UK Skilled Worker Visa for Nigerian Professionals: Sponsorship, Points, and What to Check Before Accepting a Job Offer
UK Skilled Worker Visa for Nigerian Professionals: Sponsorship, Points, and What to Check Before Accepting a Job Offer
The UK Skilled Worker visa is the main route Nigerian professionals use to work legally in the UK, and Nigerian nationals are consistently among the largest groups sponsored under it each year. Getting the offer is only the first step — how the sponsorship is structured determines whether the visa actually goes smoothly.
How the Points-Based System Works
The Skilled Worker visa awards points across a small set of mandatory and tradeable criteria. You need 70 points total: 50 are mandatory (a job offer from a licensed sponsor, at the required skill level, and a minimum English language ability), and the remaining 20 come from a combination of salary level, the going rate for the role, or the job being on the Immigration Salary List for shortage occupations.
Mandatory Requirements
- A confirmed job offer from a UK employer holding a valid sponsor licence — this is non-negotiable; an employer without a licence cannot sponsor you no matter how strong the offer looks.
- The role must be at RQF level 3 or above (broadly, A-level equivalent or higher).
- English language proficiency at CEFR level B1, demonstrated via an approved test, a degree taught in English, or nationality from a majority English-speaking country.
- A salary meeting both the general threshold and the specific "going rate" for that occupation code — whichever is higher.
What to Verify Before You Accept the Offer
Warning: always ask the employer for their sponsor licence number and check it against the UK government's public register of licensed sponsors before signing anything. A convincing offer letter from an unlicensed or newly-suspended sponsor cannot result in a valid Certificate of Sponsorship, no matter how genuine the job appears.
- Confirm the exact Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) code the role will be sponsored under, since the salary threshold depends entirely on it.
- Ask whether the role qualifies for a "new entrant" reduced salary threshold, which applies to some applicants under 26 or in the early stages of their career.
- Clarify who pays the Immigration Health Surcharge and visa fees — UK law prohibits employers from passing the sponsorship (Certificate of Sponsorship) fee itself onto the worker, though other costs are often negotiated.
- Check the contract's probation and notice terms, since losing sponsored employment starts a limited window (usually 60 days) to find a new sponsor or leave the UK.
Bringing Dependants
Spouses and children can apply as dependants on the same visa, provided you can show the required maintenance funds (unless the sponsor has confirmed certification of maintenance) and each dependant pays their own visa fee and health surcharge.
After Arrival: The Path to Settlement
Time spent on a Skilled Worker visa counts toward Indefinite Leave to Remain after five continuous years, provided absences from the UK stay within the permitted limits and sponsorship remains continuous or is transferred properly between licensed employers.
Because sponsor licence status, SOC code selection, and salary thresholds change the actual cost and viability of an offer in ways that aren't obvious from the offer letter alone, it's worth having one of the platform's [specialists](/specialists) review the sponsorship details before you resign from your current job.