Last month, a reader left a message in the background, saying that the Skilled Worker visa he received in 2021 had been completed for five years. He excitedly made an appointment to submit it, but was stopped by a lawyer - the salary difference was 900 pounds.
He was puzzled: My salary was up to standard when I joined the company, why is it not working now?
Because of the transfer of work permit to permanent residence, the two easiest pitfalls are not "live for five years", but when the salary of is calculated as , and how the number of days outside the country as is rolled over to calculate . This article explains these two things clearly, and by the way, where the knife hanging in the second half of 2026 has gone.
1. When applying for a work visa and transferring to permanent residence in the UK, which figure should be considered for salary?
The salary of a Skilled Worker is never "one number", but the higher of two numbers : one is the global threshold, and the other is the going rate (industry reference salary) corresponding to your occupation code (SOC code).
At present, the general threshold in most cases is , £41,700, or the 100% going rate for this profession, whichever is higher. So, even if a software engineer and a chef both get £42,000, one might get it and the other might not - because the going rates are different.
Don’t just focus on the big numbers in the news. What really determines whether you can apply for permanent residence is the going rate after the SOC code on your CoS.
The good news is that there is transition protection: if your first CoS was issued on or before 3 April 2024, you can continue to use the lower old threshold (generally £31,300, the going rate is calculated at the 25th percentile) to renew, change employers and apply for permanent residence. This transition arrangement is available until 4 April 2030. The reader who joined the company in 2021 actually fell into this protective circle, but he didn't know it, and he was nervous for two weeks in vain.
2. The salary for permanent residence in the UK is calculated based on the day of submission and not the day of employment.
This is the point where most people fail. The salary test for ILR depends on whether meets the standard at the moment when you submit your permanent residence application, not on whether the standard is met once and for all when the visa is approved five years ago.
This means that three types of people have to start trading a year in advance:
📌 whose salary has not increased much for many years - the threshold and going rate are going up, and if you stay still, it will decline relatively;
📌 who has become part-time or has reduced working hours - the annualized salary will be re-converted, and maternity leave and childcare leave are most common to be changed to 0.8 FTE;
📌 has internally transferred positions and changed SOC code - the new code may correspond to a higher going rate, the salary has not changed but the threshold has increased.
Pragmatic approach: When there are 12 months left until the end of five years, bring up CoS, confirm the SOC code, and then calculate it again against the current going rate table of GOV.UK. It’s almost the same. Talk to HR about a salary increase as early as possible. Many companies are willing to cooperate during renewal or annual evaluation. If you are really unsure, you can spend £5 on justiscript.com to have a British practicing lawyer answer a specific question in writing within 24 hours, in both Chinese and English. It is more reliable than guessing on the forum yourself.
3. Converting work permit to permanent residence for continuous residence: 180 days is not "one clear year"
The rules for continuous residence are uniformly written in Appendix Continuous Residence: During the entire five-year qualification period, in any rolling 12-month period , you must not leave the UK for more than 180 days.
The word "scroll" is the key. Many people count by visa year or natural year and think, "I only traveled 100 days this year." However, if I traveled 90 days in November last year and another 100 days in March this year, then moving the window to November last year to November this year, it would be 190 days - directly exceeding the limit. The Home Office looks at all possible 12-month slices, not the one you picked.
The rules do leave room for permitted absences, such as travel interruptions caused by natural disasters, wars or epidemics, participation in international humanitarian or environmental crisis relief (the sponsor must agree), and compelling and compassionate situations such as serious illness or death of close relatives. However, these are exceptions and need to be supported by evidence. Do not treat them as regular limits.
Please create a table for the number of days in and out of the country, and record the date of departure and the day of return to the UK one by one. After changing BRP to eVisa, it becomes more troublesome to retrieve border records. It is most stable to have your own accounts. You can also use the 永居计算器 APP to calculate rolling 12 months to the day.
4. Where is the new British permanent residence policy in 2026?
This has been the most sleep-deprived topic in the past six months - "earned settlement" that has lengthened the waiting period for permanent residence from 5 years to 10 years. The current real status is:
🔹 The public consultation ended on February 12, 2026 , with more than 200,000 responses received;
🔹 The core plan to extend to 10 years has not yet been written into the immigration rules . The official caliber points to this autumn, but the effective date is not legally determined;
🔹 Statement of Changes in March 2026 One thing that has been confirmed here is that the English requirements for multiple permanent residence pathways will rise to CEFR B2, effective from March 26, 2027 ;
🔹 The current 5-year and 10-year permanent residence pathways are still valid at this time.
The conclusion is straightforward: if meets the conditions, submit it as soon as possible, don't wait for . Transition arrangements generally protect applications that have been "submitted" rather than plans that are "intended to be submitted."
5. Four actions before applying for work permit permanent residence
① Calculate salary one year in advance. takes out CoS, confirms the SOC code and the current going rate, and negotiates and settles the difference early.
② Eliminate Life in the UK and English. Life in the UK Test The passing letter is valid for life. The earlier you get B1 (some paths will lead to B2 in the future), the more proactive you will be. Don’t get stuck in the last month to grab a seat.
③ When changing jobs, you need to get stuck. Changing employers in requires the new employer to submit CoS. A slight break in the connection may interrupt the continuous period. By the way, Home Office releases priority slots for CoS every working day at 7am UK time, and they are sold out in a few seconds. If employers are stuck at this step, they can check out justiscript.com's CoS spot grabbing service (a fixed price of £99, with immediate notification).
④ Don’t just include the application fee in your budget. The application fee for ILR will be increased to £3,226 per person in April 2026; expedited 5 working days will cost £500, and next working day £1,000, both are based on headcount, and family members must be multiplied by the number of people to submit together. Fees may be adjusted at any time, please refer to GOV.UK's latest announcement before submission.
Five years is not a short time. Don't let an unupdated payslip or an unaccounted trip back home to visit relatives wipe it out.
This article is for reference only. Please consult a licensed attorney for specific questions.
[Data source] GOV.UK: Skilled Worker visa (settle in the UK), Immigration Rules Appendix Continuous Residence, Home Office fees for visa applications; UK Parliament: Statement of Changes to the Immigration Rules (March 2026).
💬 Let’s chat in the comment area: When did your work permit expire for five years? What is most uncertain now is whether the salary meets the standard, the number of days of overseas travel, or waiting for the new regulations in the fall? Tell us about your SOC industry and general situation. There are many people who have encountered the same problem and give each other a pair of answers.
If you find it useful, just bookmark this article. When you really need to count your days and calculate your salary, just come back and read it again.
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