What is United Kingdom's Skilled Worker visa?

Anyone with a job offer from a UK employer holding a sponsor licence. The dominant work route since Tier 2 was replaced. It lasts up to 5 years per grant, extendable. Indefinite Leave to Remain after 5 years of continuous residence — but at the settlement stage you must meet the full £41,700 or going rate with no new-entrant or transitional discounts applied.

What is United Kingdom's Global Talent visa?

Leaders and potential leaders in academia and research, arts and culture, or digital technology. No employer, no job offer, no salary threshold. It lasts up to 5 years, extendable without limit. Settlement after 3 years for those endorsed as exceptional talent, or 5 years for exceptional promise — the fastest mainstream route to ILR.

What is United Kingdom's Innovator Founder visa?

Founders bringing a genuinely new, viable and scalable business idea to the UK. It lasts 3 years, extendable. Settlement after 3 years, subject to meeting the endorsing body's contact-point criteria.

What is United Kingdom's Family visa (spouse or partner)?

Partners and dependent children of British citizens and people settled in the UK. It lasts granted in 2.5-year blocks on a 5-year route to settlement. Settlement after 5 years on the family route, or 10 years where a longer route applies.

GlobeQuest

Moving from Panama to United Kingdom

What your passport gets you at the border — and what it takes to actually stay.

Panama

United KingdomShort stay

Travel authorisation

Panama passport holders need an electronic travel authorisation before flying to United Kingdom. It's an online form, usually approved quickly, and lighter than a full e-visa.

This is short-stay visitor policy only. It does not let you work, study or settle in United Kingdom — that needs a residence permit.

Passport Index · updated 17 February 2026United Kingdom's official immigration service

Long stay

How you actually move to United Kingdom

Work / sponsoredHigh confidenceVerified July 2026

Skilled Worker visa

Anyone with a job offer from a UK employer holding a sponsor licence. The dominant work route since Tier 2 was replaced.

What you need

Certificate of Sponsorship from a licensed UK sponsor
Salary of at least £41,700, or the published 'going rate' for the occupation code — whichever is higher. The floor rose from £38,700 on 22 July 2025 and is reset against Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings data, so it moves
Job at RQF level 6 (degree level) or above — the skill threshold was raised back to degree level on 22 July 2025, closing the route to a large band of occupations that qualified before
English at B1 (CEFR) across all four components
Immigration Health Surcharge and, for the employer, the Immigration Skills Charge

How long it lasts: Up to 5 years per grant, extendable.
Path to permanent residence: Indefinite Leave to Remain after 5 years of continuous residence — but at the settlement stage you must meet the full £41,700 or going rate with no new-entrant or transitional discounts applied.
Cost: Application fee, plus the Immigration Health Surcharge at £1,035 per adult per year of visa granted — for a family over five years this runs to five figures, payable up front. The Immigration Skills Charge falls on the employer.
Processing time: About 3 weeks applying from outside the UK, 8 weeks from inside; priority services are faster.

Worth knowing

The going rate, not the headline threshold, is what prices most people out — for many occupation codes it sits well above £41,700.
The government has proposed extending the settlement qualifying period from 5 years to 10 for most work routes, with reductions for higher earners and other contribution tests. The 'A Fairer Pathway to Settlement' consultation ran from 20 November 2025 to 12 February 2026 and drew over 200,000 responses; the government response had not been published as of mid-2026. It is still a proposal, not law — but anyone planning around the 5-year clock should watch it.
There is no UK digital nomad or remote-work visa. Working remotely for a foreign employer is not a basis for UK residence.
The Health and Care Worker route is no longer a way in from abroad for care work. Entry clearance for care workers and senior care workers (SOC 6135 and 6136) closed on 22 July 2025; only in-country switching remains, and that ends on 22 July 2028. Other health occupations are unaffected. Guides still describing care work as an accessible UK route are describing a closed door.
The visa is tied to the sponsoring employer and the specific role; changing either needs a new Certificate of Sponsorship.

Sources:GOV.UK — Skilled Worker visa GOV.UK — Visas and immigration

Work / sponsoredMedium confidenceVerified July 2026

Global Talent visa

Leaders and potential leaders in academia and research, arts and culture, or digital technology. No employer, no job offer, no salary threshold.

What you need

Endorsement from a Home Office-approved endorsing body in your field, or a qualifying prestigious prize
Evidence of recognised achievement (exceptional talent) or early-career promise (exceptional promise)
No sponsor and no minimum salary

How long it lasts: Up to 5 years, extendable without limit.
Path to permanent residence: Settlement after 3 years for those endorsed as exceptional talent, or 5 years for exceptional promise — the fastest mainstream route to ILR.
Cost: Two-stage fee (endorsement then visa), plus the Immigration Health Surcharge.
Processing time: Endorsement typically several weeks, then about 3 weeks for the visa itself.

Worth knowing

The endorsing bodies and their criteria have been reorganised more than once — confirm which body currently covers your field on GOV.UK before assembling evidence.
It carries no employer tie at all, which makes it far more durable than a Skilled Worker visa for anyone who qualifies.

Sources:GOV.UK — Global Talent visa GOV.UK — Visas and immigration

InvestmentMedium confidenceVerified July 2026

Innovator Founder visa

Founders bringing a genuinely new, viable and scalable business idea to the UK.

What you need

Endorsement from an approved endorsing body, which then monitors your progress at 12 and 24 months
A business plan judged innovative, viable and scalable
English at B2
No minimum investment sum since the route replaced the Innovator visa

How long it lasts: 3 years, extendable.
Path to permanent residence: Settlement after 3 years, subject to meeting the endorsing body's contact-point criteria.
Cost: Endorsement fee plus the visa fee and Immigration Health Surcharge.
Processing time: Endorsement is the long pole; the visa itself is around 3 weeks from outside the UK.

Worth knowing

Removing the investment minimum did not make it easier — endorsing bodies apply the innovation test strictly, and a conventional consultancy or shop will not pass.
You must remain engaged with the business; the route is not a passive investment vehicle.

Sources:GOV.UK — Innovator Founder visa

FamilyMedium confidenceVerified July 2026

Family visa (spouse or partner)

Partners and dependent children of British citizens and people settled in the UK.

What you need

A genuine and subsisting relationship with a British citizen or settled person
Minimum income requirement met by the sponsor — £29,000 following the 2024 increase, with cash-savings and benefit-based alternatives
English at A1 initially, rising at extension and settlement
Adequate accommodation

How long it lasts: Granted in 2.5-year blocks on a 5-year route to settlement.
Path to permanent residence: Settlement after 5 years on the family route, or 10 years where a longer route applies.
Cost: Application fee plus the Immigration Health Surcharge for each grant — the five-year total is substantial.
Processing time: Around 12 weeks from outside the UK; longer at peak.

Worth knowing

Further planned rises in the minimum income requirement were paused pending a Migration Advisory Committee review, so the figure has been a moving target — verify it for the month you apply.
How income can be evidenced is unusually prescriptive; most refusals on this route are documentary rather than substantive.

Sources:GOV.UK — Family visas

StudentMedium confidenceVerified July 2026

Student visa (and the Graduate route)

Students on a course with a licensed education provider, plus graduates staying on to look for work.

What you need

Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies from a licensed sponsor
Proof of funds for tuition and maintenance at the published levels
English at the level required by the course

How long it lasts: Course length plus a short wind-down; the Graduate route then adds 2 years on top (3 for PhDs), falling to 18 months for applications made on or after 1 January 2027.
Path to permanent residence: Neither route leads to settlement directly — study and Graduate-route time do not count toward ILR. You must switch into Skilled Worker or another qualifying route.
Cost: Application fee plus the Immigration Health Surcharge, on top of international tuition.
Processing time: Around 3 weeks from outside the UK.

Worth knowing

Most taught-masters students can no longer bring dependants, following the 2024 restriction.
The Graduate route cut is no longer a proposal: the statement of changes HC 1333 of 14 October 2025 reduces it from 2 years to 18 months for applications made on or after 1 January 2027. PhD graduates keep 3 years. If the 2-year period matters to your plan, the application date is what decides it.

Sources:GOV.UK — Student visa

On the ground