Discover the importance of Annaizu Compliance Management in today's business landscape and how a Home Office compliance management platform can help your business streamline its compliance efforts, reduce risks, and stay ahead of regulations.
Tier 2 (General) was replaced by the Skilled Worker route in December 2020 — anyone still referring to 'Tier 2' is describing the same sponsor-licence-based work route under its current name, with updated salary and eligibility rules.
Why the old name still comes up
Long-serving HR teams, older contracts, and some third-party guidance still use 'Tier 2' out of habit. It isn't a separate or legacy category still running in parallel — it's the same route, renamed and updated.
What actually changed at the rename
The points-based structure was simplified, the Resident Labour Market Test was scrapped, and salary thresholds now use the salary floor and going rate model rather than the old Tier 2 bands.
How the eligibility bar itself moved
The change wasn't just cosmetic. Under Tier 2 (General), a role generally had to sit at graduate level to qualify for sponsorship. Skilled Worker lowered that bar considerably, opening sponsorship to a much wider range of occupations that sit below degree level — provided the role still appears on the current list of eligible occupations and meets the relevant salary requirement. This is the single biggest practical difference for employers who last looked at sponsorship under the old system: jobs that would have been turned away under Tier 2 can often be sponsored now, and conversely, employers who assume the old graduate-level filter still applies sometimes wrongly rule out roles that are actually eligible.
The mechanism for setting minimum pay also changed. Tier 2 used fixed salary bands tied to the job's occupation code. The current system layers a general salary floor with an occupation-specific going rate, and applies discounts for new entrants, shortage occupations, and some health and education roles — figures that are revised periodically, so always confirm the live thresholds on GOV.UK rather than working from a figure that may be out of date.
Routes that split off, not merged in
Not every Tier 2 sub-category folded into Skilled Worker. Tier 2 (Intra-Company Transfer) was retired and its function is now largely covered by the Global Business Mobility routes, which have their own sponsor licence category, cooling-off rules, and salary requirements distinct from Skilled Worker. Tier 2 (Minister of Religion) and Tier 2 (Sportsperson) also became their own standalone routes rather than being absorbed into Skilled Worker — a sponsor licensed only for Skilled Worker cannot use it to bring in a minister of religion or a sponsored sportsperson; that needs the matching licence category added first. Employers who sponsored across more than one Tier 2 sub-category should check their current licence still covers each role type they intend to use, rather than assuming a single Skilled Worker categorisation now covers everything it used to.
What didn't change
It's easy to focus on what's new and miss what's stayed constant. The route toward settlement is still built around continuous qualifying residence, and time spent on a Tier 2 (General) visa before the rename still counts toward that total in the same way time on a current Skilled Worker visa does — there's no reset at the point of rename. Cooling-off rules for someone who previously held a sponsored worker visa and left the route also follow the same underlying logic as before, even though the route names have changed around them. And the sponsor's core duties — keeping accurate records, running repeat right to work checks, and reporting relevant changes through the Sponsor Management System — haven't been affected by the rename at all; they're the same category of obligation whether the licence was granted under the Tier 2 name or the current one.
If you still hold a visa granted under the old name
A visa granted as 'Tier 2 (General)' before the rename remains valid on its original terms — but any extension or switch now happens under current Skilled Worker rules, not the rules that applied when it was first granted.
This has a practical consequence at extension time: a worker whose original role or salary was compliant under Tier 2 bands may need a salary increase, a different occupation code, or updated sponsorship paperwork to meet current going rates before an extension can be approved. Sponsors renewing a long-standing Tier 2 hire's visa should treat the extension as a fresh eligibility check against today's rules, not a rollover of the original grant. The same applies to anyone switching from an old Tier 2 (General) visa into a different immigration category — the receiving route's current requirements apply in full, regardless of when the original visa was issued.
Sponsors managing this transition alongside other reporting duties often find it easier with dedicated sponsorship compliance software that flags upcoming extension deadlines and current salary requirements automatically, rather than relying on a spreadsheet built around old Tier 2 bands.
FAQ
Does an old Tier 2 visa need to be reissued under the new name?
No — the visa itself remains valid as issued. Only extensions and new applications use the current Skilled Worker process.
Are Tier 2 Intra-Company Transfer visas the same as Skilled Worker?
No — that was a separate category, now largely replaced by the Global Business Mobility routes, which have their own distinct rules.
If a role wasn't eligible under Tier 2, could it be eligible now?
Possibly — since the skill-level threshold dropped, some occupations that were previously below the graduate-level bar can now qualify for sponsorship, provided they appear on the current eligible occupations list and meet the salary requirement. It's worth re-checking roles that were ruled out years ago rather than assuming the answer is still no.
Related: Skilled Worker visa extensions
GOV.UK references: Skilled Worker visa
.svg)