The Skilled Worker route is a sponsored work route. It requires a sponsor approved by the Home Office to offer an eligible role in an eligible code, at an appropriate salary which meets the required threshold. For many applicants and employers, the salary requirement is one of the most technical parts of the route. This blog post will explore how personally investing in your sponsor may affect the minimum salary your sponsor must pay you.

Under the Immigration Rules, money paid by the applicant to the sponsor, or to a related organisation, can be relevant to calculating the required salary and this includes investments. Applicants and sponsors should therefore be careful before assuming that a personal investment into the sponsoring business has no immigration consequences.

1. Outline of the Skilled Worker Salary Requirement

A Skilled Worker applicant must score the required points under the route. This includes points for sponsorship, skill level, English language and salary.

The salary requirement is not always a single fixed figure. It depends on the applicable salary option, the relevant SOC 2020 occupation code, the going rate for that occupation, the applicant’s working hours and whether any specific tradeable-points option or transitional provision applies.

For many roles, the applicant’s salary must meet both a general salary threshold and the relevant going rate. Going rates are set out in Appendix Skilled Occupations and are generally based on a 37.5-hour working week, subject to pro-rating for other working patterns.

2. What Counts as Salary?

For Skilled Worker purposes, salary is assessed by reference to the Immigration Rules. The Rules provide that salary only includes guaranteed basic gross pay before income tax, including employee pension and national insurance contributions, and other guaranteed payments which are treated in the same way as basic gross pay for tax, pension and national insurance purposes.

The Rules also exclude various forms of pay and benefits from the salary calculation. These include, among other things, overtime, bonus pay, allowances, in-kind benefits, equity shares, one-off payments, immigration-cost payments and business-expense payments.

This means that a sponsored worker cannot usually rely on the notional value of shares, equity or other benefits to meet the salary threshold. The Home Office will be concerned with the salary that counts under the Rules, not the wider commercial value of the worker’s package.

3. Money Paid by the Applicant to the Sponsor

A separate issue arises where money flows from the applicant to the sponsor, or to a related organisation. Appendix Skilled Worker provides that certain payments made by the applicant to the sponsor, or to a related organisation, will be subtracted from salary unless the payment was rather an additional benefit offer which the applicant had a genuine choice to take up. Payments which will be subtracted include those related to business costs, immigration costs, repayments of loans and investments. 

This is significant because it means that in some cases, an investment by the sponsored worker into the sponsor may reduce the salary figure that the Home Office treats as counting towards the Skilled worker salary requirement.

4. What if the Payment Is an Investment?

If the applicant personally invests in the sponsoring business, the key question is whether that payment falls within the Rules on money paid by the applicant to the sponsor or a related organisation.

Where it does, the investment may be subtracted from the salary figure used for Skilled Worker salary purposes. This could matter even if the worker’s contractual gross salary appears, at first glance, to meet the required threshold.

For example, if a Skilled Worker is sponsored for a three-year period and makes a substantial investment into the sponsoring company, the Home Office may average that investment over the sponsorship period and deduct it from the salary being assessed. Depending on the figures, this could bring the salary below the relevant general threshold, the going rate, or both.

I will use the example below to illustrate this further. A company wishes to sponsor Juliet; a chemical scientist who falls into SOC 2020 occupation code 2111. The company is relying on Option A of Appendix Skilled Worker which means Juliet’s required salary must equal or exceed both £41,700 per year and the going rate for the SOC 2020 occupation code for a 37.5 hour working week. The going rate for this code is £39,900. Therefore, her salary must exceed £41,700. The company is seeking to sponsor Juliet for three years of permission. They have decided to pay her an annual salary of £42,000 which they believe to be suitable as it exceeds £41,700. However, Juliet has invested £30,000 of her own money into the business. Because of this investment, the immigration rules require the company to divide Juliet’s investment across the period she is being sponsored for. £30,000 divided by three (for three years of permission) equals £10,000. Therefore, £10,000 per annum must be added to her proposed annual salary in order to ensure her required salary is not paid for by her own investment. The minimum annual salary which the company must pay Juliet is £51,700. The equation is as follows:

The minimum required salary for SOC 2020 occupation code + (invested amount/years of immigration permission sought) = minimum required annual salary.

The precise effect will depend on the amount invested, the length of sponsorship, the worker’s salary, the relevant occupation code, the working hours and the salary option being relied upon.

5. Equity, Shares and Benefits in Kind

It is also important to distinguish between salary and ownership. 

A worker may receive or acquire shares in a company for commercial reasons. However, equity shares are expressly excluded from salary for Skilled Worker salary-assessment purposes. They cannot simply be added to salary to bridge a shortfall.

Similarly, the fact that a worker has an ownership interest, investment interest or commercial expectation in the business does not remove the need for the sponsored role to meet the Skilled Worker requirements. The role must still be genuine, eligible and paid at the required level. 

6. Why Does This Matter for “Self-Sponsorship” Type Arrangements?

The term “self-sponsorship” is often used informally to describe arrangements where a person has some connection with, or influence over, the UK business that sponsors them. Despite some common misconceptions, it is not a separate visa route.

Where a sponsored worker is also an investor, shareholder, founder or senior participant in the sponsoring business, the salary and sponsorship position needs careful analysis. The Home Office may look closely at the genuineness of the role, the sponsor’s duties, the salary being paid and any financial arrangements between the worker and the business.

An investment into the sponsor should not be treated as a harmless background fact. It may affect how salary is calculated and may raise wider questions about the structure of the sponsorship arrangement.

7. Why Are Investments Treated in This Way by the Home Office?

The rules on payments made by the applicant to the sponsor are designed to preserve the integrity of the Skilled Worker salary requirement. The Home Office wants to ensure that a sponsor is genuinely paying the salary required by the Immigration Rules. This mitigates against sponsorship costs being passed on to applicants and to close an unintended loophole whereby applicants could effectively pay towards their own sponsorship through investing in their sponsor’s business. 

Without these provisions, it would be possible for an employer to offer a salary that appears to meet the required threshold whilst requiring the worker to return part of that money to the business through an investment, loan or other payment. In economic terms, the worker would be funding their own salary, even though the contractual salary appeared compliant. This could be abused to exploit migrants to pay their own immigration costs.

The Immigration Rules therefore require certain payments made by the applicant to the sponsor, or to a related organisation, to be taken into account when assessing whether the salary requirement has genuinely been met. This helps prevent arrangements which artificially inflate the salary paid to a sponsored worker whilst shifting the financial burden back onto that worker.

The rules are not intended to prevent genuine investment in a sponsoring business. A Skilled Worker may legitimately invest in, own shares in or even control the company that sponsors them. However, where the worker’s own money is used in a way that falls within the relevant provisions of Appendix Skilled Worker, that payment may affect the salary calculation regardless of the commercial reasons for making it.

8. Practical Steps Before Investing in Your Sponsor

Before a sponsored Skilled Worker invests in their sponsor, both the worker and sponsor should consider:

• whether the payment is properly characterised as an investment, loan repayment, salary deduction or another type of payment;
• whether the payment is made to the sponsor or to a related organisation;
• how the payment may be averaged across the period of sponsorship;
• whether the worker’s salary would still meet the relevant general threshold and going rate after any subtraction;
• whether equity, shares or other benefits are being incorrectly treated as salary;
• whether the Certificate of Sponsorship accurately reflects the role, salary, hours and PAYE position;
• whether the sponsor’s compliance duties are affected.

This assessment should be carried out before the investment is made and before the Certificate of Sponsorship is assigned.

Given the complexity of the Skilled Worker salary rules, applicants and sponsors should seek specialist immigration advice before proceeding with any investment into the sponsoring business. Careful planning at the outset can help ensure that the proposed arrangement achieves its commercial objectives while remaining compliant with the Immigration Rules.

9. Contact Our Immigration Barristers

For expert advice and assistance with a Skilled Worker application, including the salary consequences of investment in a sponsoring business, contact our specialist immigration barristers on 0203 617 9173 or complete the enquiry form below.

10. Frequently Asked Questions

Does investing in my Skilled Worker sponsor affect my salary requirement?

It can affect the salary that counts for immigration purposes. Where SW 14.2A applies, an investment paid by the applicant to the sponsor or a related organisation is within the express subtraction rule, and the subtraction is averaged over the sponsorship period.

How is an investment deducted from a Skilled Worker salary?

The relevant amount is averaged over the length of time for which the worker is being sponsored. The resulting annualised subtraction is then taken into account when assessing whether the salary meets the applicable general threshold and going rate.

Can shares or equity count towards the Skilled Worker salary threshold?

No. Equity shares and other benefits in kind are excluded from salary under SW 14.2. They cannot be used to make up a shortfall in the salary that counts under the Rules.

Does the salary-sacrifice exception apply to an investment?

No. SW 14.2A(c) applies only where the payment is not related to business costs, immigration costs or investment and is instead an additional benefit that the worker genuinely chooses to take up.

What if my investment is genuinely voluntary?

Caution is required. SW 14.2A refers to “any money paid” and expressly lists investments, while current sponsor guidance introduces the corresponding rule using the narrower phrase “required to make”. A voluntary investment should not be assumed to fall outside the Rule without careful analysis.

Did the investment-deduction rule apply before 9 April 2025?

SW 14.2A took effect on 9 April 2025. Transitional provisions preserved the pre-change Rules for certain applications using a Certificate of Sponsorship issued before that date, so the CoS and application timing should be checked in older cases.

Does the same rule apply to Skilled Worker self-sponsorship?

Yes. “Self-sponsorship” is not a separate visa route. A worker sponsored by a business they own or control remains subject to the ordinary Skilled Worker salary rules, including SW 14.2A where it applies.