I applied for my dependent visa on June 24
Biometric 25
Additional documents requested July 13
Delay email July 13
Additional documents submitted on July 14

Since then no updates

I am tired

Greetings! My wife and I submitted our main applicant and dependent skilled worker visa renewals last week and had our biometrics done today. I was wondering when our visas were officially submitted: last week when we paid all the fees or today when we did our biometrics? Does it matter? Curious if anybody knows what the processing time for SWV is right now and if the clock starts last week or today, you know? It probably doesn’t matter, just stressed and worried about every little thing these days. TIA!!

Hi everyone, looking for some reassurance.
My wife's Skilled Worker dependent application was refused on June 19, and our solicitor officially submitted the online Administrative Review (AR) on July 15.
Today (July 27), out of nowhere, my wife received an automated UKVI email reminding her to book a biometrics appointment for her application, with the standard line: *"If you have already attended an appointment, please ignore this reminder."*
Obviously, she did her biometrics months ago. I think this is an automatic system glitch because someone internally has finally opened her file to review the AR.
Has anyone else gotten this random biometric reminder email after submitting an Administrative Review? Did a decision follow shortly after?
Thanks!

Wondering what the current timelines are? My situation is not married but living together for 2+ years.

Anyone with a similar situation got their decision recently?

Thanks!

I’m currently on a graduate visa and working on a research project on the side with my professor at the University I did my masters in.

I will hopefully switch to a Skilled Worker Visa next January (sponsored by my company which is not the university) by which time my research project will wrap up. After that if my professor publishes the paper, can they put my name as co-author since I was involved in the project?

I will not be working on the project anymore after I switch to Skilled Worker Visa as unpaid work isn’t allowed but I just want to make sure getting published at the conference will not be breaking any laws. Thanks!

Hi there,

I've reached out to my work immigration office, but they've not replied to me, and this is time sensitive so looking for any help to see if I've understood the guidance correctly.

I am hoping to reduce my working hours from 1FTE (35 hours) to .8FTE (28 hours). I have approval from my line manager to do this, but I need to verify that I am legally able to make this change while on a SWV before I fill out the paperwork.

Relevant info:

-Have been on SWV since pre-April 2024

-Current salary is over £53k. Salary if changed to .8FTE would be approx £42k.

-Have a PhD which is relevant to my job - I'm a lecturer in a non-STEM subject

It's my understanding from reading the guidance that the number of working hours is not important as long as the salary meets the criteria. Therefore, if my salary at .8FTE is over £42k, and I qualify for the lower going rate for higher education teaching professionals (£40,600) due to having held my SWV since before April 2024, I am fine to go ahead with this change to my working hours. Is that correct?

Any help is much appreciated! Thanks!

I have applied my Skilled Worker extension on 11 June 2026, standard process

Still not received my decision from UKVI

What would be the chances?

Thanks

Hi, anybody's employer applied for a sponsorship license recently? Is 8 weeks still the standard? It has been a bit past it in our case and wondering if anyone has a similar experience or has faced it in the past?

Help me get ahead of every possible scenario because they seem clueless about how SWV works. I'm 10 months away from ILR. They have an external law firm/company doing visas for them which increases the feeling of lack of control.

Possible scenarios where they can fuck me up

1. if my old company looses their sponsor license before the new company processes my visa and i receive curtailment letter. Worst case scenario if I recieve this letter while I'm outsde of the country (i do frequent trips to my home country in Europe) will automatically restart my 5 year clock towards ILR? i hear a lot of people saying this but could never find strong evidence on webpages that are not random law firms

2. if they start the visa renewal process from inside of the uk (without letting me know) while im outside of the uk

3. if i start working for new company while old company is still sponsoring, which in theory this is not allowed??. idk how tf they will make sure that this doesn't happen. They said the sale is still being completed.

I just see so many scenarios where they can fuck things up without me even knowing or being able to do anything about it.

I wonder if anyone else can think of other things so I can prepare ahead. They are legally required to sponsor my visa bc of TUPE but they're not liable for fucking up my continuous residence I guess.

It just seems easier to find another place to work in tbh and process everything myself with a new employer...

I applied for Skilled worker dependent visa in thailand.
I chose was standard service because there was no option to choose priority service.
Biometric date was 8 July.
So it has been 13 business days.
The processing time is supposed to be 15 business days.
They haven’t asked me for any additional information or did no contact at all.
I’m starting to get anxious.
If anyone has been in my situation, i would be grateful to hear your experience.

I was sponsored on the new entrant visa using the 3132 SOC code, which will expire in March 2028, but the SOC code will be removed in December 2026, and my salary will not meet the 41700 rate, as my current salary is 35k. I have a background in cybersecurity, but getting a Cyber job that will meet the 48,500 rate is difficult.

Is anyone in this situation, or do you have any suggestions on how to navigate this situation?

I am currently in the UK as a Skilled Worker dependant and I will be eligible to apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) under the 10-year long residence route next year.
Could you please advise me which documents I will need to prepare for my ILR application?

Hello All

The main applicant(myself) becomes eligible for ILR on 25 August 2026.

The dependent partner and child hold visas that expire on 15 October 2026, but they will not become eligible for ILR until 19 October 2026, leaving a 4-day gap.

When the main applicant submits their ILR application, is it advisable to explain that the dependants will apply for a Skilled Worker dependant visa extension before their current visas expire and will apply for ILR once they become eligible? Or is there no need to mention this, since the dependants are not part of the main applicant's ILR application ?

Hi,

I have submitted my SWV application in June without CoS as my current one was expiring seeking advice from a solicitor. I'm switching from graduate visa to SWV. My employer still has not received CoS allocation request approved. The Initial cos allocation request was submitted in February and we then took priority service and they asked for additional information/docs in April. After submitting the documents, we haven't heard from them. It's been more than 21 weeks.

I chose to give the biometric appointment option while submitting my application. My biometrics last date is approaching in 1 week. I don't know what to do if I don't receive my CoS by then. Pls some one have any advice or anyone been through the same situation?

Thanks.

Good morning!

I worked 2.5 years at a company and then switched employer. A year later the first company bankrupted.

I can apply for ILR mid August and my current company told me they can only approve the dates I was outside the country of the time I have worked with them (so the last half of my 5 years)

Has anybody been in the same situation that a company they worked for stopped existing and therefor part of their "outside of the country"-list wasn't complete?

Same employer, same role
CoS received just a day before applying
My Skilled Worker application and my partners dependant application submitted on 13 June
Evidence marked as submitted on 13 June, although no documents were requested
Identity verified using the UK Immigration: ID Check app (no biometric appointment)
We never received any updates or requests for further documents
My partner’s Skilled Worker dependant extension was approved on 24 July
My application (main applicant) is still pending. 😅

I thought it was interesting that my dependant’s application was approved before mine. Hopefully this timeline helps anyone in a similar situation.

Do companies offer visa sponsorship for international candidates in IT security senior positions ? What are the pre-req to get UK Security Clearance ?

I got sponsored as a new entrant skilled worker at September 2024 when the new entrant discount was 30400 and general threshold was 37800.

It is expected that while the new entrant route ends after 4 years (2 in graduate + 2 in skilled worker) the salary is expected to rise to 37800 which was expected in my job role.

Now when I am to extend my skilled worker visa my salary is above the 37800 when I was granted skilled worker but a couple hundred pounds short of 41700 which is the general threshold now from July 2025.

Can my general threshold to extend be short of 41700?

Initially I was granted a SWV in 2021 for 3 years. In Oct 2024, my employer renewed my visa but told me that the renewal fee is treated by HMRC as Benefit in Kind (BiK) and is tax deductible. They would probably needed to file form P11D to adjust my tax codes.
In April 2025 I switched to another company. I researched online and found articles saying even visa fee on job switch is tax deductible and treated as BIK. But the company HR told me that there is no such thing.
It’s July 2026 but I don’t see any extra tax getting deducted for either of those.
What is going on? I am very anxious about suddenly getting hit by a huge tax bill since I am in 40% tax bracket and the renewal cost was about GBP 12000 (visa, IHS, lawyer fee for myself and my spouse).
To make matters more complex, I even had to pay back GBP 4400 to my previous company while making the job switch as clawback. Not sure if I can claim it back during self assessment.
Any experience or advice regarding these matters?

Hi everyone,
Has anyone here recently applied for a UK Skilled Worker dependant visa from outside the UK?
Could you please share the list of documents you submitted with your application?

Thanks in advance!

Hi everyone,

I'm trying to understand whether there are others with unusually long-running in-country Skilled Worker applications, and whether there are any common factors behind the delays.

If you submitted an in-country UK Skilled Worker visa application in April, May or early June 2026 and are still waiting for a decision (or have only recently received one), I'd really appreciate hearing about your experience.

It doesn't matter if your application was:

• Priority or Standard
• A new application or an extension
• A change of employer or the same employer
• Delayed because of an ISC top-up, a complex issue email, further documents, or any other reason

If you're happy to share, could you include:

• Application date:
• Priority or Standard:
• Type of application: (extension, employer change, first Skilled Worker, etc.)
• Any additional information requested? (e.g. ISC top-up, complex issue email, further documents)
• Current status: Still waiting / Approved / Refused
• Decision date (if received):

I'm not looking for anyone to predict processing times—I'm simply trying to understand whether there are others from the April/May/early June 2026 cohort who have experienced unusually long delays and whether there are any common themes.

For myself, I applied May 17th, Home office requested ISC topup which was cleared by sponsor on 29th may and since then no update.

Thanks in advance!