Renewing your visa

What renewing means

The Home Office calls renewing a visa "extending" it. It means applying for more time for the same job with the same sponsor. A sponsor is the employer approved by the Home Office to employ you. Changing job or employer is a different application, called "updating".

GOV.UK says an extension is usually possible when all of these are true:

• the job is the same as when the current visa was given
• the job has the same occupation code
• the worker still works for the employer that gave their current certificate of sponsorship (CoS)
• the worker still meets the salary rules

Health and Care Worker visas are extended using the Skilled Worker form.

When an extension can be made

The application has to be made before the current visa ends.

There is also a 3-month window linked to the CoS. A CoS has to be used within 3 months of being assigned. Under the Immigration Rules, the start date on the CoS cannot be more than 3 months after the date of application.

A new certificate of sponsorship

A CoS is an electronic record from the sponsor with details of the job and pay. Each extension needs a new one. A CoS already used in an application that was granted or refused cannot be used again.

The sponsor pays the CoS fee, which is £525 at the time of writing (October 2026). Some sponsors also pay the immigration skills charge if the new CoS gives the worker more time. GOV.UK says a sponsor's licence may be revoked if it asks the worker to pay these costs.

Rules at extension

An extension is checked against the rules in force on the date of application. Salary levels are updated from time to time. When they rose in July 2025, the Home Office said there were no transitional arrangements for the salary updates.

Some groups do have protection from other changes:

• First CoS before 4 April 2024 (Skilled Worker): if the person has held Skilled Worker visas ever since, a lower salary applies. It is £31,300 a year or the job's lower going rate, whichever is higher. This lasts for applications made before 4 April 2030. GOV.UK says pay still has to keep up with updated going rates at each application.
• 'Medium skilled' jobs: jobs below degree level can still be extended if the first CoS was issued before 22 July 2025 and the person has held Skilled Worker visas since then.
• Care workers and senior care workers: people who already have permission in these jobs can extend. Switching into these jobs from another visa is allowed until 22 July 2028.
• English: people who had their visa before 8 January 2026 need level B1, not the newer B2. They do not have to prove it again.
• Tier 2 (General) holders: some whose CoS is dated on or after 24 November 2016 can count allowances, such as London weighting, in their salary. This applies to applications made before 1 December 2026.

Fees and the health surcharge

At the time of writing (October 2026), fees for applications made inside the UK are:

• Health and Care Worker visa: £324 for up to 3 years, £628 for more than 3 years
• Skilled Worker visa: £943 for up to 3 years, £1,865 for more than 3 years
• Skilled Worker visa for a job on the immigration salary list: £628 for up to 3 years, £1,235 for more than 3 years

Skilled Worker applicants also pay the Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS), a charge for using the NHS. At the time of writing it is £1,035 a year for adults and £776 a year for under 18s. Health and Care Worker visa holders and their families do not pay it.

Staying in the UK while waiting

GOV.UK says a decision usually takes up to 3 weeks for a Health and Care Worker extension and up to 8 weeks for a Skilled Worker extension. Some take longer.

If the visa runs out before a decision, the law keeps the person's permission going. This is called "section 3C leave", after section 3C of the Immigration Act 1971. In plain words:

• It only applies if a valid application was made before the old visa ended. An application rejected as invalid does not count.
• It lasts until the application is decided or withdrawn. It also covers any administrative review or appeal that can be brought from inside the UK.
• The same conditions carry on. Someone allowed to work for their sponsor can keep doing that job.
• It ends if the person leaves the UK. GOV.UK also says an application is withdrawn if the person travels outside the UK, Ireland, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man before a decision.

During this time, an employer can confirm a worker's right to work using the Home Office Employer Checking Service.

What happens to the eVisa

An eVisa is the online record of a person's immigration status. It is viewed in a UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) account. GOV.UK says people get an eVisa when an application for a visa or other permission succeeds. Holders can then get a share code to prove their status, for example to an employer or landlord. A share code lasts 90 days.

While a decision is pending, the UKVI account cannot be used to change a name or passport.

Partners and children

A partner's or child's visa does not extend automatically. They can apply at the same time as the worker, or at any time before their own visa ends.

Every situation is different. A regulated immigration adviser can look at an individual case.