The Temporary Shortage List is the only door through which a UK employer can sponsor a sub-graduate tradesman from the Philippines in 2026 — and it is time-limited, salary-tested at the general threshold, and closed to families. This page lists the trades that are on it, the going rates that set the pay, the ones employers assume are on it and are not, and how we run a UK trade recruitment against a 31 December deadline.
The Temporary Shortage List in Appendix Skilled Worker (SW 6.1A, as updated 8 October 2026) names 52 SOC 2020 codes in which a sponsor may still issue a Certificate of Sponsorship for an RQF 3–5 role — provided the Certificate is issued before 31 December 2026. For Filipino recruitment the relevant codes are the metal and building-services trades: welding trades (5213), pipe fitters (5214), metal working production and maintenance fitters (5223), air-conditioning and refrigeration installers (5225), vehicle technicians (5231), electricians and electrical fitters (5241), the other electrical trades (5242–5245, 5249), steel erectors (5311), plumbers and heating and ventilating installers (5315), the limited entries in 5319 (steel fixers and underpinners, fence erectors, builders, divers, industrial climbers, ROV operators), floorers and wall tilers (5322), painters and decorators (5323) and construction and building trades supervisors (5330). There is no reduced salary option for the list: pay must reach £41,700 a year and the going rate for the code, whichever is higher — so a welder is sponsored at £41,700 although the going rate is £34,900, a pipe fitter at £46,000, a construction supervisor at £41,800 — counted as basic gross pay for up to 48 hours a week, with no allowances, and met in every pay period. The visa fee is the full Skilled Worker fee, the Immigration Skills Charge is £1,320 a year, and the worker cannot bring a partner or children.
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.
Bricklayers, carpenters and joiners, roofers and stonemasons are not on the Temporary Shortage List but on the Immigration Salary List, at £33,400 plus the going rate and a reduced visa fee — a better route, also expiring on 31 December 2026. Plasterers are on neither list and cannot be sponsored from overseas. Chefs (5434) were removed from sponsorship on 22 July 2025 and no food-and-beverage role is on the list; HGV drivers (8211) never were; CNC machinists (5221) and aircraft maintenance technicians (5234) are not sponsorable in 2026; care workers and senior care workers closed to overseas applicants on 22 July 2025. We say this before a brief is costed, because a UK sponsor that assigns a Certificate for an ineligible code loses the fee and risks its licence.
A Temporary Shortage List visa is immigration permission, not site access. Construction sites expect a CSCS card — a Blue Skilled Worker card needs a UK construction NVQ at Level 2 (or an Ecctis Industry Skills Statement on the overseas qualification, with primary-source verification) and the CITB Health, Safety and Environment test; electricians seeking a JIB/ECS Gold Card go through a UK competence assessment — Experienced Worker Assessment or NVQ Level 3, BS 7671, the AM2E practical — which takes months and is paid for by the employer. We plan these steps into the first year and select candidates whose documentation supports them.
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.
£41,700 a year, because the general threshold is higher than the welding going rate of £34,900; for pipe fitters the going rate of £46,000 governs. Basic pay only, up to 48 hours a week, met in every pay period.
No. Workers sponsored in sub-graduate roles after 22 July 2025 cannot bring dependants.
No — they are on the Immigration Salary List, at £33,400 plus the going rate and a reduced visa fee, also for Certificates issued before 31 December 2026.
The current list lapses for new Certificates. The Migration Advisory Committee recommended a renewed 28-occupation list for January 2027 to June 2028; the Government had not decided at the time of review. We assign Certificates before the deadline and do not promise the list beyond it.
Not in 2026. CNC machinists (5221) are proposed by the MAC for 2027; chefs (5434) were removed on 22 July 2025 and are not proposed.
General information for employers, not legal or migration advice. Rules change; we re-verify before each hire.