Skilled Worker Visa Maintenance Funds: Meeting the Requirement from South Africa

Key takeaways

• Skilled Worker applicants must show £1,270 held for 28 consecutive days, with day 28 falling within 31 days of the application (as of July 2026).
• Two exemptions remove the evidence burden entirely: 12 months' lawful residence in the UK before applying, or the sponsoring employer certifying maintenance of up to £1,270 on the Certificate of Sponsorship.
• Dependant amounts are £285 for a partner, £315 for the first child and £200 for each further child, held for the same 28-day period, on top of the applicant's £1,270.
• Skilled Worker maintenance funds must be held by the applicant or their partner. Parents' accounts do not qualify on this route.
• Since 22 July 2025, new Skilled Worker visa holders in roles below RQF Level 6 generally cannot bring dependants, so check the dependant rules before planning family funds.

What the maintenance requirement is

The Skilled Worker maintenance requirement is £1,270, held in the applicant's account for at least 28 consecutive days, with day 28 falling within 31 days of the visa application (as of July 2026). It exists to show you can support yourself before your first UK salary lands, and it is set out on the gov.uk Skilled Worker visa pages with the evidential rules in the Home Office's financial evidence guidance for sponsored work routes.

The amount is small next to the visa's other costs, but the evidential rules around it are identical in strictness to every other route governed by the 28-day rule: the balance cannot dip below £1,270 on any single day of the window, the statement's closing balance cannot be more than 31 days old at submission, and a rand balance is converted to pounds at the OANDA spot rate on the application date. Our 28-day rule guide covers those mechanics in full; this page covers what is specific to the Skilled Worker route.

The two exemptions that remove the evidence burden

Many Skilled Worker applicants never have to show maintenance funds at all. You are exempt from providing evidence if either of the following applies (as of July 2026):

• You have been in the UK with a valid visa for at least 12 months on the date of application. This mainly helps in-country switchers, not new arrivals from South Africa.
• Your sponsoring employer certifies maintenance on the Certificate of Sponsorship, committing to support you up to £1,270 during your first month. The certification must be explicitly confirmed in the CoS; a verbal assurance from HR is not the same thing.

For a South African applicant, the second exemption is the one worth asking about before doing anything else. If your employer will certify maintenance, the entire 28-day evidence exercise disappears for your own application, and your South African transfer planning can focus on relocation capital rather than visa evidence. Ask the question at offer stage, and get the answer reflected in the CoS before it is assigned.

Note the certification covers the main applicant's £1,270. Whether the sponsor also certifies for dependants is a separate question with its own line on the CoS, so if family are travelling, confirm exactly who the certification covers.

Dependant funds: the amounts and the 2025 restriction

Dependant maintenance amounts are £285 for a partner, £315 for the first child and £200 for each additional child, held for the same 28-day window and evidenced the same way (as of July 2026, per gov.uk). The amounts stack: a partner and two children means £285 + £315 + £200 = £800, in addition to the applicant's £1,270, for a family total of £2,070.

Two route-specific rules catch South African families out:

1. Whose account counts. On the Skilled Worker route, maintenance funds must be held by the applicant or their partner. Parents' or other relatives' accounts do not qualify, which differs from the Student route. If family money is helping fund the move, it needs to be gifted into the applicant's or partner's account, documented, and settled there before the 28-day window opens.
2. Who can bring dependants at all. Since 22 July 2025, new Skilled Worker entrants in roles below RQF Level 6 (roughly, below graduate level) generally cannot bring dependants, with transitional protection for those already on the route. If your occupation sits near that line, confirm your dependant eligibility on gov.uk before budgeting a family's maintenance funds, because the answer changes the entire financial plan.

Moving the funds from South Africa, in the right order

The maintenance amounts sit comfortably inside the R2 million Single Discretionary Allowance, which requires no SARS pre-approval and was doubled from R1 million in the 2026 Budget. At July 2026 exchange rates a full family requirement of £2,070 is a small fraction of one adult's annual SDA, so the South African compliance side of this transfer is straightforward. The sequencing is where applications go wrong:

1. Confirm the exemption position first. If the employer certifies maintenance, skip to planning relocation capital.
2. Transfer before the window, not during it. A deposit landing mid-window restarts the 28 days. Complete the transfer into the account that will be evidenced, then let the clock run. We execute the conversion at bank-beating rates, with the bank's flat R250 SWIFT fee as the only transfer cost.
3. Hold headroom if evidencing in rand. The OANDA conversion happens on a date you do not control. A balance sized exactly to £1,270 in rand can fail on conversion; a buffer removes the risk.
4. Keep the SA paper trail with the visa evidence. The source-of-funds documentation from the transfer leg answers any UKVI query about where a recent deposit came from.

Most applicants moving for work are also moving their lives, and the maintenance requirement is usually the smallest transfer in the sequence. The same SDA capacity covers relocation costs, and larger amounts bring the annual allowances framework into play. Our complete guide to proving and funding your UK visa covers the full landscape across visa routes.

The Skilled Worker conversation we have most often is not about the £1,270 at all. It is with applicants who evidenced the maintenance funds perfectly and then discovered their real transfer need, the relocation capital, had no plan behind it and a start date four weeks away. The maintenance requirement is the trailer, not the film. Plan the whole move's money in one sequence and the visa evidence falls out of it almost as a by-product.

Frequently asked questions

How much money do I need for a UK Skilled Worker visa? You must show £1,270 held for 28 consecutive days, with day 28 within 31 days of your application (as of July 2026). You are exempt if you have been in the UK on a valid visa for 12 months or your employer certifies maintenance on your Certificate of Sponsorship.

How much do I need for my partner and children? £285 for a partner, £315 for the first child and £200 for each additional child, held for the same 28-day period and in addition to your own £1,270. A partner and two children therefore add £800.

Can the money be in my parents' bank account? No. On the Skilled Worker route, maintenance funds must be held by the applicant or their partner. This differs from the Student route, where a parent's account can qualify.

Can my employer cover the maintenance requirement? Yes. If your sponsor certifies maintenance on the Certificate of Sponsorship, committing to support you up to £1,270 in your first month, you do not need to provide bank evidence for your own application. Check whether the certification also covers your dependants.

Can I keep the funds in my South African bank account? Yes, provided the account meets the Home Office's conditions and the funds are immediately accessible. The rand balance is converted to pounds at the OANDA spot rate on the application date, so hold a buffer above the threshold.

Can I still bring my family on a Skilled Worker visa? Since 22 July 2025, new entrants in roles below RQF Level 6 generally cannot bring dependants, with transitional protection for existing route holders. Check your occupation's position on gov.uk before planning family maintenance funds.