IT business analyst or architect in the UK: your Skilled Worker visa, step by step

How the salary minimum is reached

A Skilled Worker salary is tested twice. The first test is a threshold. Most applicants face £41,700 (UK Home Office, effective July 22, 2025). Applicants whose occupation is on the Immigration Salary List, or who fall under another reduced-threshold rule, face £33,400. The second test is the going rate that the Home Office attaches to the occupation code. An offer has to pass both tests. Whichever figure is larger is the one that decides.

Take a systems architect offered a permanent role in Birmingham. The going rate for code 2133 is £54,900 (UK Home Office, effective July 22, 2025). The threshold is £41,700. The going rate is the larger figure. The contract therefore has to show £54,900 or more. A contract at exactly £41,700 passes the threshold test and fails the going rate test.

Code 2133 is not on the ISL. The lower going rate of £42,400 (UK Home Office, effective July 22, 2025) sits just above the general threshold. It is relevant only where a reduced-threshold rule covers the applicant.

Data engineers and data architects belong here

The Home Office lists data engineers and data architects under code 2133, not under the data analyst code. The two codes carry different going rates. Duties decide which code is honest. Designing data systems, building pipelines and owning the architecture point to 2133. Analysing data that already exists points elsewhere. The sponsor selects the code and must be able to defend the choice. Figures on this page were checked against GOV.UK on 21 September 2026.

The five related titles

Code 2133 gathers computer analysts and scientists, data architects, data engineers, IT systems architects and IT business analysts. All five share the £54,900 (UK Home Office, effective July 22, 2025) going rate. The title printed on an offer letter does not settle the code. The work described in the Certificate of Sponsorship does.

Registration

No statutory register, licence or protected title applies to this occupation in the UK. Professional bodies exist and some employers value membership. That is a hiring preference rather than a legal or immigration condition. Salary is the only gate between an offer and an application.

Routes outside standard sponsorship

Global Talent visa. No sponsor and no job offer required. The digital technology endorsement route is the one most relevant to architects and data engineers. Academia and research and arts and culture routes also exist.

New entrant and PhD reduced thresholds. Early-career applicants, people switching from the Student or Graduate routes, and holders of a relevant PhD may qualify for a reduced general threshold. No reduced figure is quoted on this page.

In-country switching. A person already in the UK on another visa can often switch into Skilled Worker once a licensed sponsor hires them.

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