Compare routes
Most immigration decisions are a choice between two routes rather than a question about one. Graduate now or Skilled Worker straight away; Skilled Worker or Global Talent; marry first or come as a fiancé(e); stop at ILR or go on to citizenship. The guides describe each route on its own; these pages put two of them side by side.
Each comparison opens with a table whose figures are drawn from the same records as the full guides — the same fee table, the same settlement data — so the two columns cannot drift apart. The text then covers when each route tends to make sense, the differences that decide the choice, whether you can move from one to the other, and the misconceptions we see most often. The pages set out the differences; which route fits depends on your own circumstances, and we do not make that judgement for you.
- Graduate visa vs Skilled Worker visa Unsponsored time after your degree, or a sponsored job that counts towards settlement: how the two routes differ and how people move from one to the other.
- Skilled Worker visa vs Global Talent visa A sponsored job with a salary threshold, or an endorsement that frees you from both: how the two main skilled routes differ in requirements, flexibility and settlement.
- Global Talent visa vs Innovator Founder visa Two endorsement routes without a sponsor: one built on your track record, the other on a business plan. How they differ in freedom, obligations and settlement speed.
- Spouse/Partner visa vs Fiancé(e) visa Marry before you apply, or come to the UK to marry: what changes in work rights, cost and the settlement clock on the fiancé(e) route compared with the partner route.
- Indefinite Leave to Remain vs British citizenship Permanent residence is not the end of the road. What ILR gives you, what naturalisation adds, what it costs, and why nationals of some countries stop at ILR.
- Skilled Worker visa vs UK Ancestry visa A UK-born grandparent and Commonwealth citizenship open a five-year unsponsored route. How it compares with Skilled Worker on freedom, cost and settlement.