A church job in the UK on the Religious Worker visa

The Religious Worker visa is a UK visa for church work that is mainly not pastoral (not preaching, leading services, teaching the faith, counselling members or training workers), for up to two years, and your husband or wife and your children can apply to come with you. It is for the church worker who serves every week in her church in Nigeria. A UK church that holds a licence from the UK government for this visa, and that is tied to the church you serve in, can sponsor you for a real role in its work. The rules call that tie being affiliated to the same faith-based organisation. This guide calls it your church family: for most people, the denomination or mission your parish belongs to, for example RCCG, Christ Apostolic Church or Celestial Church of Christ. The rules do not say how the tie is shown; the UK church explains it on your certificate. Since 29 October 2026, the service you give in your church in Nigeria counts: six months of it, just before you apply, with a letter from your church, is one of the three options the rules now accept.

Every fee, date and rule in this guide comes from the official page that sets it. Updated on 3 November 2026. Where a line says people wrote online, it is what people reported, not a rule. Nobody can promise you this visa, including us. Only the government that issues the visa decides.

Your first move costs nothing and you can make it tonight, from your phone: the UK government's list of every organisation licensed to sponsor workers, churches among them. The UK church list, the church letter and the steps to apply, further down after who this is for, shows you how to search it.

Where it stands today

The rule in force since 29 October 2026. The Home Office (the UK government department that decides visas) changed this visa on 29 October 2026. Before that day, a UK church had to show it had looked for a worker in the UK first, by advertising the role or from its own records of available workers. Not any more. Since that day, one of three things must be true about the role, and one of them is your own service: at least six months serving your own church family here, just before you apply, with your church's letter (the next part explains all three). The Home Office's own words: "replacing it with an affiliation requirement" (the affiliation is the tie between your church here and the UK church). Anyone applying from today applies under the new rules; Part 5 covers an application or a certificate from before that day.

The list of licensed churches today. The government's list of licensed sponsors was updated on 3 November 2026. On that day's list, 1,433 entries are licensed for this visa, every one with the top rating, the A rating, and your church family may be among them (The UK church list has the counts).

There is no closing date. This visa has no season and no window. You apply when a UK church has a role for you and has given you its certificate of sponsorship (a reference number the UK church gives you for the job; there is no paper), up to 3 months before the role starts.

Who this is for, and who it is not for

This is for you if:

• you serve in your church in Nigeria, week after week, in work that supports the church's activities,
• most of your work is not preaching, leading services, teaching the faith, counselling members or training workers (the rules call those pastoral duties), and none of it is a minister's core duty of leading the congregation in its services and preaching,
• you are 18 or over on the day you apply,
• and you can keep serving that church, without a break, until the day you apply.

Does your kind of service count? No official page lists which church work counts as "religious duties". The Home Office's guidance gives a few church roles as examples: a choir director, a worship musician or a ceremonial assistant in regular services, and a translator of religious texts for a missionary organisation. If your service is technical or practical (media, sound, ushering, protocol), make sure your letter and your certificate describe it by what it does for the worship and the church's work, and have your leaders ask the UK church whether it counts for the role before you build on it.

Is your work the kind this visa takes? Your work must mostly be church work that is not preaching, leading the service, counselling members, teaching the faith or training workers. If most of what you do is one of those, this visa is not for that work. Two Home Office papers describe this visa, and they do not read the same. The Home Office's guidance for churches that sponsor (Workers and Temporary Workers: guidance for sponsors: sponsor a Minister of Religion or religious worker) has a table that says the work "can be either pastoral or non-pastoral". The Immigration Rules (the rules the Home Office decides every visa by), in their part for this visa (Appendix Temporary Work Religious Worker, paragraph RW 4.3), are stricter, and the Rules are what the decision is made under:

> "(a) the role must mainly involve performing non-pastoral religious duties within, or directed by, the sponsor's organisation to support the activities of the religious institution; and (b) the religious duties must not include work which falls under a role of a minister of religion (which means the applicant must not have core duties of leading a congregation in performing the rites and rituals of the faith and in preaching the essentials of the creed)."

So you live by the stricter one: the role must mainly be non-pastoral, and it can never carry a minister's core duties. To sort your own work, here is what the Home Office's guidance counts as pastoral: "leading worship regularly and on special occasions", "providing religious education for children and adults by preaching or teaching", "leading marriages, funerals and other special services", "offering counselling and welfare support to members of the organisation", and "recruiting, training and co-ordinating work of local volunteers and lay preachers". If most of what you do is on that list, this visa is not for that work. If most of what you do is not on it, this visa can fit your work. If you also teach in children's church or Sunday school, that is on the list too, so ask that your letter lead with the rest of your work. A job title does not decide it; the duties do, and the UK church must explain on your certificate how the role fits.

This is not for you if:

• You are a pastor, and your main work is preaching and leading the congregation. The Rules send that work to a different visa: "A minister of religion must apply on the T2 Minister of Religion route if their engagement in the UK involves leading a congregation in performing rites, rituals and preaching the essentials of the creed as its core duties." The Minister of Religion visa (T2) has its own certificate, an English requirement at level B2 in speaking, listening, reading and writing, and a fee of £819 (about ₦1.46 million) from outside the UK. This guide does not walk it.
• You want to come for a few weeks to preach or minister, unpaid. The Home Office's guidance says religious workers "can come to the UK for up to 6 months to preach, do pastoral work, or live in a religious order, without being sponsored, on the Visitor route", if they take no job and receive no pay beyond "reasonable expenses to cover the cost of their travel and subsistence". That is a visit, not this visa.
• You are under 18. "be 18 or over when you apply".
• You held a Religious Worker or Charity Worker visa in the last 12 months. "You cannot get this visa if you were given a Religious Worker or Charity Worker visa in the last year, unless you can prove you were outside the UK for the whole of that time."

The three options that make a role count, and the one you build from Nigeria

Since 29 October 2026, the Rules (paragraph RW 4.2) accept a role in one of three options. The UK church must meet one of them and explain on your certificate which one.

1. (a) A role over and above the church's normal staff (the Rules' word is "supernumerary"). "If the person filling the role was not there, it would not need to be filled by anyone else", and the church must give "a full explanation of why it is supernumerary".
2. (b) A role living inside a religious order, "for example an order of nuns or monks".
3. (c) Your six months with your own church family: "have performed religious duties outside the UK for the same faith-based organisation to which the sponsor is affiliated for at least 6 months immediately prior to the date of application and a letter from the overseas faith-based organisation detailing this must be provided."

(The Home Office's guidance names a fourth, for a worker already in the UK on this visa whose same church sponsors her again. It does not apply to a first application from Nigeria.)

Why option (c) is the one you can build from Nigeria. Option (a) is for a role the church does not need filled, and the Home Office's own example keeps the regular work of a service out of it: "a choir director, worship musician or ceremonial assistant filling an established role in regular services" is not over and above the staff "if you would need another person to perform those duties if the worker left". Option (b) is for life in a religious order. Option (c) is built from what you already do: serving your church at home. It needs a UK church of the same church family, six months of your service for that church family just before you apply, and your church's letter saying so. You can start on the first two tonight: finding the UK church and keeping up your service. The letter comes close to the day you apply.

The UK church list, the church letter and the steps to apply

This visa is for church work that is mainly not pastoral. If most of what you do is preaching, leading services, teaching the faith, counselling members or training workers, read who this is for first.

The UK church list

The Home Office publishes every organisation licensed to sponsor workers, and updates it often. The page is "Register of licensed sponsors: workers": gov.uk/government/publications/register-of-licensed-sponsors-workers, opens in a new tab. It is free and you need no account.

How to search it on your phone, tonight:

1. Open the page. Under it is one file, "Register of Worker and Temporary Worker licensed sponsors". It is a spreadsheet file (CSV). Tap it to download it.
2. Open the file with Google Sheets (free in the Play Store) or any spreadsheet app. It has five columns: "Organisation Name", "Town/City", "County", "Type & Rating" and "Route". It is a big file: give it a minute to open.
3. You do not need to filter. Tap search (the magnifying glass, or the three dots, then Find, or Find and replace) and type your church's short name, for example RCCG. Each result is one line: read its last column, "Route", and keep only the lines that say "Religious Worker". Then search again for the full name, for example Redeemed Christian Church of God. On the list of 3 November 2026, 1,433 entries carry the route "Religious Worker", and every one is "Temporary Worker (A rating)", the rating a church needs to sponsor a new worker from abroad.
4. On the list of 3 November 2026, 49 of the "Religious Worker" lines carry RCCG or Redeemed Christian Church of God (among them "Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) Central Office" in Stevenage, "RCCG CROYDON TABERNACLE" in Croydon and "THE REDEEMED CHRISTIAN CHURCH OF GOD SCOTLAND (RCCG SCOTLAND)" in Livingston), 17 carry Christ Apostolic and 8 carry Celestial Church. Your search will find more lines than that (a search for RCCG finds 117), because the same churches are licensed for other visas too: keep only the lines whose "Route" says "Religious Worker". A UK church may be listed under a name different from the one its members use, so try every name your church family goes by.
5. Write down each entry that carries your church family's name, with the town beside it.

What a name on the list tells you, and what it does not. It tells you that this UK church holds the licence for this visa today, with the A rating. It does not tell you whether that church belongs to your church family in the rule's sense: the list prints only the name, town, county, rating and route, never which church family a body belongs to. Your church leaders confirm that with the UK church. So the list is what you take to your pastor. Stage 1 below walks it in full.

The church letter

Option (c) asks for "a letter from the overseas faith-based organisation" showing that you "performed religious duties outside the UK for the same faith-based organisation to which the sponsor is affiliated for at least 6 months immediately prior to the date of application". The caseworkers' guidance says this letter "must be provided". GOV.UK's documents page for this visa does not list it, so put it in your application yourself.

No official page says what the letter must contain beyond "detailing this", or who must sign it. This is what to ask for, so it answers the rule's words line by line:

• written on your church's letterhead, signed by your pastor or the officer in charge of your parish, branch or assembly,
• your full name exactly as it is on your passport,
• the name and address of your church, and the name of the church family it belongs to,
• the religious duties you perform, in plain words, and how often,
• the date you started serving, and that you are still serving on the date of the letter,
• the name of the UK church that is sponsoring you, once your leaders know it, and that it belongs to the same church family,
• the name, position, phone number and email of the person who signs it, and the date.

Tonight, copy and send this to your pastor:

> "Good evening, sir/ma. I want to apply for the UK visa for church workers. The rule now says a UK church of our own church can sponsor me if I have served our church here for at least the last six months, with a letter from our church saying so. Please can I come and see you this week about which of our churches in the UK I can be connected to? When the time comes, I will need the letter on our letterhead."

Later, once the UK church has agreed a role with you and your dates are close (Stage 2), send this to your pastor or church secretary, with the UK church's name in it:

> "Good evening, sir/ma. [The UK church's name] has agreed a role with me for the UK visa for church workers, and I plan to apply on [date]. The rules ask for a letter from our church saying the duties I've done here and for how long, at least the last six months. Please could you sign one on our letterhead? I'll send you my full name as it is on my passport, my start date and the duties I do."

If the letter is not in English, you need a certified translation of it (Stage 5 says what the translator writes). Stage 2 walks the six months and the letter in full.

The steps to apply

1. Find the UK churches of your church family on the list, tonight. Free. (Stage 1)
2. Keep serving, without a break, and get your church letter. The six months are the six just before the day you apply. (Stage 2)
3. Your leaders and the UK church agree a real role that is mainly non-pastoral, paid at least the UK minimum wage unless you are not entitled to it. (Stage 3)
4. The UK church gives you your certificate of sponsorship, a reference number, valid for 3 months. (Stage 4)
5. Get your papers ready: your passport, your TB test certificate, your bank statements for the savings unless the church covers you, translations, and your family's papers. (Stage 5)
6. Apply online on GOV.UK from Nigeria and pay the fee and the health charge for the whole visa. (Stage 6)
7. Give your fingerprints and photo at a UK visa centre in Nigeria, with your passport, which you collect the same day. (Stage 7)
8. Wait for the decision, usually within 3 weeks. (Stage 8)
9. Set up your UKVI account, see your eVisa, then book your flight. You can enter the UK up to 14 days before your start date. (Stage 9)
10. Arrive, start with the church, and get your first UK pay. (Stage 10)
11. Live the two years by the visa's conditions. (Stage 11)

Part 1. Before you start

What this visa gives you, and what it does not

• Up to 24 months in the UK. GOV.UK: "You'll be given a visa to live and work in the UK for up to 24 months, or up to 28 days more than the time on your certificate of sponsorship. You may be sponsored for a shorter period." The Rules say the same in their own words: the job's length on the certificate "plus 14 days before and after", or 24 months, whichever is shorter.
• Work for your sponsoring church, in the job on your certificate.
• A second job, if you want one, of up to 20 hours a week outside the hours of your main job, in the same kind of work and at the same level. GOV.UK's page says "in the same sector at the same level"; the guidance the decision makers follow is stricter, "in the same profession and at the same professional level as the job for which the CoS was assigned", so hold to that.
• Study, as long as it does not affect your work (some science and technology courses need an extra UK clearance first, called ATAS, the Academic Technology Approval Scheme).
• Your husband or wife and your children can apply as your family members (dependants) on this visa, and they can work.
• What it does not give. "The Religious Worker route is not a route to settlement": it does not lead to the right to live in the UK with no time limit, and 24 months is the most you can be sponsored on it. You cannot claim public funds ("most state benefits or tax credits" or "homelessness or housing assistance from the state"). You cannot switch into it from inside the UK.

The bodies you will deal with

• Your church in Nigeria, whose service you give and whose letter you carry.
• Your church leaders, who confirm which UK church belongs to your church family and speak to it for you.
• The UK church, licensed by the Home Office for this visa: your sponsor. It decides whether it has a role for you, gives you the certificate, and must report to the Home Office about you while you work for it.
• The Home Office, the UK government department that decides visas, through UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI), the part of it that runs visa applications. You deal with it online, on GOV.UK.
• A TB clinic the UK approves in Nigeria, in Abuja, Benin City or Lagos, for your chest X-ray.
• VFS Global, the company that runs the UK visa centres in Nigeria, where you give your fingerprints and photo.
• In the UK: a GP surgery (the NHS family doctor's practice, the NHS being the UK's public health service), and the National Insurance number service.

What you may have heard online, and what the rules say

People asking about it online in 2025 and 2026 are mostly church workers asking for "the link", under videos that sell it as something else. These are the claims you will meet, and the rule beside each:

• "Pastors can apply." People asking about this visa online in 2025 and 2026 are pastors and ordained ministers more than anyone, and some videos tell them it is for them. The Rules say the work must not include a minister's core duties (RW 4.3 above).
• "Comment interested and I will send you the link." There is no link. A licensed UK church gives you a certificate of sponsorship for a role it has; you then apply on GOV.UK.
• "Free visa sponsorship" and "free housing". Videos of 2025 and 2026 carry these words in their titles. The visa fee, the health charge and the savings are yours to plan (Part 7).
• "It is only £319." That figure was in videos of 2025 and was still repeated online in 2026. The fee today is £340 for each person, and the health charge is on top, for every year of the visa.
• "After five years you can apply to stay for life." A video of October 2026 said this. It is false: "The Religious Worker route is not a route to settlement."
• "The interview is compulsory, and if you flop it you lose the visa." A video of 2025 said this. The decision makers' guidance says they "may" ask you to an interview, not that they always do; Stage 8 says what they look at.

Check that you can start

• Your age. 18 or over on the day you apply.
• Your work. Mainly non-pastoral, in support of the church's activities; not the core duties of a minister (above).
• Your church family. Your church in Nigeria belongs to a church family that has a church in the UK on the list for this visa. If your search of the list in Stage 1 finds none, read "If your church family has no UK church on the list" in Stage 1.
• Your service. You serve now, and you can keep serving without a break until you apply. The six months count back from the day you apply.
• The last 12 months. No Religious Worker or Charity Worker visa in that time, unless you were outside the UK for all of it.
• Your passport. Valid, with your name exactly as the church will type it on your certificate: the decision makers check that the certificate shows "the same details as in the applicant's passport".
• Your money. £1,270 (about ₦2.27 million) held for 28 days, unless the church covers your first month on the certificate; plus the fee and the health charge (Part 7).

Part 2. The whole journey on one page

Stage 1. Find the UK churches of your church family on the list. The government's list of licensed sponsors, searched for your church's names, keeping only the lines whose "Route" says "Religious Worker". Tonight, on your phone. Free.

Stage 2. Keep serving, and get your church letter. At least six months of service for your church family, immediately before the day you apply, and a letter from your church saying so. Free.

Stage 3. Your leaders and the UK church agree a real role. A role that is mainly non-pastoral, at least the minimum wage unless you are not entitled to it, within the UK's working hours rules. No official time.

Stage 4. The UK church gives you your certificate of sponsorship. A reference number, valid for 3 months; you apply no more than 3 months before the start date on it.

Stage 5. Get your papers ready. Your passport; your TB test certificate (USD 94, about ₦125,000, at IOM, or ₦120,000 at the other approved clinics); your bank statements showing £1,270 (about ₦2.27 million) for 28 days, unless the church covers you; translations; your family's papers.

Stage 6. Apply online and pay. The form on GOV.UK from Nigeria. The fee is £340 (about ₦607,000) and the health charge £1,035 (about ₦1.85 million) for each year of the visa, paid together: £2,410, about ₦4.30 million, for a two-year visa for you alone.

Stage 7. Your fingerprints and photo at the visa centre. Abuja, Lagos (Ikeja) or Lagos (Victoria Island), or a premium centre in Benin, Enugu, Ibadan, Kano or Port Harcourt (its appointment price: we cannot tell yet). Most centres offer free appointments within 5 working days; your passport comes back the same day.

Stage 8. The wait and the decision. Usually within 3 weeks. If refused: no appeal, an administrative review for £80 (about ₦143,000) within 28 days.

Stage 9. Your eVisa and your flight. A free UKVI account shows your eVisa; no sticker in your passport. You can enter the UK up to 14 days before your start date.

Stage 10. Arrival, your first Sunday and your first pay. Start the role (the church must report you if you have not started within 28 days), your National Insurance number (up to 4 weeks), your GP, and your first pay into your own bank account.

Stage 11. The two years. One sponsor, the job on your certificate, a second job of up to 20 hours a week in the same kind of work, no public funds; up to 24 months in all, then home, with a 12-month wait before this visa again.

The money. For you alone on a two-year visa: £2,410 (about ₦4.30 million) for the fee and the health charge, paid when you apply; £1,270 (about ₦2.27 million) in savings unless the church covers your first month; the TB test; your flight. For you alone, before your flight: about ₦6.69 million (₦4.30 million paid when you apply, ₦2.27 million held in your account for 28 days unless the church covers your first month, about ₦125,000 for the TB test at IOM), and the savings stay yours. For a one-year role, about ₦5.77 million before your flight. Part 7 has every figure, and your family's.

The time. No official page states the whole time. On the pages' own figures: the six months of service, then the church's certificate (no official time), the TB test (an appointment within a few days, 10 at busy times; the certificate the same day if clear), the 28 days of savings, an appointment within 5 working days at most centres, and a decision usually within 3 weeks. Finding the UK church and agreeing the role has no official time and is the longest part.

Part 3. Stage by stage

Stage 1. Find the UK churches of your church family on the list

Back to the short stages

Why. Only a UK church that the Home Office has licensed for this visa can sponsor you. The Rules: "The sponsor must be authorised by the Home Office to sponsor the job in question under the Religious Worker route" and "must be listed as A-rated on the Home Office's register of licensed sponsors". And under option (c), the church must be one "to which" your church in Nigeria is "affiliated": the same church family. So you need a UK church that is both on the list and in your church family. The list is the one official place that shows the first half, and it is public.

Do.

1. Open "Register of licensed sponsors: workers" on GOV.UK and download its one file, "Register of Worker and Temporary Worker licensed sponsors" (a CSV spreadsheet).
2. Open it in a spreadsheet app on your phone or a computer, and search it as The UK church list shows: find each line with your church's name, and keep the ones whose "Route" says "Religious Worker".
3. Search for every name your church family goes by: its short name, its full name, its initials. For RCCG, search both "RCCG" and "Redeemed Christian Church of God"; for Christ Apostolic Church, search "Christ Apostolic"; for Celestial Church of Christ, "Celestial". Look also at the town and county of each entry.
4. Make a short list: the name exactly as the file prints it, the town, and the county. Take a screenshot of each line. The file's name carries its date (it ends 2026-11-03 on the list of 3 November 2026): screenshot that too, so you can show which day's list you read.
5. Take the list to your pastor and ask two things: can our church introduce me to one of these UK churches, and who in our church (the parish, the zone, the province, the mission office) writes to them? If your pastor does not know anybody there, ask who in the church above your parish handles its links with its churches abroad, and take your list to that office yourself.

Where. Register of licensed sponsors: workers, opens in a new tab on GOV.UK.

What you need. A phone with a spreadsheet app, and your church family's names.

What it costs. Nothing.

How long. One evening. The list changes often (it was updated on 3 November 2026), so search it again before your leaders write to a church, and again before you apply.

You are done when you hold a short list of UK churches of your church family that the file shows with "Religious Worker" and the A rating, and your leaders have it.

What runs at the same time. Stage 2: your six months are already counting if you are serving now. Keep serving.

What opens next. Stage 3: your leaders speak to the UK church.

What a name on the list does not tell you. The list prints a name, a town, a county, a rating and a route. It never says which church family a body belongs to, so a name with "RCCG" in it is not proof that it belongs to the same faith-based organisation as your parish in the rule's sense. Your leaders confirm it with the UK church, and the UK church explains it on your certificate.

What people online are doing instead, and why it costs them months. Videos of 2025 and 2026 send Nigerian church workers to UK churches and Christian groups that have no tie to them, by an email address or a web form. Some of the churches those videos named hold no Religious Worker licence today, and some are on the list only for other visas. A church on the list for "Charity Worker" or "Creative Worker" but not "Religious Worker" cannot sponsor you for this visa. And a UK church outside your own church family cannot use your six months, because the service must be "for the same faith-based organisation to which the sponsor is affiliated". One person wrote online in 2025 that they applied to one of those groups in February and, months later, still had no reply.

If your church family has no UK church on the list for "Religious Worker".

• Search again under every other name, and look for the same church family on lines whose "Route" says "Tier 2 Ministers of Religion" or another route. A UK church licensed for another route can ask the Home Office to add this one: "can apply to add one or both routes to your existing licence. You may have to pay a fee for this." A church that holds a licence for ministers pays no fee to add the licence this visa needs (GOV.UK, UK visa sponsorship for employers: "Add a Temporary Worker licence to an existing Worker licence", "No fee").
• A UK church of your church family with no licence at all can apply for one, online. It must be "a bona fide religious organisation which: has charitable status", among other conditions. The licence for this visa costs the church £611 (about ₦1.09 million); "Most applications are dealt with in less than 8 weeks"; and "You'll get an A-rated licence if your application is approved." That fee is the church's, never yours: "Your licence may be revoked if you ask the sponsored worker to pay the fee or any costs linked to your application." If your leaders and the UK church want to talk this through, the Home Office's helpline for sponsors is 0300 123 4699, Monday to Friday, 9am to 4pm, or businesshelpdesk@homeoffice.gov.uk.
• Until then, there is no church for this option. A UK church outside your church family could only use option (a), a role over and above its normal staff, which it must explain in full. That is the church's decision, not one you can make happen.

Stage 2. Keep serving, and get your church letter

Back to the short stages

Why. Option (c) of the Rules is your service: "have performed religious duties outside the UK for the same faith-based organisation to which the sponsor is affiliated for at least 6 months immediately prior to the date of application and a letter from the overseas faith-based organisation detailing this must be provided." Two things in it decide your dates. "Immediately prior to the date of application" means the six months are the six right before the day you submit your application, not any six months in your life. And "for the same faith-based organisation" means your service must be for the church family the UK church belongs to.

Do.

1. Keep serving, without a break. A gap now can cost you months later, because the six months count back from the day you apply.
2. Write down, for yourself, the date you started your present duties and what they are, week by week. This is what the letter will say.
3. Ask your pastor or church secretary for the letter, with the second message in "The church letter" above, once the UK church has agreed a role. Send them your full name as it is on your passport, your start date and your duties.
4. Ask for the letter close to the time you apply, so it can say you are still serving. If you get it early, ask for a fresh one dated within the last weeks before you apply.
5. If any part of it is not in English, get a certified translation (Stage 5).

What the letter should hold. The list in "The church letter" above: letterhead; your name as on your passport; your church's name, address and church family; your duties in plain words; the date you started and that you still serve; the UK church's name and that it is of the same church family; the signer's name, position and contacts; the date. No official page lists the contents; this list answers the rule's own words, so a decision maker reading it finds every part of option (c) in one page.

Where. Your own church.

What it costs. Nothing from any official body.

How long. At least six months of service before the day you apply. The letter itself has no official time.

You are done when you hold a signed letter on your church's letterhead that shows at least six months of your duties, up to a date close to the day you will apply.

What runs at the same time. Stage 3 (your leaders and the UK church) and the first parts of Stage 5 (your passport, your savings).

What opens next. Stage 3, then the certificate in Stage 4.

What people online expect. Videos of 2025 and 2026 told viewers to get a letter or reference from their pastor; none of them knew the new rule, which began on 29 October 2026. The letter now has a job of its own: it is the proof of your six months.

What goes wrong, and what you do.

• You stop serving, travel, or move church for some weeks. The rule says "immediately prior" and does not say how a short break is treated. The safe course: count six months back from the day you plan to apply; if a gap falls inside them, move your application date until the six months before it are unbroken, and ask the church to move the start date on your certificate with it (Stage 4).
• Your church in Nigeria is not of the same church family as the UK church. Option (c) is closed with that church. Go back to your list (Stage 1).
• The letter is vague ("she is a member in good standing"). Ask for it again with the duties, the dates and the church family named.

Stage 3. Your leaders and the UK church agree a real role

Back to the short stages

Why. The UK church decides whether it has a role for you, and the Home Office checks that the role is real and fits the rules. Nobody else can give you a role, and nobody can promise one.

What the role must be.

• Mainly non-pastoral church work that supports the church's activities, and never the core duties of a minister (RW 4.3, at the top of this guide).
• Paid at least the UK minimum wage, unless you are not entitled to it. GOV.UK: "Your employer must make sure your job pays at least the minimum wage, unless you're not entitled to the minimum wage. They must also follow the UK rules for how many hours a week you work. If your employer does not meet these requirements, your application will be refused." And your pay and conditions must be "no less favourable than those given to settled workers doing the same role" (the same pay and terms as a worker already free to live and work in the UK in that role). The guidance adds: "You cannot refuse to pay National Minimum Wage just because (for example) the worker can support themselves out of their own funds or from donations."
• Within the UK's working hours rules. No more than 48 hours a week on average, "normally averaged over 17 weeks", unless you choose to opt out; the church "cannot force" you to.
• Explained on the certificate. The church "must give an explanation (either in the job description field or by adding a sponsor note) of how the job meets the above requirements. ... If you fail to give this information, the worker's application may be delayed or refused." For you, that is option (c): your six months for the same church family.

The two cases where the minimum wage does not apply. UK law lists people who are not entitled to it, and two lines touch church work:

• Volunteers for a charity: someone who receives no money except expenses, and no benefits except subsistence or reasonable accommodation.
• Residential members of a religious community: "A residential member of a community to which this section applies does not qualify for the national minimum wage in respect of employment by the community", where the community is a charity, practises a religious belief, and its members live together for that purpose.

If your role is one of these, the church must say so on the certificate and must confirm that it "will maintain and accommodate the worker (and their dependants, if relevant) for the duration of their permission in the UK", and only an A-rated church can do that. You then show no savings. In every other case, the minimum wage applies (Stage 10 has today's rates). If the church gives you a room, part of its value can count towards the minimum wage, but only up to £11.10 a day (about ₦20,000) or £77.70 a week (about ₦139,000) from April 2026; "No other kind of company benefit (such as food, a car, childcare vouchers) counts towards the minimum wage."

Do.

1. Let your leaders speak to the UK church first. Give them your list from Stage 1 and a one-page summary of your duties at home. If nobody above your parish can introduce you, look for the UK church's own contact on its website: your pastor can write to it on your church's letterhead, with your one-page summary, asking whether it has a role for a worker from its own church family. Copy this for your pastor to send:

> "Dear [name of the UK church's pastor or administrator], I am the pastor of [your parish], [your church family], in [town], Nigeria. [Your full name] has served in our church as [your duties] since [month and year]. We understand your church holds a licence for the Religious Worker visa. Does your church have a role in its work for a worker from our church family? I attach a one-page summary of [her or his] duties. [Name, position, phone number and email.]"

2. When the UK church describes the role, read it against RW 4.3: are most of its duties outside the pastoral list at the top of this guide?
3. Ask the church, in writing: the job title and main duties; the hours each week; the pay, and whether it is at least the minimum wage or the church says you are not entitled to it; whether it gives accommodation, and where you will live when you land; who meets you; the start and end dates; and that it will explain option (c) on the certificate.
4. Keep what it writes. The decision maker can ask you about "knowledge of the role", "knowledge of the sponsor in the UK" and your "explanation of how they were recruited" (Stage 8).

What the church pays, and what it does not. The church pays for its own licence; the Home Office "will normally revoke your licence if we find you have recouped, or attempted to recoup, any part of the sponsor licence fee". When it assigns your certificate, the church pays the Home Office £55 (about ₦98,000). No page says the church pays your visa fee or your health charge: plan to pay them yourself (Part 7). Your pay goes "into their own bank account in the UK or overseas. You must not pay them in cash".

How long. No official time. This is the longest stage for most people.

You are done when the UK church has agreed a role with you in writing, with its duties, hours, pay and dates, and is ready to assign your certificate.

What runs at the same time. Stage 2 (your service and letter) and Stage 5 (your TB test once your dates are near, your savings).

What opens next. Stage 4, the certificate.

What goes wrong, and what you do.

• The role offered is mostly preaching, leading services, counselling or training lay preachers. That is pastoral work, and the decision makers can refuse it on this visa. Ask whether the role can be mainly non-pastoral; if it cannot, this visa is not the one for it.
• The pay is below the minimum wage, and the church does not say you are not entitled to it. The Home Office "will refuse any application ... where we have reasonable grounds to believe the role does not comply". Do not apply on it.
• Anybody asks you for money for the role or the certificate. A genuine certificate comes from the church that has the role, never from a seller (Part 4).
• Pay offered in cash. The rules say a sponsored worker is paid into her own bank account, never in cash. Ask for a bank payment in writing.

Stage 4. The UK church gives you your certificate of sponsorship

Back to the short stages

Why. You cannot apply without it. GOV.UK: "You must have a certificate of sponsorship from a licensed sponsor before you can apply to come to the UK to work."

What it is. "A certificate of sponsorship is a unique reference number that holds information about the job you'll do and your personal details. It's not an actual certificate or paper document. Your sponsor will give you the certificate of sponsorship. Your sponsor must also give you the information they used on your certificate about your job, for example your working hours."

What it must hold. The church types into it your name, date of birth, nationality, passport details and contacts; "the start and end date of their employment"; where you will work; "the job title"; "the main duties of the role"; your gross pay before tax, with any fixed allowances and bonuses; "the worker's religion"; whether it used an agent to find you; and either that it certifies your first month's maintenance or that it will maintain and accommodate you. The Rules add that it must confirm the role meets RW 4.3, that your pay and conditions are "at least equal to those given to settled workers in the same role", that the pay "complies with or is exempt from the National Minimum Wage", and that RW 4.2 is met.

The dates that bind you.

• "Your certificate of sponsorship is valid for 3 months from the date it is assigned to you." Apply within those 3 months.
• "You can apply for a visa up to 3 months before the day you are due to start work in the UK." Apply more than 3 months before the start date and "we will refuse their application".
• A certificate "used in a previous application which was either granted or refused" cannot be used again.

Do.

1. When the church tells you it has assigned the certificate, ask for the reference number and the details it typed, in writing.
2. Check every detail against your passport, letter by letter: name, date of birth, passport number. The decision makers check that it shows "the same details as in the applicant's passport".
3. Check that the start date is no more than 3 months after the day you plan to apply, and that the job explanation names option (c).
4. If the church will cover your first month, ask it to confirm in writing that it has marked "sponsor certifies maintenance" on your certificate, for at least £1,270.
5. Count your dates back from the day you will apply: your six months of service, your bank statements' 28 days (Stage 5), your TB certificate's 6 months.

What it costs you. Nothing from the Home Office. The church pays the Home Office £55 when it assigns the certificate.

How long. Valid for 3 months from the day it is assigned.

You are done when you hold the reference number, the details match your passport, and the start date is within 3 months of your planned application date.

What runs at the same time. Stage 5: book your TB test now if you have not.

What opens next. Stage 6, the application.

What goes wrong, and what you do.

• A spelling mistake or a wrong passport number. Ask the church to correct it before you apply.
• The start date is more than 3 months away. Wait until you are within 3 months of it before you submit, or ask the church to move it; the certificate itself must still be under 3 months old when you apply.
• The certificate runs out before you apply. You need a new one from the church.

Stage 5. Get your papers ready

Back to the short stages

Why. GOV.UK's documents list for this visa: "your certificate of sponsorship reference number", "a valid passport", "evidence that you have enough personal savings to support yourself in the UK, for example bank statements (unless your certificate of sponsorship shows your employer can support you or you're not entitled to the minimum wage)", "proof of your relationship with your partner or children if they're applying with you", and "your tuberculosis (TB) test results". Add your church letter (Stage 2), which the documents page does not list but the Rules ask for.

Step 1. Your passport

Valid, with the same details as on your certificate. You will take it to the visa centre in Stage 7 and collect it the same day.

Step 2. Your TB test

Why. Nigeria is on the UK's list of "Countries where you need a TB test to enter the UK", and you are coming for 6 months or more. The Rules refuse an application without a valid certificate: "If the applicant has not supplied a valid TB test certificate when they are required to do so, the application should be refused."

Where. Only at a clinic the UK approves in Nigeria, listed on the GOV.UK page Tuberculosis testing in Nigeria, opens in a new tab:

• IOM (the International Organization for Migration, a UN agency), its Migration Health Assessment Centre, Abuja: No. 55 Hassan Musa Katsina Road (at the junction of Hassan Musa Katsina Road and J-K Gadzama Street), Asokoro, Abuja. Phone +234 (0) 201 465 6600; email iomabujamedicalbooking@iom.int; book online at mymedical.iom.int, opens in a new tab. Monday to Thursday, 8am to 5:30pm; Friday, 8am to 12pm.
• IOM, Benin City: No.1 Frederick Ilekhuoba Close, off Boundary Road, Benin City, Edo State. Phone +234 (0) 201 465 6600; email iombenincitymedicalbooking@iom.int; book online at mymedical.iom.int, opens in a new tab. Monday to Thursday, 7:30am to 5pm; Friday, 7:30am to 12pm.
• IOM, Lagos: No. 1 Isaac John Street, G.R.A. Ikeja, Lagos. Phone +234 (0) 201 465 6600; email iomlagosmedicalbooking@iom.int; book online at mymedical.iom.int, opens in a new tab. Monday to Thursday, 7am to 4:30pm; Friday, 7am to 11am.
• Q-Life Family Clinic: Plot 155a Prince Ade Odedina Street, off Sinari Daranijo Street, Victoria Island, Lagos. Phone +234 809 974 2000 or +234 811 397 5433; email ukmedicals@qlifefamilyclinic.com. Monday to Friday, 8am to 7pm; Saturday and public holidays, 8am to 4pm; closed on Sunday.
• St. Nicholas Hospital: 57 Campbell Street, Lagos Island. Phone +234 802 290 8484 or +234 127 19690; email ukvitbscreening@saintnicholashospital.com. Monday to Thursday, 9am to 5pm; Friday, 9am to 2pm.
• The Consultants Practice: 25 Raymond Njoku Street, off Awolowo Road, Ikoyi, Lagos. Phone +234 809 354 0899 or +234 706 585 9845; email admin@consultantspractice.com. Monday to Friday, 8am to 5pm; closed on public holidays.

IOM's three centres are "Closed on national holidays."

What it costs.

At IOM, "Payment must be made prior to the medical examination in Naira at the UN exchange rate", so the naira you pay is set on the day. "Cash payment will not be accepted by the examining centre." "The cost of the test is in addition to the visa application fee."

Do.

1. Book, and "make it clear that you need the test for a UK visa application". "You can expect to get an appointment within a few days of your request"; "At busy times you may have to wait 10 days", especially from June to September, when UK student visa applicants book.
2. Pay before the day. The same GOV.UK page lists the bank account for IOM, St. Nicholas Hospital (which also takes payment on its website) and The Consultants Practice; Q-Life gives its payment details when you book. At IOM, ask for the naira amount when you book, because it follows the UN rate on the day. Pay by bank transfer with your international passport number as the reference, and bring the transfer receipt.
3. Bring "proof of identification, which contains your photograph, preferably your passport" and "proof of payment of the test fee".
4. On the day you have a chest X-ray. If it is clear, "a TB clearance certificate will be issued to the applicant on the day of the examination".

Time it to your application. The certificate is "valid for 6 months from the date of your x-ray", and the Rules want it "issued within the 6-month period immediately before the date of application". So take it once your certificate of sponsorship is close, not a year early. One person who took the test in Lagos for another UK visa wrote online in 2026 that the result came in under five hours.

If more tests are needed. More tests on the mucus you cough up (the clinic's words: "Additional sputum smears and cultures") can take "up to 8 weeks". Pregnant women may choose a shielded X-ray, a sputum test, or "to wait until after delivery". "Children under 11 will not normally have a chest x-ray." If you do not go back within 7 days to give the mucus sample, you will not get a certificate. If you have been in contact with a family member with active TB of the lungs, the certificate is valid for 3 months, not 6.

Step 3. Your savings, or the church's cover

The rule. "You must have at least £1,270 in your bank account to show you can support yourself in the UK. You will need to have had the money available for at least 28 days in a row. Day 28 must be within 31 days of applying for this visa." £1,270 is about ₦2.27 million.

When you show no savings.

• The church covers your first month. GOV.UK: if "your employer can cover your costs during your first month in the UK, up to £1,270", it fills in "sponsor certifies maintenance" on your certificate. The Rules are stricter on the amount: the church must confirm it will "maintain and accommodate the applicant up to the end of the first month of their employment for an amount of at least £1,270", so check that the certificate says at least £1,270. "If the applicant's sponsor has certified maintenance on the certificate of sponsorship (CoS), no further evidence is required."
• You are not entitled to the minimum wage (Stage 3), and the church confirms on the certificate that it will house and support you and your family for the whole stay.

If you show savings, how. The rules for bank statements (Appendix Finance):

• The account must be in your name, alone or joint, or your husband's or wife's if they are applying at the same time. "Promises of future third-party support will not be accepted."
• "The most recently dated piece of financial evidence must be dated within 31 days before the date of application." The 28 days count back "from the date of the closing balance on the most recently dated piece of financial evidence".
• A naira account is fine. The money "will be converted into pound sterling (£) using the spot exchange rate which appears on www.oanda.com for the date of the application". The naira moves; keep more than ₦2.27 million in the account, so a weaker naira on the day does not leave you under £1,270.
• The balance must never fall below the amount on any of the 28 days. "Overdraft facilities will not be counted"; nor are "bitcoin savings" or "stocks and shares".
• The statement shows "the date it was issued", your name, "the name of the bank" and the "balance on the account". "You can provide a download of electronic bank statements if it has this information. You do not need to have these stamped by the bank." "We may do verification checks with your bank."

Step 4. Translations

"You'll need to provide a certified translation of any documents that are not in English or Welsh." The translator writes on the translation "that it's a 'true and accurate translation of the original document'", "the date of the translation", and "their full name and contact details".

Step 5. Your family's papers, if they come with you

• Your husband or wife. You are married or in a civil partnership "recognised by law in the country in which it took place", or you have been "in a relationship similar to a marriage or civil partnership for at least 2 years"; you "must have met in person", and the relationship must be "genuine and subsisting". Both of you must be 18 or over. In a polygamous marriage, only one partner can come. Carry the proof of your relationship (for example your marriage certificate).
• Your children. Under 18 on the day they apply, not married, not "leading an independent life", and living with you unless away in full-time education. Both parents must be applying at the same time or already have permission to be in the UK, unless the parent applying "is the sole surviving parent or has sole responsibility for the child's upbringing", or there are "serious and compelling reasons". There must be "suitable arrangements for the child's care and accommodation in the UK which must comply with relevant UK law". Carry each child's proof of relationship (for example the birth certificate).
• Their savings, unless the church covers your family's first month on the certificate or you are not entitled to the minimum wage: £285 for your husband or wife (about ₦508,000), £315 for one child (about ₦562,000), £200 for each other child (about ₦357,000), held 28 days, on top of your own £1,270.
• Their TB tests, at the same clinics (children under 11 normally have no X-ray).

What it costs. The TB test (above); translations at the translator's price. Your savings are not a fee: they stay yours.

How long. An appointment within a few days for the TB test (10 at busy times); 28 days for the savings; the certificate valid 6 months.

You are done when you hold: your passport, your TB certificate (under 6 months old), your bank statements (unless covered), your church letter, any translations, and your family's papers.

What opens next. Stage 6.

Stage 6. Apply online and pay

Back to the short stages

Why. "You must apply online for this visa." You apply from Nigeria; the Rules require that you get the visa "before they arrive in the UK".

Where. GOV.UK's page "Religious Worker visa (Temporary Work)", its section "Apply", and the link "Apply from outside the UK": apply-to-visit-or-stay-in-the-uk.homeoffice.gov.uk/sort/start/temporary_work_out_uk, opens in a new tab. Your husband or wife applies on the partner form, opens in a new tab, and each child on the child form, opens in a new tab.

What you need in your hand. Your certificate's reference number, your passport, your dates, your debit or credit card, and scans of your papers from Stage 5.

What it costs, for each person.

• The visa fee: "The application fee for each person applying is £340" (about ₦607,000).
• The health charge (Immigration Health Surcharge): £1,035 for each year of the visa (about ₦1.85 million a year) for anyone 18 or over, and £776 a year (about ₦1.38 million) for a child under 18. You pay it inside the online application, for the whole length of the visa at once: "You must pay the healthcare surcharge by debit or credit card", and "You'll be asked for: the start and end dates on your certificate of sponsorship". The length sets the charge: a full year's charge for "More than 6 months but less than one year"; "the yearly cost plus half the yearly cost, if it's for 18 months or less"; "the cost of 2 full years, if it's for more than 18 months but less than 2 years". Your visa runs 14 days before and after the dates on your certificate, so a one-year role pays a year and a half's charge (Part 7).
• For a two-year visa, for you alone: £340 and £2,070, so £2,410, about ₦4.30 million, paid when you apply.

You get "an email with an IHS reference number"; "You can only use this number once". If the visa is refused, the health charge is refunded in full ("If someone else paid the IHS on your behalf, they'll receive your refund"); if the visa is granted and you do not come to the UK, it is not.

Do.

1. Open the form and answer each question as your certificate and passport say.
2. Pay the health charge and the fee by card.
3. Write down your application number. It is called the GWF number (Global Web Form): "Your GWF reference number was given to you when you first applied. You can find it on emails and letters from the Home Office about your application." Your family need it for their own applications, and you need it later for your UKVI account.
4. After you pay and submit, follow the link the form gives you to book your visa centre appointment (Stage 7).
5. Your husband or wife and each child: "Each family member will need to complete a separate application and pay the visa fee. They must apply before they travel to the UK. They'll also need your application number."

Rekoja's desk. Rekoja's desk, opens in a new tab can prepare your visa file, your documents and your application with you while you are in Nigeria, paid in naira, with no promise on the outcome. The visa fee and the health charge you pay yourself, by your own card, inside the form.

How long. No official time for the form. "You must book and attend an appointment within 240 days of submitting your application. If you do not, you'll need to start a new application."

You are done when your application is submitted, the fee and health charge are paid, and you have your GWF number and your IHS reference number.

What runs at the same time. Your family's applications.

What opens next. Stage 7, the visa centre.

If you need to stop. "You can also ask to cancel (withdraw) your application. Your fee will only be refunded if UKVI has not started processing your application", and processing starts once you have submitted, given your fingerprints and photo, and given your documents. A certificate on a withdrawn application can be used again.

Stage 7. Your fingerprints and photo at the visa centre

Back to the short stages

Why. The UK checks your identity. Some passports can do it with the "UK Immigration: ID Check" app; a Nigerian passport cannot (the app is for passports of the EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Switzerland and a few others, and for some expired UK residence permits). So you "have your fingerprints and photo (biometric information) taken at a visa application centre".

Where. VFS Global, the company that runs the UK visa centres in Nigeria, page "UK Visa Application Centres": visa.vfsglobal.com/nga/en/gbr/attend-centre, opens in a new tab.

• Abuja, Monday to Friday, 8am to 5pm.
• Lagos (Ikeja) and Lagos (Victoria Island).
• Premium centres in Benin, Enugu, Ibadan, Kano and Port Harcourt. The price of an appointment at a premium centre: we cannot tell yet.

What it costs. "Most visa application centres offer free appointments within 5 working days. In some locations you'll need to pay £76.50 for a standard appointment" (about ₦136,000). "Paying for optional services does not mean your application is more likely to be successful."

What to bring. Your passport (you "will be able to collect it on the day"), your appointment confirmation, and your papers from Stage 5, including your church letter. Children under 16 come with an adult over 18.

How long. One visit. Your passport comes back the same day.

You are done when your fingerprints and photo are taken and your documents are given.

What opens next. Stage 8.

Stage 8. The wait and the decision

Back to the short stages

How long. "You'll usually get a decision on your visa within: 3 weeks, if you're outside the UK." The Home Office's processing table gives "Religious Worker" "3 weeks", counted on the UK working week, with UK public holidays counted and Nigerian ones not. People applying from Nigeria for other UK visas wrote online in 2026 that some decisions came in under two weeks and one took more than six weeks. "You should not book your travel until you get a decision on your visa application."

A faster decision. "You will be told when you apply if a priority service is available." Priority: "a decision within 5 working days", £500 (about ₦892,000). Super priority: "by the end of the next working day", £1,000 (about ₦1.78 million). "If your application is refused, you will not get a refund." People on other UK visas wrote online in 2026 of paying for extra emails and calls to UKVI while they waited; GOV.UK is plain: "Paying for optional services does not mean your application is more likely to be successful."

What the decision maker may ask. The guidance: they must be satisfied that you "genuinely" intend to do the role, can do it, and will not work in another job. They "may request: additional information and evidence", with 10 UK working days to answer, or that you attend an interview, and they may refuse "if they fail to comply with such request without giving a reasonable explanation". They may weigh your "knowledge of the role", your "relevant experience", your "knowledge of the sponsor in the UK" and your "explanation of how they were recruited". They "will not usually need to undertake further checks". So know your role, your UK church, and the story of how your leaders connected you, and say it plainly.

If the church loses its licence while you wait. The Home Office must tell you, without the reasons. If the certificate is suspended, your case is kept on hold; if it is withdrawn, you are refused unless the church gives you another.

The decision. "You'll get a letter or email telling you the Home Office has made a decision on your application." "If you have not received your email, check your spam or junk folder." If you are refused, "Your passport will be returned, if it was kept as part of your application."

If you are refused.

• There is no appeal. "The applicant cannot appeal against our decision. However, if they think the Home Office has made an error in considering their application, they can apply for an administrative review."
• Administrative review (a second Home Office officer checks whether the rules and guidance were applied correctly; it does not look at your case on any other basis): from outside the UK, "you must apply within 28 days of getting the decision. It costs £80" (about ₦143,000). "Currently, it can take 12 months or more to receive the result of the administrative review. If you do not get a decision on your application within 6 months, the Home Office will contact you with an update." It is "withdrawn (cancelled) if you make any other immigration or visa application".
• The certificate cannot be used again. "If the worker's application is refused (and any administrative review is dismissed), and you still wish to sponsor the worker, you must assign them (and pay for) a new CoS."
• What you do. Read the refusal letter line by line. If it names something you can fix (a statement outside the 31 days, a TB certificate out of date, a gap in the six months, a role that reads as pastoral), fix it with the church, and apply again with a new certificate only when the letter's reason is answered. If you believe the officer applied the rules wrongly to papers you did send, an administrative review within 28 days is the option, but a new application cancels it. One person wrote online in 2025 that her Religious Worker visa had been refused that morning and asked whether she could apply again; the answer is yes, with a new certificate from the church and the reason answered.

Stage 9. Your eVisa and your flight

Back to the short stages

What you get. No sticker in your passport. "If your application is successful, you'll get an eVisa to prove you can come to the UK. An eVisa is a digital record of your identity and immigration status." Your decision email tells you what to do next.

Do.

1. Set up your UKVI account (your online account with UK Visas and Immigration): "You need a UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) account to access your eVisa." You need "a valid passport and your visa application number", the GWF number. "You do not need to pay to set up a UKVI account or access your eVisa." It "can take up to 24 hours".
2. Check every detail in the account against your passport before you travel. "Your carrier may not let you travel if your details are wrong." "You must travel with a valid passport or travel document that you've added to your UKVI account."
3. Your husband or wife and children each need their own UKVI account.
4. Book your flight now, not before. The visa starts on the date of the decision or the date you asked for, whichever is later. "You can enter the UK up to 14 days before the start date of your job."
5. At the airport. Your eVisa is checked when you leave and when you enter the UK, by a border officer or at the eGates (the automatic passport gates). If the airline cannot check it, ask them to contact "the UK Border Force carrier support hub".

What it costs. Nothing for the account; your flight at the airline's price.

You are done when your eVisa shows in your UKVI account with your passport added, and your flight is booked within 14 days before your start date or after it.

If the church loses its licence before you travel. "Their entry clearance will be cancelled." Do not travel; speak to your leaders.

Stage 10. Arrival, your first Sunday and your first pay

Back to the short stages

Start the role. The church must tell the Home Office if "a sponsored worker does not start the role for which you are sponsoring them within 28 days", and what it reports about your "non-attendance, non-compliance or disappearance may be used to cancel their permission". So go straight to the church and start on your start date.

Your first Sunday serving. You walk into a UK church of your own church family, in the work your certificate names. Go early that first week, ask who you report to, and keep to the hours and duties your certificate states.

Your National Insurance number (your number for tax and National Insurance in the UK). First look in your UKVI account: "If you have a BRP or eVisa, you might have a National Insurance number already", and you can find it "by logging into your UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) account to view your eVisa". If it is not there, apply online from the UK: "You can only apply when you're in the UK." "It can take up to 4 weeks." "You can start work before you receive your National Insurance number if you can prove you have the right to work in the UK."

Your GP (in England): "Everyone in England can register with a GP surgery or change their GP surgery for free. You can register with most surgeries online." It takes "about 15 minutes for each person", usually "within 5 days", and "You do not need ID, proof of address or proof of immigration status."

Your first pay. Into your own bank account, never in cash, on the terms your certificate states. The rules say "into their own bank account in the UK or overseas", so your Nigerian account is allowed until you open a UK one. How to open a UK bank account as a new arrival: we cannot tell yet. If your role is paid, the floor is the National Living Wage: from April 2026, £12.71 an hour (about ₦23,000) at 21 and over, and £10.85 (about ₦19,000) at 18 to 20; from April 2027, £13.21 (about ₦24,000) at 21 and over. "The rates change on 1 April every year."

Tax and National Insurance on it. The tax year runs "from 6 April 2026 to 5 April 2027". "The standard Personal Allowance is £12,570" (about ₦22.42 million) a year, "the amount of income you do not have to pay tax on"; above it, 20% on income up to £50,270 (about ₦89.68 million). "Income tax bands are different if you live in Scotland." National Insurance is taken from your pay: nothing on weekly pay up to £242 (about ₦432,000), 8% on pay between £242.01 and £967 a week (about ₦1.73 million), and 2% above that.

Your rights at work. No more than 48 hours a week on average unless you opt out; "Almost all people classed as workers are legally entitled to 5.6 weeks' paid holiday a year", and "Most workers who work a 5-day week must receive at least 28 days' paid annual leave a year." The caseworkers' warning signs on a sponsored job include "long shifts without the daily or weekly rest breaks" and "large deductions from salary, for accommodation or other reasons".

You are done when you have served your first Sunday in the role and your first pay is in your own account.

Stage 11. The two years

Back to the short stages

The conditions you live by.

• You work only for your sponsoring church, "in the job stated on their Certificate of Sponsorship".
• A second job is allowed: "no more than 20 hours per week", "outside the working hours covered by the CoS", and "in the same profession and at the same professional level as the job for which the CoS was assigned".
• Voluntary work on the side: the sponsor guidance does not list this visa among those allowed it, so take on unpaid work only if it is the role you are sponsored for.
• Study is allowed if it does not affect your work.
• No public funds.
• Your husband or wife and children may work ("except as a sportsperson or coach"), study, and travel abroad and return.

What the church reports. It must tell the Home Office if you are "absent from work without your permission for more than 10 consecutive working days", or of "any significant changes to the nature of their work or salary". It must "normally stop sponsoring a worker who is absent from their sponsored work without pay, or is absent on reduced pay, for more than 4 weeks in total".

Changing role or church. "You must apply again if you want to change your job within the same organisation or move to a new organisation." A new UK church would have to meet one of the options again in its own right.

Extending. From inside the UK you can apply "to take your stay in the UK up to a maximum of 24 months, or the time on your certificate of sponsorship plus 14 days", whichever is shorter. A decision comes "within 8 weeks" on the standard service, and you get an eVisa.

At the end of 24 months. "24 months is the maximum period a person can be sponsored on this route. After this period, the worker must leave the UK (unless they qualify on another route)." This visa is not a route to settlement. To come back on this visa or the Charity Worker visa, you wait 12 months from the day your last permission on either ended, or from the day you last left the UK, if you can show that was earlier.

If the church's licence is revoked while you are in the UK. If you had no part in the reasons, the Home Office will normally cut your visa so you have 60 days left (unless you already have 60 days or fewer), and you must leave by then unless you have applied to stay on a visa you qualify for; while a licence is only suspended, your visa is not affected.

Part 4. What can stop you

Your deadlines

What stops people, and what you do

• Chasing "the link". There is no link and no general application. A licensed UK church of your own church family assigns a certificate for a role it has. Start from the list (Stage 1) and your leaders.
• A UK church outside your church family. It cannot count your six months. Go back to your own church family on the list.
• A break in your service. The six months count back from the day you apply. Keep serving; if a gap falls inside them, the safe course is to move your application date.
• A preaching or leading role. The Rules keep a minister's core duties off this visa. If that is your work, the Minister of Religion visa (T2) is the one for it.
• Paying for a certificate. A certificate of sponsorship is not a product, and no "religious CoS" is bought from a platform: only the licensed church that has the role assigns it, and the decision maker checks that the role is real and that you mean to do it. Anyone selling you a certificate or a "link" is selling something the rules do not recognise.
• Paying for a "UK standard" CV or a consultation. Videos of 2025 and 2026 sell them for this visa. GOV.UK's documents list for this visa asks for no CV: what decides it is your certificate, your six months and your church's letter.
• "Free visa sponsorship". The fee, the health charge and the savings are yours to plan unless the church says in writing otherwise. Count on paying them.
• The wrong visa. A volunteer scheme can be on the Charity Worker visa, a different visa. If you are offered an unpaid role, check that the church is on the list for "Religious Worker" and that your certificate says it will house and support you for the whole stay.
• Old fees. Figures such as £319 still circulate. Today the fee is £340, and the health charge is paid for every year of the visa.
• A wrong detail on the certificate. Your name and passport number must match your passport. Check before you apply.
• A statement outside the 31 days, or a balance under £1,270 on any day. Count your dates (Stage 5).
• A TB certificate taken too early. It must be issued within the 6 months before you apply.
• Booking your flight before the decision. UKVI "will not reimburse any travel costs".
• The church losing its licence. It can happen before or after you travel; Stages 8, 9 and 11 say what then follows.

Part 5. If you already did some of this

• You already have your church letter. Check that it names your duties, your start date, your church family and the signer, and that it will still show six months up to the day you apply; if it is more than a few weeks old by then, ask for a fresh one. Then Stage 1 and Stage 3.
• Your church has already spoken to a UK church. Check that church on the list (Stage 1): "Religious Worker", A rating. Then go to Stage 3 and get the role in writing.
• You already hold a certificate of sponsorship. Check its age (under 3 months), its start date (no more than 3 months after you apply), your details against your passport, and the explanation of the option. If the church assigned it before 29 October 2026 under the old rule (an advert, or its own records of available workers) and you apply from that date, the church must add a sponsor note explaining how you meet the new requirements: for you, your six months and your church's letter (option (c)). Then Stage 5.
• You applied before 29 October 2026. Your application is decided under the rules in force on 28 October 2026.
• You were refused. Read Stage 8, "If you are refused". The certificate cannot be used again; the church must assign a new one. Answer the refusal's reason first.
• You held this visa or a Charity Worker visa in the last 12 months. You wait until 12 months have passed since that permission ended, or since you last left the UK if you can show that was earlier.

Part 6. The time, stage by stage

• Stage 1, the list: one evening.
• Stage 2, your service and the letter: at least 6 months of service, immediately before you apply; the letter, no official time.
• Stage 3, the role: no official time; the longest stage.
• Stage 4, the certificate: valid 3 months; apply no more than 3 months before its start date.
• Stage 5, your papers: the TB appointment within a few days (10 at busy times), the certificate the same day if clear (up to 8 weeks if more tests are needed); 28 days for the savings.
• Stage 6, the application: the form has no official time; the appointment within 240 days.
• Stage 7, the visa centre: most centres within 5 working days; your passport back the same day.
• Stage 8, the decision: usually within 3 weeks; an administrative review can take 12 months or more.
• Stage 9, the eVisa: the account up to 24 hours; you can enter up to 14 days before your start date.
• Stage 10, arrival: start within 28 days; your National Insurance number up to 4 weeks; your GP usually within 5 days.
• Stage 11, the two years: up to 24 months; an extension decided within 8 weeks.

Part 7. The money, all of it

For each person, in the order you meet it.

Your role's length sets the charge. Your visa runs 14 days before and 14 days after the dates on your certificate, up to 24 months in all, and GOV.UK says "A visa may last longer than your course of study or period of employment." So the charge follows the visa, not the job. A role of 6 to 11 months: one full year's charge, £1,035 (about ₦1.85 million), so £1,375 with the fee (about ₦2.45 million). A role of 12 to 17 months: a year and a half's charge, £1,552.50 (about ₦2.77 million), so £1,892.50 with the fee (about ₦3.38 million). A role of 18 months or more: two full years, £2,070 (about ₦3.69 million), so £2,410 with the fee (about ₦4.30 million), because the visa stops at 24 months.

You, your husband or wife and one child, on two-year visas. Fees £1,020 and health charges £5,692: £6,712, about ₦11.97 million, paid when you apply. Savings on top, unless the church covers your family's first month: £1,870, about ₦3.34 million, held 28 days.

What the church pays the Home Office. Its sponsor licence (£611 for this visa, about ₦1.09 million), which it must never ask you to pay, and £55 when it assigns your certificate.

What you earn. If your role is paid, at least the National Living Wage: £12.71 an hour (about ₦23,000) at 21 and over from April 2026. No page sets a church's pay above that; your certificate states yours.

Naira figures are at the rate of record of 20 October 2026, ₦1,784 to the pound and ₦1,333 to the US dollar (the Central Bank of Nigeria's rates), rounded to the nearest thousand, or to two places of a million.