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Skilled Worker Visa Refusal

A Skilled Worker refusal usually carries no right of appeal, so the decision you make in the first 14 to 28 days matters more than the refusal itself.

Reviewed against GOV.UK on 18 August 2026.

Why Skilled Worker applications are refused

Refusals cluster around a small number of predictable failures rather than exotic legal points. Sponsorship comes first: a Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) that has expired, been withdrawn, been used already, or was issued by a sponsor whose licence has since been revoked. You must apply within 3 months of the CoS being assigned. Salary is the second major cause, because the offer has to clear two separate tests at once. Skill level failures have grown sharply since the threshold rose to Regulated Qualifications Framework (RQF) level 6 on 22 July 2025. After that come the evidential grounds - English language, maintenance funds and tuberculosis certificates - and the suitability grounds covering criminality, false representations and false documents.

The salary trap: threshold and going rate

Your salary must be at least the general threshold and at least the going rate for your occupation code. Going rates are drawn from median Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) data, calculated on a 37.5-hour week and pro-rated for other working patterns. There is also an hourly floor: the going rate is the higher of the median ASHE figure or £17.13 per hour. Applicants routinely fail because they compare their pay only to the headline threshold, or because a sponsor pro-rates a 40-hour contract incorrectly.

English, funds and TB certificates

Since 8 January 2026 applicants must show CEFR level B2 in reading, writing, speaking and listening. Those whose most recent grant was as a Skilled Worker subject to the earlier B1 requirement may still rely on B1 when extending. From 26 March 2027 the English requirement for settlement also rises to B2, so anyone relying on B1 evidence should plan ahead. On maintenance, you need £1,270 available for at least 28 days in a row, with day 28 falling within 31 days of applying. You are exempt if you have been in the UK with a valid visa for at least 12 months, or if your employer completes the "sponsor certifies maintenance" section of the CoS. A tuberculosis certificate is required if you are coming for 6 months or more and have been living in a listed country; it is valid for 6 months from the date of the x-ray.

What changed in 2026

Three developments this year catch applicants out. First, the B2 English change on 8 January 2026. Second, a statement of changes laid on 5 March 2026 tightened the salary rules so that a worker must be paid the required salary in each pay period, subject to the variations already permitted in the Rules - a sponsor can no longer make up a shortfall later in the year. Third, the "visa brake": for applications submitted online after 12:01am on 26 March 2026, Skilled Worker applications from main applicants who are nationals of Afghanistan are refused, even where a valid CoS has been assigned. Student applications from nationals of Afghanistan, Cameroon, Myanmar and Sudan are treated the same way.

Deception, suitability and the 10-year ban

The consequences here go well beyond a lost fee. Under Part Suitability of the Immigration Rules, an application must be refused where the decision maker is satisfied that the applicant used deception by making false representations, providing false documents or false information, or by not disclosing relevant facts (SUI 9.1). A discretionary ground covers similar conduct by the applicant or a third party (SUI 10.1). Where deception has been used in an application, a mandatory re-entry ban of 10 years applies. Criminality grounds are mandatory where there is a custodial or suspended sentence of 12 months or more, persistent offending, or an offence causing serious harm; shorter and non-custodial sentences are discretionary. If a refusal alleges deception, treat it as urgent - it will follow you through every future application.

Your options after a refusal

There is normally no right of appeal against a Skilled Worker refusal. Appeals to the First-tier Tribunal are limited to protection and human rights claims, EU Settlement Scheme and frontier worker decisions and similar categories, which is why the overwhelming majority of out-of-country Skilled Worker refusals carry administrative review only. That leaves three realistic routes: administrative review, a fresh application, or judicial review.

Administrative review: deadlines and limits

Administrative review examines only whether the decision was wrong because of a case working error. It costs £80.

The reviewer generally cannot consider evidence that was not before the original decision maker. Narrow exceptions apply to decisions based on false representations or deception, decisions on previous breach of immigration laws, and cases where specified documents should have been requested under the evidential flexibility policy. So a review can correct a caseworker who misread a payslip or applied the wrong going rate; it cannot cure a missing English test certificate or a defective CoS. The outcomes are limited: the decision is withdrawn and reconsidered, or maintained with all, some, or different and additional reasons. GOV.UK currently warns that a result can take 12 months or more, with an update if there is no decision within 6 months. The £80 is refunded where the review request is rejected as invalid, where the outcome is a grant of leave, or where an entry clearance refusal is withdrawn because of a caseworking error - not where the refusal is maintained or you withdraw.

Reapplying or judicial review

Where the defect is evidential - the wrong salary evidence, an expired test, funds held for 26 days instead of 28 - reapplying with corrected documents is usually faster and more reliable than review. There is no limit on the number of applications, but each needs a valid CoS and a fresh fee, and every previous refusal must be declared. Judicial review in the Upper Tribunal challenges the lawfulness of a decision, not simply its merits. The application must reach the tribunal no later than 3 months after the decision being challenged; the initial fee is £179, rising to £897 if permission is granted for a final hearing, with £449 for reconsideration where permission is refused. It is normally a last resort once administrative review is exhausted.

How PRIMEVISA helps

• We read the refusal notice against the Immigration Rules and tell you within days whether the error is reviewable, or whether a fresh application is the stronger route.
• We prepare and lodge administrative review requests inside the 14-day or 28-day deadline, framed as case working errors rather than fresh argument.
• We rebuild refused applications - salary and going rate calculations, CoS wording with your sponsor, English and maintenance evidence - so the same ground cannot be used twice.
• We advise on suitability and deception allegations, including the 10-year re-entry ban, and instruct counsel where judicial review is genuinely arguable.

Common questions

Can I appeal a Skilled Worker visa refusal?
Almost never. Appeals to the First-tier Tribunal are limited to protection claims, human rights claims and a few other categories, so a Skilled Worker refusal normally carries administrative review only. Judicial review remains available where the decision was unlawful rather than simply wrong.

How long do I have to ask for an administrative review?
You have 28 days from the decision if you applied for entry clearance outside the UK, and 14 days if you applied inside the UK. The deadline is 7 days if you are detained on the day of the decision.

How much does administrative review cost and is it refunded?
The fee is 80 pounds. It is refunded if the request is rejected as invalid, if the outcome is a grant of leave, or if an entry clearance refusal is withdrawn because of a caseworking error, but not if the refusal is maintained.

Can I send new documents with my administrative review?
Usually not. The reviewer looks for a case working error on the evidence already before the original decision maker, with narrow exceptions for deception, previous breach of immigration laws and evidential flexibility cases. If evidence was genuinely missing, a fresh application is normally the better route.

What happens if the Home Office says I used deception?
Refusal is mandatory where the decision maker is satisfied that deception was used, and a 10-year re-entry ban applies where deception was used in an application. This is the one refusal ground that should always be challenged or addressed with specialist advice before you reapply.

Related guides

• UK work visas: Skilled Worker and sponsored routes
• Sponsor licence for UK employers
• The 180-day rule and ILR absences
• UK visa fees 2026
• Health and Care Worker visa

This page summarises guidance published on GOV.UK and was last reviewed on 18 August 2026. It is general information, not immigration advice on your own case. PRIMEVISA LTD is regulated by the Immigration Advice Authority, registration F201600043.

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