How to Switch Employers on a Skilled Worker Visa Without Leaving the UK

You've accepted a new job and you're ready to move on. Then it hits you: you're on a Skilled Worker visa, and the visa belongs to the employer who sponsored it.

A visa move works differently to a normal resignation. Your current Certificate of Sponsorship becomes irrelevant the moment you stop working for the sponsor who issued it, so your right to stay in the UK depends on getting a new one before your permission runs out. It's a well-trodden, entirely normal process with a specific sequence to follow.

What Actually Changes When You Switch Employers

A Skilled Worker visa is sponsor-specific. According to gov.uk, you must apply to update your visa if any of the following apply:

• You're changing to a job with a different employer
• Your job changes to a different occupation code, unless you're on a graduate training programme
• You're leaving a role on the immigration salary list for one that isn't on the list

The one case where you don't need to reapply is staying in the exact same job for the exact same employer, even if that job later comes off the salary list. Everything else, including a straightforward move to a new company, needs a new application and a new Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) from the new employer.

Planned Move vs Already Out of a Job

How much time pressure you're under depends on whether you're switching on your own terms or reacting to something that's already happened.

If you're still employed and planning ahead, you're in the strongest position. You can apply to update your visa up to 3 months before the start date of your new job, and gov.uk confirms you can keep working your current job (including out your notice period) while the new application is being considered, as long as you submit it before your current visa expires. The one hard rule: you must not start the new job until your updated permission is confirmed.

If your employment has already ended, whether through redundancy, dismissal, or your sponsor losing its licence, the clock works differently. Home Office caseworker guidance treats ceasing to work for your sponsor as grounds to limit your permission, and the standard period given is 60 days (or whatever's left on your visa, if that's shorter) to secure a new sponsor and submit a fresh application, or to leave the UK. gov.uk sets out the same 60-day period explicitly for the specific case of a sponsor losing its licence. If you're in this position, the priority is finding a licensed sponsor fast. Save the paperwork for once you have an offer in hand.

Either way, the underlying task is the same: find an employer with an active sponsor licence, get them to issue you a CoS, and submit your application before time runs out.

Confirm the New Employer Actually Holds a Sponsor Licence

This is the step people skip, and it's the one that costs the most time when skipped. Not every UK employer can sponsor a visa. Only companies that have applied for and hold a valid Home Office sponsor licence can issue a CoS, and licences get revoked, suspended, or allowed to lapse more often than most job seekers assume.

Before you invest hours tailoring an application or attending interviews, check the employer against the official Home Office register of licensed sponsors. Sponsored Jobs UK mirrors this register and updates it daily, so you can search the sponsor directory directly, filter by industry or city, and rule out employers who can't legally sponsor you before you apply anywhere.

If the company you're interested in doesn't appear, don't assume it's an oversight. It usually means their licence has lapsed, been revoked, or never existed.

Get a New Certificate of Sponsorship

Once you have an offer from a licensed sponsor, they assign you a CoS through their Sponsor Management System account. This is a digital reference number, not a physical document, and it confirms your new employer has checked your role meets the skill and salary requirements for the Skilled Worker route.

The CoS has a shelf life. Per gov.uk's sponsorship guidance for employers, once assigned, you must use it to apply for your visa within 3 months. Don't let it sit. Employers sometimes assign the CoS and then go quiet on next steps. Chase them if a week passes with no movement, because a lapsed CoS means starting the whole assignment process again.

Submit Your Visa Update Application

You apply online, and the process is the same portal used for extending or switching into the route. You'll need:

• Your new CoS reference number
• Proof of identity (via the UK Immigration: ID Check app, or biometrics at a UKVCAS service point)
• Financial evidence, unless you've held a valid UK visa for 12+ months or your employer certifies they'll cover your costs

On fees, gov.uk's cost breakdown shows an in-country update costs £943 for up to 3 years or £1,865 for more than 3 years, dropping to £628 / £1,235 if your role is on the immigration salary list. On top of that comes the healthcare surcharge, roughly £1,035 per year of visa length. Budget for this before you hand in notice.

Decisions usually land within 8 weeks, though a priority service is often available for a faster turnaround if you need it and can pay the extra fee.

What You Can and Can't Do While You Wait

This is where people get themselves in trouble. While your update application is pending, you're allowed to keep working your current job. You are not allowed to start the new one. The two facts sit next to each other and it's easy to conflate them under pressure from a new employer eager for you to start.

You also can't travel outside the UK, Ireland, the Channel Islands, or the Isle of Man while the decision is pending, because doing so automatically withdraws the application. If a holiday's booked, finish the application first or move the dates.

What Derails a Switch

Early starts

Even with a signed contract and a start date in hand, if the Home Office hasn't granted the update yet, you're not legally allowed to work there. New employers who don't understand immigration rules sometimes push for an earlier start than the process supports.

Expired CoS

Three months sounds generous until an employer's HR process is slow, or you're waiting on a document from a previous employer to complete your application. Track the expiry date yourself rather than trusting a new employer's HR team to flag it.

Unlicensed employers

Job ads on general boards use sponsorship language loosely. Confirming licence status against the actual Home Office register before you apply removes this failure mode entirely.

Slow starts after redundancy

If your current employment has already ended or is about to, the 60-day (or shorter) window starts running whether or not you feel ready. Start searching for a licensed sponsor the day you learn your job is ending, not once the notice period ends.

Find the Sponsor First, Then the Job

This guide covers the job-search mechanics of a switch: finding a licensed employer and understanding the shape of the process. For anything specific to your circumstances, particularly around timing, dependants, or continuous residence for settlement purposes, speak to an OISC-regulated immigration adviser. Akash writes this site as a job-search tool, and neither he nor Sponsored Jobs UK is OISC-regulated to give immigration advice.

What this site does help with is the part that eats the most time in a switch: finding out who can actually sponsor you. Browse the sponsor directory, filter by your city or sector, and confirm licence status before you send a single application. If you're already under time pressure, the guide to finding a new sponsor fast walks through the search itself in more detail.