Software Engineer & IT Jobs in the UK with Visa Sponsorship (Oct 2026)

London pays software engineers more than any other city in Europe, and it is where the employers most used to sponsoring are concentrated: the US tech offices, the AI labs and the trading firms. Senior listings from the employers on this board post a median base salary of about €119,000 in the UK, and the top of the market is several times that. The Skilled Worker visa is employer-sponsored, has no labour-market test, and is decided in weeks. The catch is cost, both of living in London and of the visa itself.

Why the UK?

• The highest pay in Europe: on this board, senior software-engineering listings in the UK post a median base salary of about €119,000, ahead of Ireland and Germany. Anthropic posts a median of about €378,000, OpenAI about €280,000, and the trading firms (Jane Street, Hudson River Trading, G-Research) pay six figures from the first year. See our UK salary guide for the full breakdown.
• Employers that sponsor as a matter of routine: London hosts the European engineering hubs of Google, Meta, Amazon and Microsoft, the main European offices of Anthropic and OpenAI, and the largest fintech cluster on the continent. These companies have immigration teams and sponsor hundreds of engineers a year.
• English, obviously: the only language requirement is the visa's own B1 English test, which a degree taught in English usually covers.
• A visa decided in weeks: there is no labour-market test and no quota. Decisions take 3–8 weeks (about 3 weeks when you apply from outside the UK, up to 8 weeks from inside).

What Is the Skilled Worker Visa and How Does It Work?

The Skilled Worker visa replaced the Tier 2 (General) visa and is the route almost every sponsored software engineer in the UK uses. It is tied to one employer and one job: the employer must hold a sponsor licence from the Home Office and assigns you a Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) carrying the job title, occupation code, salary and start date. You apply with that certificate reference.

Since 22 July 2025 the job must be at degree level (RQF 6), which software-engineering roles are, and the salary must be at least £41,700 a year or the going rate for the occupation, whichever is higher; for programmers and software developers the going rate sits above the general threshold, and any €100k offer clears it comfortably. You need English at B1 level (a degree taught in English usually counts), and you pay the visa fee plus the Immigration Health Surcharge for the whole length of the visa up front, which is the part applicants most often underestimate.

The visa can be granted for up to five years and extended. It currently leads to settlement (indefinite leave to remain) after five years of continuous residence; the government has proposed lengthening that period, so check the rules in force when you apply. Partners and children can apply as dependants. For the official details, see the GOV.UK Skilled Worker visa page.

16 Companies That Sponsor Visas in the UK

Google / DeepMind

Google's London offices, including DeepMind at King's Cross, are among its largest engineering sites outside the US. They sponsor Skilled Worker visas and hire across ML research, infrastructure, Cloud and product engineering.

Anthropic

Anthropic's London office is its first outside the US. They sponsor Skilled Worker visas and hire for research engineering, infrastructure and product. The four senior listings with posted pay on this board have a median base salary of about €378,000, the highest of any UK employer here.

OpenAI

OpenAI's London office hires research and applied engineers and sponsors Skilled Worker visas. Senior listings here post a median base salary of about €280,000.

Meta

Meta's London engineering hub is its largest in Europe, with teams on WhatsApp, Instagram, infrastructure and AI. They sponsor Skilled Worker visas and run a dedicated immigration team.

Amazon / AWS

Amazon and AWS have large engineering teams in London, Cambridge and Edinburgh. They sponsor Skilled Worker visas and hire for AWS services, Alexa, retail systems and applied science.

Microsoft

Microsoft's UK engineering is spread across London, Cambridge (Microsoft Research) and Reading. They sponsor Skilled Worker visas and hire for Azure, AI and research engineering.

Jane Street

The trading firm's London office is its largest outside New York. Jane Street sponsors Skilled Worker visas and hires software engineers, often OCaml, with total compensation that starts well into six figures from the first year.

Hudson River Trading

HRT's London office builds trading systems and research infrastructure. They sponsor Skilled Worker visas and hire C++ and Python engineers at pay comparable to the other top trading firms.

G-Research

A London-based quantitative research firm that sponsors Skilled Worker visas and hires software engineers, platform engineers and researchers; one of the larger engineering employers in the City.

Monzo

The UK digital bank sponsors Skilled Worker visas and is one of the most prolific listers on this board: 17 senior listings with posted pay, median base salary about €133,000. Backend (Go), platform, data and security engineering.

Wise

Wise is the largest single lister in the UK on this board and sponsors Skilled Worker visas. Engineering is in London and Tallinn, across payments infrastructure, platform and product.

Revolut

Revolut's engineering is headquartered in London and it sponsors Skilled Worker visas. Backend (Java/Kotlin), data, ML and security roles, with a fast-moving interview process.

Deliveroo

Deliveroo's engineering is based in London and it sponsors Skilled Worker visas. Backend, platform, data and ML roles for logistics and consumer systems.

Cloudflare

Cloudflare's London office is its EMEA engineering hub. They sponsor Skilled Worker visas and hire for systems, network, security and product engineering, with many roles also open remote across the UK.

Stripe

Stripe has a London engineering office alongside its Dublin hub and sponsors Skilled Worker visas. Payments infrastructure, backend and platform roles.

Palantir

Palantir's London office is its largest outside the US. They sponsor Skilled Worker visas and hire forward-deployed and platform software engineers.

Open to other countries too? Browse visa sponsorship jobs across Europe, where every role's job ad confirms sponsorship.

How to Apply

1. Find the role: use nextleveljobs.eu/country/gb for €100k+ roles at the employers above, or search the careers pages directly. Before you invest in an application, look the company up on the register of licensed sponsors.
2. Apply and interview: remote interview loops are standard. Expect a recruiter screen, one or two coding interviews, a system-design round and a team conversation; the trading firms and AI labs add harder technical rounds.
3. Confirm sponsorship in the offer: the offer letter should state that the employer will sponsor a Skilled Worker visa. Agree the base salary explicitly — the visa is assessed on it, not on equity or bonus.
4. Certificate of Sponsorship: the employer assigns a CoS through its sponsor-management system and gives you the reference number.
5. Visa application: apply online with the CoS reference, passport, proof of English and the fees. A decision usually takes 3–8 weeks (about 3 weeks when you apply from outside the UK, up to 8 weeks from inside).
6. Relocate: set up your eVisa (UKVI account) after arrival and register with a GP; your employer records your start date for the Home Office.

Tips to Increase Your Chances

• Target the employers that already sponsor at volume: the big tech offices, the AI labs, the trading firms and the large fintechs. A company that has never sponsored will usually not start for one hire, however well the interviews go.
• Ask about the Immigration Skills Charge: employers pay a charge per sponsored worker. The large sponsors budget for it; a smaller company may not, so raise sponsorship in the first recruiter call.
• Negotiate base, not just total compensation: the CoS and the settlement rules both look at base salary. At the trading firms and AI labs, where bonus and equity dominate, make sure the base alone clears the going rate.
• Budget for the fees: the Immigration Health Surcharge is paid for the full visa length at application; some employers reimburse it, many do not. Ask.
• Use job boards that filter by sponsorship: boards like Next Level Jobs EU list employers known to hire internationally, so you are not guessing which companies will sponsor.

The UK combines the highest engineering pay in Europe with the largest pool of employers that sponsor without hesitation. If the cost of London does not put you off, it is the most direct route to a six-figure engineering job in English. Browse open roles at companies that hire internationally in the UK at nextleveljobs.eu/country/gb.