Sponsoring Filipino workers in the UK after 22 July 2025: what still works, at what salary, and until when

The route, in order

• Role check: SOC 2020 code against Appendix Skilled Occupations — Table 1 (RQF 6) open; Table 1a (RQF 3–5) only through the Temporary Shortage List or the Immigration Salary List; going rate against the offered basic salary; your sponsor-licence status.
• Sponsor licence: up to eight weeks (priority service £750, about ten working days) if you do not hold one; MWO London accreditation and the DMW job order start in parallel.
• Selection in Manila: two to four weeks to a tested shortlist; your manager interviews in Makati or online; English B2 evidence (SELT or a degree taught in English) collected.
• Certificate of Sponsorship assigned — on or before 31 December 2026 for any listed trade — with the Immigration Skills Charge paid; the worker takes the tuberculosis test at an approved clinic in Manila, Cebu, Davao, Iloilo or Cagayan de Oro and applies with biometrics at VFS; decision usually within three weeks.
• Arrival: eVisa, right-to-work check recorded before the first day, National Insurance number, sponsor reporting duties; MWO London verifies the contract before departure and the worker leaves with an Overseas Employment Certificate.

What the July 2025 reform did

Since 22 July 2025 the Skilled Worker route is a graduate-level route: a role must be at RQF 6 unless it sits on the Temporary Shortage List or the Immigration Salary List, and both lists apply only to Certificates of Sponsorship issued before 31 December 2026 (last issue date 30 December 2026) unless the Government renews them. Pay must reach £41,700 a year or the going rate for the occupation code, whichever is higher; Immigration Salary List roles qualify from £33,400 plus the going rate, and nurses and other listed health occupations on national pay scales from £25,000 plus the going rate. The salary counted is basic gross pay for up to 48 hours a week — no allowances, overtime, bonuses or payments towards immigration costs — and since 8 April 2026 it must be met in every pay period. New applicants prove English at CEFR B2. The sponsor pays the Immigration Skills Charge of £1,320 a year (£480 for small sponsors and charities) and may not recover it. Workers sponsored in sub-graduate roles on either list cannot bring dependants, and the Government has consulted on lengthening the path to settlement from five years to ten or more, without deciding at the time of review.

Transitional rules protect workers already sponsored in sub-graduate roles before 22 July 2025 — they can extend and change employer within the same code — but new overseas hires cannot use them. The legacy allowance concession for Tier 2 (General) workers ends on 1 December 2026.

Which Filipino hires still work

• Nurses: all seven nursing codes (2231–2237) on the Health and Care Worker visa, from £25,000 plus the Agenda for Change going rate, visa fee £324, no health surcharge, dependants allowed — the one UK route that is unchanged in substance.
• Graduate-level roles: engineers, engineering technicians at RQF 6, IT, finance and other Table 1 occupations at £41,700 or the going rate, with dependants.
• Listed metal and building-services trades (Certificates issued before 31 December 2026): welders, pipe fitters, steel erectors, steel fixers, electricians, plumbers, maintenance fitters, refrigeration technicians, painters, tilers and construction supervisors on the Temporary Shortage List at £41,700 or the going rate if higher.
• Listed construction trades (Certificates issued before 31 December 2026): bricklayers, carpenters and joiners, roofers and stonemasons on the Immigration Salary List from £33,400.
• Not sponsorable for new overseas hires: care workers and senior care workers, chefs, plasterers, HGV drivers, CNC machinists, aircraft maintenance technicians, kitchen and warehouse staff — whatever the salary.

What 2027 may bring

The Migration Advisory Committee's Stage 2 report of 23 July 2026 recommended a renewed Temporary Shortage List of 28 occupations for January 2027 to the end of June 2028 — bricklayers, roofers, carpenters, plasterers, plumbers, electricians, welders, pipe fitters, maintenance fitters, CNC machinists and sheet-metal workers among them, with a review in October 2027 — and did not recommend refrigeration technicians, vehicle technicians or aircraft maintenance trades. The Government had not responded at the time of review, and the Statement of Changes of 3 September 2026 did not touch the lists. The earned-settlement consultation that closed in February 2026 proposed a ten-year baseline, possibly fifteen for sub-graduate roles; a policy was promised before the end of 2026. We plan UK hires on the rules in force, assign Certificates of Sponsorship before the deadline, and tell employers what is proposed without presenting it as decided.

The Philippine side

Recruitment runs through our own DMW-licensed agency, Prime Search Manpower Agency Inc. in Makati (licence DMW-027-LB-11182024): your company is accredited at the Migrant Workers Office at the Philippine Embassy in London, which has jurisdiction for the United Kingdom and Ireland, the job order is registered with the DMW, and every worker leaves Manila with a verified contract, medical clearance, pre-departure orientation and an Overseas Employment Certificate. Recruitment follows the employer-pays principle: no applicant pays for an interview, a trade test or a place on a shortlist, and UK sponsor guidance itself forbids passing the Immigration Skills Charge or the sponsor-licence costs to the worker. Your company is the sponsor and the employer from day one; we never employ or lease the workers.

Everything here is subject to the Immigration Rules in force on the day the Certificate of Sponsorship is assigned (Appendix Skilled Worker, Appendix Skilled Occupations, Appendix Immigration Salary List), Home Office sponsor guidance, the professional regulators and Philippine DMW rules.

Frequently asked questions

• Can we still sponsor a Filipino welder or electrician in the UK?

  Yes, for Certificates of Sponsorship issued before 31 December 2026 (last issue date 30 December) on the Temporary Shortage List — at £41,700 a year or the going rate for the code, whichever is higher, with no dependants. Whether the list continues into 2027 depends on a Government decision on the Migration Advisory Committee's July 2026 recommendations.

• Does the £33,400 threshold apply to Temporary Shortage List trades?

  No. It applies to Immigration Salary List roles (bricklayers, carpenters, roofers, stonemasons), new entrants and STEM PhD roles. Temporary Shortage List roles need £41,700 or the going rate if higher.

• Can sponsored tradesmen bring their families?

  Not if newly sponsored in a sub-graduate (RQF 3–5) role on either list after 22 July 2025. Graduate-level workers and nurses can, and workers who were already on the route before 22 July 2025 keep their transitional rights to dependants when they extend.

• Is care-worker sponsorship closed?

  Overseas applications for care workers and senior care workers (6135/6136) closed on 22 July 2025; only workers already in the UK can switch, until 22 July 2028. We do not start applications that cannot succeed.

• What English level is required?

  CEFR B2 in all four skills for applications from 8 January 2026, proven by an approved test or a degree taught in English; nurses who have passed the NMC's English requirement do not prove it again.