled Worker visa you need a valid passport, your Certificate of Sponsorship reference number, proof of English at B1, and — unless your sponsor certifies maintenance — £1,270 held for 28 days. Add a TB test certificate if you apply from a listed country and a criminal record certificate for certain roles. Assemble them in the order UKVI expects.

The core documents

1. Passport

A current passport (or other valid travel document) with at least one blank page for the visa vignette. Include any previous passports if they hold prior UK visas or show your travel history.

2. Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS)

Your licensed sponsor assigns a CoS and gives you its reference number — a code beginning with letters and numbers. You enter this on the application; you don't upload the CoS document itself. The CoS must be used within 3 months of assignment. It records your job title, SOC code, salary and start date — make sure these are correct before you apply, because mismatches are a common refusal reason.

To find employers actively sponsoring Skilled Worker visas in your field, see our sister site Tarve.

3. English language evidence (B1)

You must prove English at B1 (CEFR) or higher. Acceptable evidence:

• A Secure English Language Test (SELT) from a Home Office approved provider, at B1 or above in all four components
• A degree taught in English, confirmed by a UK ENIC statement (an Academic Qualification Level Statement plus English-medium confirmation)
• A passport from a majority-English-speaking country (e.g. USA, Canada, Australia, Ireland, most of the Caribbean)

If you met the English requirement in a previous successful UK visa, you usually don't need to prove it again.

4. Maintenance funds (£1,270)

Unless your sponsor certifies maintenance on your CoS, you must show £1,270 held in your account for 28 consecutive days, with the closing balance dated no more than 31 days before you apply.

• The money must be held for the full 28 days without dropping below £1,270 at any point
• Bank or building society statements, or an official electronic record, are accepted
• A single dip below the threshold during the 28 days invalidates the evidence

The cleanest option is for your sponsor to certify maintenance — then you skip this requirement entirely.

5. TB test certificate

If you're applying from one of around 100 listed countries, you need a tuberculosis test certificate from a Home Office approved clinic. The certificate is valid for 6 months from the test date. See our guide to the TB test certificate.

6. Criminal record certificate

Required only for roles in healthcare, education and social care. If it applies, you need a certificate from every country you've lived in for 12 months or more over the last 10 years (since age 18). These can take weeks to obtain, so start early.

Check your CoS before you apply

The Certificate of Sponsorship drives the whole application, and errors on it are a leading refusal reason. Before you submit, confirm with your employer that the CoS records:

• Your name and personal details exactly as they appear in your passport
• The correct SOC occupation code for the actual job
• A salary that meets both the general threshold and the going rate for that code (see salary threshold)
• The right start date and job description
• Whether it certifies maintenance (which lets you skip the £1,270 evidence)

A mismatch between the CoS and your documents — a different salary, a name spelt differently, a SOC code that doesn't fit the role — is exactly what caseworkers look for. Fixing an error means asking your sponsor to amend or reissue the CoS, so catch it early. The CoS must be used within 3 months of assignment.

Documents your employer holds (not you)

Some evidence sits with your sponsor, not you — you don't submit it, but it underpins your CoS:

• The sponsor's valid sponsor licence
• The resident-labour and genuineness records behind the role
• The salary and SOC-code assessment

If the sponsor's licence is suspended or revoked between CoS assignment and your decision, the application can be refused through no fault of your own.

Put it in the order UKVI expects

UKVI caseworkers scan bundles fast. A logical order — passport and ID first, then sponsorship, then English, then maintenance, then health and character — makes a decision quicker and reduces queries.

• Use the free Bundler to merge everything into one ordered PDF with a cover sheet and clickable index
• Use the Compressor to fit the 6 MB UKVCAS or 2 MB VFS Global upload limit
• Run the Checklist generator for a list filtered to your country, dependants and switching status

Translations and missing documents

Any document not in English (or Welsh) needs a certified translation alongside the original — see qualification translation for what UKVI accepts. If a required item is genuinely unavailable (for example a criminal record certificate a country won't issue), include a written explanation rather than leaving a silent gap; an unexplained omission reads as a missing requirement. Keep every document legible and in date — expired TB certificates (valid 6 months) and out-of-date statements are common, avoidable causes of delay.

For the full route overview, see the Skilled Worker visa guide.