Engineer visa: going rates by engineering code
Every professional engineering code from 2121 to 2129 is open to new Skilled Worker applicants. Going rates run from £45,000 to £58,700; a civil engineer (2121) needs £50,400 full time.
Engineering job: salary check by code
Minimum salary for this job
£50,400
Your salary is £4,400 below the threshold.
| Points option A | £41,700 floor |
| Going rate (full time) | £50,400 |
| Going rate per hour | £25.85 |
| Your pay per hour | £23.59 |
| Visa fee, up to 3 years (outside the UK) | £819 |
| Health surcharge, 3 years | £3,105 |
Higher skilled occupation (Table 1): eligible.
Threshold in each situation
| Standard rate | £50,400 |
| New entrant (under 26, recent student or graduate, in training) | £35,200 |
| PhD in a STEM subject relevant to the job | £40,300 |
| PhD in another subject relevant to the job | £45,300 |
Calculated in your browser: nothing you type is sent anywhere. Not legal advice; not affiliated with the Home Office.
Published by Radif Partners · How we calculate · Home Office fees of 8 October 2026, rules checked 13 October 2026
Professional engineers are spread over 8 SOC 2020 codes, 2121 to 2129, and all of them sit in Table 1 of Appendix Skilled Occupations: they are higher skilled, open to recruitment from abroad, and eligible for PhD points. Each has its own going rate for a 37.5-hour week, and in every case it is at or above the general threshold of £41,700, so the going rate of the code is the figure to beat. It ranges from £45,000 for production and process engineers (2125) to £58,700 for electrical engineers (2123); civil engineers (2121), the checker's starting point, need £50,400. An engineer working towards chartered status or full registration counts as a new entrant and may be paid 70 % of the rate, £35,200 for a civil engineer, for up to 4 years in total. None of the 212x codes is on the Immigration Salary List. Engineering technicians are a different, medium skilled family, open only through the Temporary Shortage List until 31 December 2026.
The engineering codes and their rates
The code is set by the branch of engineering the job belongs to, not by the employer's sector: a structural engineer at a rail contractor is still 2121. All 8 codes are higher skilled, with the same rules; only the rates differ.
| Code | Occupation | Going rate | STEM PhD (80 %) | New entrant (70 %) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2121 | Civil engineers | £50,400 | £40,300 | £35,200 |
| 2122 | Mechanical engineers | £46,800 | £37,400 | £33,400 |
| 2123 | Electrical engineers | £58,700 | £47,000 | £41,100 |
| 2124 | Electronics engineers | £52,000 | £41,600 | £36,400 |
| 2125 | Production and process engineers | £45,000 | £36,000 | £33,400 |
| 2126 | Aerospace engineers | £52,400 | £41,900 | £36,700 |
| 2127 | Engineering project managers and project engineers | £51,900 | £41,500 | £36,300 |
| 2129 | Engineering professionals not elsewhere classified | £46,100 | £36,900 | £33,400 |
The example titles show where the lines fall. Code 2121 takes building and building services engineers, geotechnical engineers, mining engineers, structural engineers and transportation engineers. Electrical engineering (2123) includes railway signalling and power systems engineers, while broadcast and telecoms engineers are electronics (2124). Code 2125 holds chemical and control and instrumentation engineers; 2127 is engineering project managers and project engineers; and 2129 gathers the rest, from acoustic, energy and nuclear engineers to robotics and materials engineers. Quality control and planning engineers have their own Table 1 code, 2481, with a going rate of £41,300.
A civil engineer offered £46,000
Take a civil engineering job at £46,000 for 37.5 hours. On the standard rate it fails by £4,400, because 2121 needs £50,400. The same offer passes in two situations. As a new entrant, a status that includes anyone working towards chartered status or full registration with the professional body for the sponsored job, the threshold falls to £35,200. With a relevant STEM doctorate, checked through Ecctis if it was awarded abroad, it is £40,300. The employer has to be able to confirm that the doctorate is relevant to the job, or that the training towards registration is for the job it sponsors.
The new entrant rate is time-limited. Your total stay on it cannot exceed 4 years, after which the salary must reach the full going rate to extend. GOV.UK sets that limit for the new entrant and postdoctoral rates only.
Technicians are a separate case
Many engineering employers also recruit technicians, and those codes work differently. 3113 (engineering technicians) and 3114 (building and civil engineering technicians) are medium skilled Table 1a codes. New applicants can be sponsored in them only because they are on the Temporary Shortage List, with a certificate of sponsorship issued before 31 December 2026; on that list, dependants cannot come unless the worker was already in a medium skilled job before 22 July 2025. A job described as "engineer" but whose duties match a technician code has to be coded as a technician, as SW 6.2 lets the caseworker check.
Fees and the employer's side
From abroad the visa costs £819 for up to three years or £1,618 for longer, plus the health surcharge of £1,035 a year per person. The sponsor pays £525 per certificate and the immigration skills charge; unlike some research codes, the engineering codes are not exempt from that charge. Search the register of licensed sponsors to see whether a company holds a licence.