United Kingdom
London · Northern Europe
A points-based system with clearly published routes and high, rising fees. It has no remote-worker visa, but its visitor rules are unusually explicit in permitting remote work for an overseas employer during a visit.
- G7
- Commonwealth
- Common Travel Area
- Capital
- London
- Currency
- GBP £
- Language
- English
- Population
- 69.0M
- Long-stay routes
- 4
- Route to permanent residence
- Yes
- Unemployment
- 4.6%
- Drives on the
- Left
Pound sterling
2 recognised
2024 estimate
Soonest, 0 years
2025, indicative
+44
Entry and short stays
What your passport allows before any long-stay permission is involved.
Reading your passport selection…
Can I live here?
Every long-stay route this country publishes, checked against what you tell us. The checking happens in your browser.
About you
Stored in this browser only. Never sent anywhere.
Before tax, in the currency you earn.
Reading your answers…
Nothing here is an approval, and nothing here is advice. Only the authority deciding your application can tell you the answer, and it will weigh things this tool does not model.
Long-stay routes
Stored as structured records, so the same data drives the checks above, the comparison view and the checklists.
Skilled Worker visa
EmploymentThe main employment route. It requires a licensed sponsor, a role at graduate level, and a salary at or above both a general threshold and the going rate for the occupation.
- Income needed
- £41,700 a year
- Leads to settlement
- After 5 years
Global Talent visa
EmploymentNo job offer, no sponsor and no salary threshold. Instead it requires endorsement by a recognised body as a leader or potential leader in academia, research, arts and culture, or digital technology.
- Income needed
- Not stated
- Leads to settlement
- After 3 years
Student visa
StudyFor people with a confirmed place at a licensed institution. The Graduate route allows a further two years to work afterwards, three for doctoral graduates.
- Income needed
- Not stated
- Leads to settlement
- No
Common Travel Area rights
Freedom of movementIrish citizens may live, work, study and access services in the UK without any immigration permission, and can apply for citizenship without first obtaining settlement.
- Income needed
- Not stated
- Leads to settlement
- After 0 years
Cost of living
An estimate you can shape. It is not survey data and it is not a quote.
| Category | Monthly range |
|---|---|
| Housing | £900 – £1,800 |
| Food | £280 – £480 |
| Utilities | £150 – £280 |
| Internet | £25 – £45 |
| Transport | £70 – £220 |
| Healthcare | £0 – £120 |
| Everything else | £220 – £480 |
| Total | £1,645 – £3,425 |
| Suggested monthly buffer | £4,110 |
Modelled from a baseline for one adult and scaled, not sampled from households. Figures are shown as ranges because that is the honest shape of the data.
Worth knowing. Modelled estimate. Council tax is a substantial additional housing cost not included in the rent figure, and childcare in England is among the most expensive in the OECD.
Housing
No restriction on foreign nationals buying property. Non-residents pay an additional stamp duty surcharge on top of the standard rates and any second-property surcharge.
What landlords usually ask for
- Right to Rent check — landlords must verify immigration status
- Credit and referencing check
- A UK guarantor, or six months rent in advance instead
- Proof of income, commonly 30 times the monthly rent annually
Rightmove (opens in a new tab)Zoopla (opens in a new tab)SpareRoom (shared housing) (opens in a new tab)
Worth knowing. Deposits are capped by law at five weeks rent for most tenancies in England.
Healthcare
The NHS provides care free at the point of use, funded from taxation. Waiting times for non-urgent treatment are long, and a private sector operates alongside it.
- If you live there
- Visa holders pay the immigration health surcharge up front for every year of their visa, which then gives NHS access on the same basis as a resident.
- If you are visiting
- Emergency treatment is provided; other NHS treatment is chargeable to visitors. Travel insurance is advisable.
Worth knowing. The immigration health surcharge is a mandatory up-front charge per year of visa and is often the largest single cost of a UK application.
Tax
- Tax residency threshold
- 183 days
- Taxes worldwide income
- Yes, for residents
- Income tax range
- 20% – 45%
- VAT or sales tax
- 20%
The statutory residence test weighs days present against connecting factors — accommodation, work, family — so 183 days is decisive but shorter periods can also create residency.
Remote workers. The visitor rules permit remote work for an overseas employer during a visit, provided that is not the purpose of the visit. There is no visa for basing yourself in the UK to work remotely.
Social insurance. National Insurance is paid by employees and employers, and by the self-employed on profits above a threshold.
Capital gains. Gains above an annual exempt amount are taxed at rates that depend on the asset and your income band.
Special regimes
Foreign income and gains regime
The remittance basis for non-domiciled residents was abolished from April 2025 and replaced with a residence-based regime offering relief for the first four years of UK residence.
Worth knowing. England, Wales and Northern Ireland rates; Scotland has its own bands. Orientation only.
Work and the labour market
Conditions in the labour market, which is a different claim from how many jobs are open right now. This product does not pretend to know the second from static data.
- Unemployment
- 4.6%
- Youth unemployment
- 14%
- Average earnings
- £3,000 / mo
- Minimum wage
- £2,050 / mo
Worth knowing. The minimum wage figure is a full-time equivalent of the National Living Wage hourly rate for workers aged 21 and over.
Sectors
- Health and social caregrowingLong-standing shortages, with a dedicated sponsored route, though care worker recruitment from overseas was restricted in 2025.
- TechnologystableConcentrated in London, Manchester, Cambridge and Edinburgh.
- Financial and professional servicesstableA large employer and the sector most likely to sponsor.
Cities
A country-wide average hides a lot. Where we have city data, use it instead.
London
Europe’s largest financial centre and by a wide margin the most expensive place to live in the country.
One adult, monthly: £2,800 – £4,200
Manchester
The largest economy outside London, with a substantial technology, media and higher education base at roughly half the housing cost.
One adult, monthly: £1,900 – £2,800
Sources
Every claim on this page traces to one of these. If something here matters to a decision you are making, read it there.
Authorities for United Kingdom
- Visas and immigration — routes, eligibility and fees (opens in a new tab)UK Government · National immigration authority
- Immigration Rules (opens in a new tab)Home Office · National immigration authority
- Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) (opens in a new tab)UK Government · National immigration authority