UK Work Visa from Pakistan: Skilled Worker Route 2026

The UK Skilled Worker visa is the primary route for Pakistani nationals seeking to live and work in the UK on a skilled professional basis. Pakistan is consistently one of the top ten source countries for UK Skilled Worker visas, with significant numbers applying in sectors including engineering, technology, healthcare, and education.

The general Skilled Worker rules apply to Pakistani applicants — sponsor licence, salary thresholds, points-based eligibility — but there are Pakistan-specific documentary requirements for police clearances and TB testing that require careful attention. These steps are responsible for a disproportionate share of delays and avoidable refusals.

Core Eligibility Requirements

To be eligible for a UK Skilled Worker visa from Pakistan, you must:

• Have a confirmed job offer from a UK employer that holds an active Sponsor Licence
• Receive a Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) from that employer
• Be offered a salary of at least £41,700 per year or the going rate for your SOC 2020 occupation code — whichever is higher
• Demonstrate English at CEFR Level B2 (see below)
• Have at least £1,270 in personal savings (held for 28 consecutive days) unless your employer certifies maintenance on the CoS
• Be free of a serious criminal record

English Language for Pakistani Applicants

Pakistani nationals are not on the Home Office's exemption list for majority English-speaking countries. You must provide evidence of B2 English proficiency through one of two routes:

SELT (Secure English Language Test): IELTS for UKVI, PTE Academic UKVI, or another UKVI-approved provider. Results must be at B2 level across all four components (speaking, listening, reading, writing) and must be less than two years old.

Degree taught in English: If you hold a degree from a Pakistani institution taught in English, you may be able to use it — but only with Ecctis verification. Ecctis must confirm both that the qualification is equivalent to a UK bachelor's degree (AQUALS) and that it was taught and assessed in English (ELPS). Ecctis cannot verify all Pakistani degrees for English medium instruction, so confirm your institution and course are verifiable before relying on this route.

TB Test Requirement

Pakistan is on the Home Office's mandatory TB testing list. Before applying, you must obtain a tuberculosis test certificate from a Home Office-approved clinic in Pakistan.

Approved clinics are published on GOV.UK and include:

• AMC Diagnostic Centre, Lahore
• AMC Diagnostic Centre, Islamabad
• Other Home Office-approved clinics in Karachi and other major cities

The certificate must be issued by an approved clinic specifically — a standard chest X-ray report from a hospital not on the approved list is not accepted. The test must be taken within 6 months of your visa application.

Police Clearance Certificate: The MOFA Authentication Step

Pakistani nationals in healthcare, education, or social care roles must provide a criminal record check. The process varies by province:

Punjab, Islamabad, and Azad Jammu & Kashmir: Use the online Police Khidmat Markaz (PKM) Global portal. You apply online, attend a local police station for verification, and receive your clearance certificate.

Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and other provinces: The online PKM portal does not cover these provinces. You must draft a manual Authority Letter, have it attested by the UK High Commission, and arrange for a relative or trusted contact in Pakistan to process the clearance locally on your behalf.

The mandatory final step for all provinces: MOFA attestation.

Once you have your police clearance certificate — regardless of how it was obtained — it must be authenticated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) in Islamabad. This involves presenting the original document for a MOFA stamp confirming its authenticity.

After MOFA attestation, the document should then be attested at the UK High Commission in Islamabad.

A police clearance certificate without the MOFA attestation chain is rejected by UKVI. The total process takes 2–4 weeks under normal conditions but can take longer during peak periods. Factor this into your application timeline.

Application Process

1. Confirm your employer's sponsor licence is active (check the Register of Licensed Sponsors)
2. Have your employer assign a Defined CoS — UKVI typically processes these in 1–2 working days
3. Complete the online Skilled Worker entry clearance application on GOV.UK
4. Pay the visa application fee (£1,618 for over 3 years) and Immigration Health Surcharge (£1,145/year)
5. Book a biometric appointment at the VFS Global Visa Application Centre in Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, or other cities
6. Upload supporting documents: CoS reference, passport, English language evidence, TB test certificate, maintenance funds, police clearance (if applicable)
7. Attend biometric appointment and submit documents
8. Wait for a decision — standard processing is approximately 3 weeks from biometrics; Priority or Super Priority services are available

What to Watch Out For

Outdated IELTS results: If you sat IELTS for UKVI more than two years ago, your results have expired. Book a new test.

Incomplete MOFA documentation: The single most common cause of delays for Pakistani applicants is submitting police clearance without the complete MOFA-UK High Commission attestation chain. Do not assume the clearance certificate alone is sufficient.

Pro-rata salary trap: If your employment contract specifies hours above 37.5 per week, the minimum required salary is scaled upward. Confirm the actual minimum for your contracted hours before accepting an offer.

Transitional protection: If you previously held a UK Skilled Worker visa and your original CoS was assigned before April 4, 2024, you may qualify for a reduced salary threshold of £31,300 for extensions. This applies regardless of your nationality.

The UK Skilled Worker Visa Guide includes a country-specific section covering the police clearance, TB test, and attestation process in detail, alongside salary compliance tools applicable to Pakistani applicants in all occupational categories.