Skilled Worker redundancy shortly before settlement

Katerina Galkina · EN · 07/10/2026

Separate employment steps from immigration deadlines

The start of a redundancy consultation, your final employment date and a Home Office decision are different events. Ask the employer to confirm in writing whether employment continues, its expected end date and what has been reported through the sponsorship system. Keep your contract, notice, HR correspondence, CoS and immigration decision.

The cancellation guidance ↗ allows permission to be shortened when sponsored work ends. The commonly discussed 60 days is not an automatic guarantee starting on the redundancy date. The period and consequences depend on the decision, its service and your remaining permission. Check UKVI communications and ensure your contact details are current.

Settlement requires a genuine continuing job

Skilled Worker settlement ↗ requires more than reaching the five-year date. You must satisfy the salary requirements, and the sponsor must confirm that you are still needed in the job after ILR is granted.

If the role is genuinely being removed, a routine letter supplied merely to complete the form is insufficient. Establish whether the employer can truthfully give the required confirmation before applying. If redundancy is announced after an ILR application, promptly obtain advice about reporting the change to the Home Office. Do not assume circumstances cease to matter once the fee has been paid.

Assess a new sponsor or another route

Changing employer ↗ normally requires an eligible new role, a new CoS and updated permission. Do not start the new sponsored job before the new permission is confirmed. A change of employer does not itself mean every previous year is lost, but continuity of permission and the qualifying periods must be checked.

Discuss sponsorship early in recruitment. Compare realistic CoS and application timing, the occupation code, salary and applicable transitional provisions. A family route may provide an alternative basis to remain, but its effect on your settlement timetable needs a separate assessment. Check dependants' expiry dates and application requirements too.

Plan around the earliest applicable deadline

Record your existing permission expiry, the deadline in any Home Office notice, the earliest ILR date and the proposed new job. Work to the earliest applicable deadline instead of assuming another two months are available. Particular circumstances, including some care-worker sponsor licence revocations, have special provisions; a general example may not apply.

Use the official adviser finder ↗ to locate a professional experienced in sponsorship and settlement. Provide the documents and request a concrete plan covering the permissible application, deadline, evidence and fees. Assess redundancy pay and employment rights alongside this work. Agreeing compensation does not grant a new immigration status.