SPath helps job seekers across the UK, Africa, the US and Europe find jobs, build stronger applications, reach employers, prepare for interviews and manage their job search from one place. UK visa sponsorship is one specialist pathway inside SPath.

How do I find UK visa sponsorship jobs in 2026?

Use SPath's UK sponsorship pathway to search 139,720+ organisations indexed from the Home Office Register of Licensed Sponsors for free, filtered by industry, location and visa route. SPath then helps you check each role's salary and occupation-code fit, prepare a targeted application, reach the employer and track your progress. Always verify the current register and each vacancy on GOV.UK.

How many companies sponsor visas in the UK?

As of 2026, there are over 139,720 organisations on the UK Home Office Register of Licensed Sponsors. SPath indexes the full register and lets you search by industry, location, and visa route.

What visa routes can be sponsored by UK employers?

UK employers can sponsor workers under routes including the Skilled Worker visa, Health and Care Worker visa, Global Business Mobility, Scale-up visa, Creative Worker visa, and KTP (Knowledge Transfer Partnership). SPath explains each major route in depth, plus unsponsored options like the Graduate visa.

Is SPath free to use?

Yes. SPath Free is free for Founding Members and needs no card. It includes employer and sponsor search, CV and application help, outreach resources, interview preparation and an application tracker. SPath Max is an optional £99.99 one-time upgrade that does the research, drafting and tracking for you.

Can international students find sponsorship jobs on SPath?

Yes. SPath's UK sponsorship pathway lets you search 139,720+ licensed sponsors and uses transparent role-to-industry matching to show which licensed employers commonly align with your target role. The same account gives you CV, outreach, interview and tracking tools for the rest of your search.

What is the minimum salary for a Skilled Worker visa?

The general minimum salary threshold is £41,700 for most roles, or the going rate for the occupation, whichever is higher. 'New entrant' rates for recent graduates or those under 26 are lower, with a floor around £33,400. Health & Care Worker roles require £25,000, with the Agenda for Change Band 3 entry point rising to £25,760 from April 2026. Always verify current thresholds on GOV.UK before applying.

How often is the sponsor data updated?

SPath's sponsor data is indexed from the official UK Government Register of Licensed Sponsors, which the Home Office updates regularly. Licences are added and removed over time, so always confirm an employer's current status on GOV.UK before applying.

What does SPath Max include?

SPath Max is a paid workflow that saves you time: it researches employers, organises your pipeline, drafts applications, outreach and follow-ups, and tracks everything, while you approve every important action. It costs £99.99 once, with no subscription or success fee.

Global Visa Guide · 9 min read · Updated 2026-10-10

Work Visas in Asia and the Gulf: Singapore, Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, UAE and Malaysia

A practical 2026 guide to the main work visas in Asia and the Gulf: which need an employer, which let top graduates job-hunt freely, and the salary rules that matter.

Last checked: 10 October 2026. Asia and the Gulf are some of the most active hiring markets for international professionals, especially in technology, finance, engineering, healthcare and research. Most routes need a job offer first, so the job search comes before the visa: the better you target employers and present your experience, the more realistic each route becomes.

Several markets also offer job-seeker or talent routes for graduates of top-ranked universities, which let you arrive and search without an employer. Figures below come from official government sources and change often, so always check the latest rules before you apply.

Singapore

Employment Pass (employer applies): for professionals, managers and executives. The minimum qualifying salary is currently S$5,600 a month (S$6,200 in financial services), rising with age to S$10,700 (S$11,800) at 45 and over. Applications must also pass the COMPASS points test with at least 40 points, unless the salary is S$22,500 a month or more.
From 1 January 2027, new Employment Pass applications need at least S$6,000 a month (S$6,600 in financial services), rising to S$11,500 (S$12,700) at 45 and over.
Employers must usually advertise the job on MyCareersFuture before applying. First passes last up to 2 years and renewals up to 3.
S Pass (employer applies): for skilled associate professionals and technicians, from S$3,300 a month (S$3,800 in financial services), rising to S$3,600 (S$4,000) for new applications from 1 January 2027. Employers face quotas and a levy.
ONE Pass (no employer needed): a 5-year pass for top talent, for example people earning at least S$30,000 a month, or with outstanding achievements in research, arts or sport.

Japan

Engineer / Specialist in Humanities / International Services: the main work status for degree-level professionals in IT, engineering, business, marketing and similar roles. Periods of stay are 5 years, 3 years, 1 year or 3 months.
Highly Skilled Professional: a points system with a pass mark of 70 points and, for professional and business roles, a minimum salary of ¥3 million a year. Benefits include a 5-year stay and a fast track to permanent residence after 3 years at 70 points, or 1 year at 80 points.
J-Skip: a fast route into Highly Skilled Professional status for people earning at least ¥20 million a year with a master's degree or 10 years' experience (¥40 million for executives).
J-Find (no employer needed): recent graduates of universities ranked in the top 100 of at least two of the QS, THE and ARWU rankings, within 5 years of graduating, can stay up to 2 years to job-hunt or prepare a start-up, with at least ¥200,000 in savings.
Specified Skilled Worker: for designated labour-shortage fields, with skills and Japanese-language tests by field.

South Korea

E-7 (employer applies): the main professional work visa, under a contract with a Korean organisation that files the application with the Ministry of Justice.
D-10 job-seeker visa (no employer needed): for people looking for professional work, with eligibility such as a degree from a university in the Times Higher Education rankings or a year at a Fortune Global 500 company, and at least 60 points. It starts at up to 6 months and can be extended up to 2 years.
Top-Tier visa (F-2): launched in April 2025 for high-calibre talent in high-tech fields, such as master's or PhD graduates of top-100 universities with senior experience and very high salaries. It was widened to science and technology researchers from June 2026.

Hong Kong

General Employment Policy (employer needed): for professionals with a relevant job offer, usually with a degree and a market-level package. The first stay is normally 36 months, and processing takes about 4 weeks.
Top Talent Pass Scheme (no job offer needed): Category A for people earning at least HK$2.5 million a year; Category B for graduates of eligible top-ranked universities with 3 years' experience in the past 5; Category C for graduates of those universities within the past 5 years, subject to an annual quota.
IANG: graduates of full-time Hong Kong degree programmes can apply within 6 months of graduating without a job offer and stay 24 months.

United Arab Emirates

Standard work visa (employer applies): a 2-year renewable residence visa tied to your employer.
Green Visa (self-sponsored residence): 5 years, for skilled employees with a valid UAE employment contract at occupational level 1, 2 or 3, at least a bachelor's degree and a monthly salary of at least AED 15,000.
Golden Visa for skilled professionals: 10 years, for level 1 or 2 professionals with at least a bachelor's degree and a monthly salary of at least AED 30,000. Graduates of top-100 universities with a GPA of at least 3.5, within 2 years of graduating, may also qualify.

Malaysia

Employment Pass (employer applies): new salary bands apply to applications from 1 June 2026. Category I needs RM20,000 a month or more, Category II RM10,000 to RM19,999 and Category III RM5,000 to RM9,999.
Category I and II passes can last up to 10 years; Category III up to 5 years.

How to approach a job search in Asia

Check the salary floor for your target country and age before applying. A role below it usually cannot be sponsored.
Look for employers who already hire internationally, such as regional headquarters, multinationals and fast-growing tech firms.
If you graduated from a top-ranked university, compare the job-seeker routes in Japan, Korea and Hong Kong. Arriving without an employer can make networking far easier.
Language matters more in some markets. English works widely in Singapore, Hong Kong and the UAE, while Japanese or Korean skills can open many more roles in Japan and Korea.
Adapt your CV to local norms and explain your past employers briefly, since recruiters may not know them.

How SPath Global helps

CV and LinkedIn guides, outreach templates and interview preparation that work in any market.
PathTracker to manage applications, contacts and follow-ups across several countries.
SPath Max can research employers and draft tailored applications for your review, if you want to save time.

Check before you apply

Visa rules, salary thresholds and eligible university lists change regularly. Use the official sources below to confirm the current position, and take advice from a qualified immigration professional for your own case.