Marketing manager in the UK: your Skilled Worker visa, step by step

What you must be paid

The Skilled Worker visa has a two-part salary test. You must clear the salary threshold that applies to you. You must also clear the going rate for your occupation code. The going rate is the minimum annual pay the Home Office sets for that specific job. The higher of the two figures governs.

For code 2432 the standard going rate is £50,100 (UK Home Office, effective July 22, 2025). The general threshold is £41,700. The going rate is higher, so £50,100 binds. An offer at £41,700 would clear the threshold but fall short of the going rate.

This occupation is not on the Immigration Salary List (ISL). The ISL is the list of occupations allowed to use the reduced £33,400 (UK Home Office, effective July 22, 2025) threshold. Code 2432 is not on it, so the reduced threshold does not apply through the ISL.

The lower going rate of £39,900 (UK Home Office, effective July 22, 2025) is used only where a reduced-threshold rule covers you, such as the new entrant rule. Most applicants use the standard rate.

Registration and licensing

There is no statutory registration or licence to work as a marketing or commercial manager in the UK. Professional bodies exist and employers may value membership. None is a legal condition of working. None is an immigration requirement.

Which job titles this code covers

Code 2432 covers commercial managers and marketing managers. Your sponsor chooses the occupation code on your Certificate of Sponsorship. The code must honestly reflect the work you will do. The word "manager" in the code title matters. A marketing executive, coordinator or assistant role is not a manager role. The sponsor would need a different code for that work.

The lower going rate is close to the threshold, and that is a trap

The lower going rate for this code is £39,900 (UK Home Office, effective July 22, 2025). The general threshold is £41,700. Those two numbers sit close together. Some readers see £39,900 on the gov.uk table and assume that is their target.

It is not, for most people. The lower going rate is only used where a reduced-threshold rule applies to you. The new entrant rule is the usual example. If that rule does not cover you, the standard going rate of £50,100 (UK Home Office, effective July 22, 2025) is your figure. If the rule does cover you, you would still have to clear the reduced general threshold that goes with it.

The practical test is simple. Ask your sponsor which salary it will put on the Certificate of Sponsorship. Then ask which rule it is relying on. If the answer is "the standard rate", the offer must reach £50,100 (UK Home Office, effective July 22, 2025).

If this route does not fit: what else is open

New entrant reduced threshold. If you are early in your career, or switching from a Student or Graduate visa, a reduced general threshold can apply. The lower going rate of £39,900 (UK Home Office, effective July 22, 2025) is the figure used for this code in that case.

In-country switching. If you are already in the UK on another visa, a licensed sponsor can often hire you into Skilled Worker without you leaving the country.

Global Talent visa. This route needs no sponsor and no job offer. It has endorsement routes for digital technology and for arts and culture. Some marketing professionals working in digital products or creative industries look at it.

Our assessment checks you against every open UK and Canadian route in about three minutes and shows your score, where you stand and the first thing that would raise it. No card needed for that. Seeing every route in full needs a plan. See where you stand →