UK T2 Minister of Religion Route: 70 Points, £1,270, Five Years to Settlement

Applicants under the UK's T2 Minister of Religion route must score all 70 mandatory points — 50 for a Certificate of Sponsorship, 10 for finances and 10 for English at level B2 — before the Home Office will grant a visa. The rules sit in Appendix T2 of the Immigration Rules and cover ministers of religion, missionaries and religious workers in mainly pastoral roles, as well as members of religious orders. The route leads to settlement after five years.

Who can apply and how?

Applicants must be aged 18 or over and apply online through gov.uk: form "Tier 2 (Minister of Religion) visa" from outside the UK, or "Tier 2 (Minister of Religion) leave to remain" from inside. Every application must have paid the fee and Immigration Health Charge, provided biometrics, a valid passport and a Certificate of Sponsorship issued no more than 3 months before the date of application.

Applicants who received a government or international scholarship covering fees and living costs for UK study in the last 12 months must supply written consent from that government or agency.

Inside the UK, switching is blocked from six routes: Visitor, Short-term Student, Parent of a Child Student, Seasonal Worker, Domestic Worker in a Private Household, and permission granted outside the Immigration Rules. Current or former Students must meet one of three conditions: course completion; a full-time degree-level course with a compliant provider and a sponsorship start date no earlier than completion; or PhD study where the Certificate of Sponsorship starts no earlier than 24 months into the course. Applications failing validity rules are rejected as invalid and not considered.

Anyone coming from a listed country must also provide a tuberculosis screening certificate under Appendix Tuberculosis.

What must the sponsor confirm?

The Certificate of Sponsorship (50 points) must carry a start date no more than three months after application, confirm the job, salary and qualifications, and cannot have been used in a previously granted or refused application. The sponsor must hold Home Office authorisation and an A-rating, unless the applicant is extending with the same sponsor.

Crucially, the certificate must confirm the role is not mainly non-pastoral — school teaching, media production, domestic work or administrative duties do not qualify, unless the role is senior or the applicant belongs to a religious order. Pay must match settled workers in the same role and comply with the national minimum wage. Applicants must genuinely intend to fill the sponsored role and take no other work beyond permitted supplementary employment.

How much money must applicants show?

Main applicants need £1,270, held for a 28-day period, unless their A-rated sponsor certifies maintenance and accommodation for the first month of employment. Those with 12 months' UK residence on a National Minimum Wage role meet the financial requirement automatically. Where the role is exempt from the minimum wage, the sponsor must certify maintenance for the full period of permission.

Dependants face separate sums: £285 for a partner, £315 for the first child and £200 for each further child, held collectively for 28 days or certified by the sponsor.

What conditions and grant lengths apply?

Grants run to the shorter of 3 years or 14 days after the sponsored employment period. Conditions bar access to public funds and limit work to the sponsored job, supplementary employment, voluntary work and contractual notice. Study is permitted subject to the ATAS condition. Dependants may work, including self-employment, but not as professional sportspersons.

How does settlement work?

Settlement requires 5 years' continuous residence across eligible routes — T2 Minister of Religion, Skilled Worker, International Sportsperson, Tier 1 (except Graduate Entrepreneur), Representative of an Overseas Business, Innovator Founder, Global Talent or Scale-up. The sponsor must confirm the applicant remains needed and continues to receive appropriate salary. Applicants apply on form SET(O) and must pass the Knowledge of Life in the UK test.

Partners need 5 years as a dependent partner. Their English test tightens: applications before 26 March 2027 require B1 in speaking and listening; from that date, B2 applies.

Refused applicants, main or dependant, may seek Administrative Review under Appendix AR. Every threshold here traces to the published text of Appendix T2 on gov.uk.