The Immigration Salary List and the Temporary Shortage List, explained

Key points

• The Immigration Salary List and the Temporary Shortage List let some medium-skilled jobs, below graduate level, be sponsored for a Skilled Worker visa.
• The Temporary Shortage List is in paragraph SW 6.1A of Appendix Skilled Worker. It lists 52 occupation codes, some limited to named job types.
• Most Immigration Salary List entries have a removal date of 31 December 2026. The care worker and senior care worker entries run to 22 July 2028.
• A job on the Immigration Salary List needs at least £33,400 and the full going rate. Being on the Temporary Shortage List makes a job eligible but does not lower the salary rules.
• Data analysts (code 3544) are on the Temporary Shortage List. Some data jobs use graduate-level codes such as 2433 or 2133 instead, which do not depend on either list.

What are the two lists?

Since the rules changed on 22 July 2025, gov.uk says a new Skilled Worker application needs a job in a “higher skilled” occupation, at RQF level 6 or above, unless the job is on one of two lists:

• The Immigration Salary List (ISL) is set out in its own appendix to the Immigration Rules. It lists jobs in shortage that have lower salary requirements, and gov.uk says the visa fee is lower too. Each entry shows which parts of the UK it covers, and some cover only certain job types.
• The Temporary Shortage List (TSL) is in Appendix Skilled Worker, paragraph SW 6.1A. The explanatory memorandum to the July 2025 rules change describes it as an interim list of jobs below graduate level that the government identified as important to its industrial strategy. On the version of the rules updated on 3 August 2026, it lists 52 occupation codes, some limited to named job types.

Who can use them?

gov.uk’s TSL page says that if a job is on the list and is “medium skilled”, you can apply when switching to the Skilled Worker route, when applying from outside the UK, or when extending as a Skilled Worker.

Two published conditions narrow that down:

• Dependants. The explanatory memorandum to the July 2025 change says workers sponsored on either list in jobs at RQF levels 3 to 5 cannot bring dependants, with limited exceptions. This does not apply to jobs at RQF level 6 or above.
• Care workers. Care worker and senior care worker jobs (codes 6135 and 6136) are on the ISL, but paragraph SW 6.1B limits them to applications made from inside the UK, with conditions. The NHS visa sponsorship guide covers that change.

What salary do jobs on the lists need?

The two lists work differently:

• Immigration Salary List. gov.uk says the salary must be at least £33,400 a year (instead of the £41,700 general threshold) and at least the standard going rate for the job. There is no discount on the going rate itself.
• Temporary Shortage List. Being on the list makes a job eligible, but it does not lower the salary rules. The usual minimum applies: £41,700 or the going rate for the job, whichever is higher. gov.uk’s TSL page says the new-entrant and PhD salary discounts can apply, so a new entrant can be paid 70% of the going rate, but not less than £33,400.

gov.uk’s TSL page lists the going rate for each job on the list, including data analysts (code 3544). The new-entrant guide explains who counts as a new entrant.

Which entries matter to graduates?

Graduate-level jobs (RQF level 6 or above) do not depend on either list, but a few entries come up often in graduate job searches:

Data analysts are a common case. Code 3544 is “medium skilled”, so a new applicant can only be sponsored in it while it is on the TSL. Not every data job uses that code. Paragraph SW 6.2 of the rules says the sponsor must choose an appropriate code, and some data roles are coded under graduate-level codes such as 2433 (actuaries, economists and statisticians) or 2133 (IT business analysts, architects and systems designers), which do not depend on the list. The data analyst role page shows the rates for those codes.

What do the rules say about 31 December 2026?

The published rules set conditions tied to that date, not an automatic replacement:

• Temporary Shortage List. Paragraph SW 6.1A says a job is only on the TSL where the application uses a Certificate of Sponsorship issued before 31 December 2026.
• Immigration Salary List. The appendix says a job is only included where the application uses a certificate issued before the removal date in the table. For most entries that date is 31 December 2026. For care workers and senior care workers it is 22 July 2028.

The explanatory memorandum to the July 2025 change said the government reserves the right to bring the end-2026 date forward if compliance issues arise on these lists, and that the Migration Advisory Committee would review the future TSL. On 23 July 2026 the Committee recommended, in its letter to the Home Secretary, that 28 occupations receive 18-month access to the TSL. A recommendation is not a rule. As at 6 October 2026, the Immigration Rules on gov.uk still show the interim list and the 31 December 2026 condition. This guide is checked against gov.uk again when the rules change.

How do you check if a job is on a list?

Start with the occupation code: gov.uk says to ask the employer for it if you have an offer, or to use the CASCOT coding tool. Then look the code up in the ISL appendix (which also shows the part of the UK) and on the TSL page, both linked below. Going rates by occupation code covers every eligible code. If the dates matter for you, gov.uk or a regulated immigration adviser is the place to check.

How Visavi uses these rules

Every job in Visavi shows its salary against the threshold. It is a signal, not a decision: the employer chooses the occupation code, and the Home Office decides the application.