Chef visa: what code 5434 still allows
No new chef can be sponsored from abroad: code 5434 has been "medium skilled" since 22 July 2025 and is on neither shortage list. Chefs already sponsored before that date can extend and change employer.
Chef code 5434: test your situation
Minimum salary for this job
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This occupation code cannot be sponsored for a new Skilled Worker visa.
| Your pay per hour | £18.46 |
| Visa fee, up to 3 years (outside the UK) | £819 |
| Health surcharge, 3 years | £3,105 |
5434 is a "medium skilled" occupation (Table 1a). New applicants qualify only if it is on the Immigration Salary List or the Temporary Shortage List, which it is not.
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Published by Radif Partners · How we calculate · Home Office fees of 8 October 2026, rules checked 13 October 2026
Chefs are SOC 2020 code 5434, which the July 2025 reform moved to Table 1a of Appendix Skilled Occupations, the "medium skilled" list below degree level. A Table 1a code is open to new applicants only while it appears on the Immigration Salary List or the Temporary Shortage List, and 5434 is on neither. So no employer can sponsor a chef for a first Skilled Worker visa, whether from abroad or by a switch. The door stays open in one case: a chef granted Skilled Worker permission under the rules before 22 July 2025 who has held it continuously since can extend or move to another sponsor in the same code. The pay test then depends on when that first permission started: £41,700 for a full-time job if it was on or after 4 April 2024, and £31,300 if it was earlier. Head cooks and cooks (5435) are ineligible altogether. Other routes, such as the High Potential Individual or Youth Mobility visas, do not require a sponsor.
Verdict for code 5434
Run the checker with the default answer "No, first Skilled Worker visa" and it stops at the code: Table 1a, medium skilled, not on the Immigration Salary List, not on the Temporary Shortage List, no PhD points. Change the last answer to one of the two "Yes" options and it applies the salary test for existing chefs. SOC 2020 gives the code a single example title, "Chefs", so the rank of the post in the kitchen does not move it to another code. For a job outside the continuing rules there is no salary at which the visa becomes possible: pay is not the obstacle, the skill level of the code is.
Chefs already on a Skilled Worker visa
Rule SW 6.1(d) keeps Table 1a open to anyone granted Skilled Worker permission under the rules in place before 22 July 2025, with continuous permission since. That covers extensions with the same restaurant and moves to a new sponsor, as long as the job stays in a medium skilled code. Permission on a different route in between breaks the chain.
| First Skilled Worker permission | Floor | Going rate | Full-time threshold |
|---|---|---|---|
| On or after 4 April 2024, before 22 July 2025 | £41,700 | £33,400 | £41,700 |
| Before 4 April 2024, continuous since | £31,300 | £25,000 | £31,300 |
The first group faces the steeper figure. A chef first sponsored between 4 April 2024 and 22 July 2025 is tested on the current general threshold of £41,700 at each extension or change of employer, because the £33,400 going rate is lower and the higher of the two applies. A new entrant under 26, or recently out of study, may use £33,400, for a total stay of up to 4 years on that rate. The second group keeps the older figures until 4 April 2030.
A partner and children can stay with an existing chef only if the chef has been continuously employed in a medium skilled job on a Skilled Worker visa since before 22 July 2025, or in a few listed cases such as a child born in the country.
Other kitchen and restaurant codes
Re-coding the job will not help. The sponsor must use the code that matches the duties, and every neighbouring hospitality code is closed too:
| Code | Occupation | Table | New applicants |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5434 | Chefs | Table 1a | existing Skilled Workers only |
| 5435 | Cooks | Table 6 | not eligible at all |
| 5436 | Catering and bar managers | Table 1a | existing Skilled Workers only |
| 1222 | Restaurant and catering establishment managers and proprietors | Table 1a | existing Skilled Workers only |
| 1221 | Hotel and accommodation managers and proprietors | Table 1a | existing Skilled Workers only |
| 1223 | Publicans and managers of licensed premises | Table 1a | existing Skilled Workers only |
| 9261 | Bar and catering supervisors | Table 6 | not eligible at all |
| 9263 | Kitchen and catering assistants | Table 6 | not eligible at all |
Routes that do not need a sponsor
For a chef without a continuing Skilled Worker history, the realistic options are routes that ignore the occupation code. The High Potential Individual visa gives 2 years of open work to a graduate of a listed university, degree in any subject. The Youth Mobility Scheme gives up to two years to nationals of participating countries aged 18 to 30 (18 to 35 for some), for a fee of £340. A Commonwealth citizen with a grandparent born in the UK can use the UK Ancestry visa. A partner of a British citizen or settled person can apply for a partner visa, and a partner of a Skilled Worker in a higher skilled job can come as a dependant. All of these allow work in a kitchen at any salary.