Has anyone been refused a UK Skilled Worker visa because of the genuine worker interview
Hi everyone,
I'm wondering if anyone has experienced something similar.
I recently applied for a UK Skilled Worker visa outside UK as a Frontend Developer with a licensed sponsor.
I have around 10 years of software engineering experience and my UK employer interviewed me before offering me the job.
After submitting my application, UKVI invited me to a Microsoft Teams interview. The interview lasted around 90 minutes and the refusal says they are not satisfied that I genuinely intend and am able to undertake the role.
Some of the questions were:
- What project management and collaboration tools have you used?
- What programming languages do you know?
- What is PRD?
- How do you communicate with non-technical stakeholders?
- Tell me about a project that went wrong and what you learned.
- How would you optimize performance for map-heavy interfaces and large datasets?
- How do you collaborate with other departments?
The interviewer didn't seem to have a technical background. For example, they asked me to spell words like Scrum and TypeScript because they weren't familiar with the terms. At times it felt like I had to explain the terminology before I could answer the actual question.
Some questions also felt very broad or ambiguous. When I answered from my own experience, the refusal later said my answers "lacked sufficient detail" or "did not demonstrate sufficient understanding."
For example, when asked what programming languages I know, I answered JavaScript and TypeScript, because that's what I've professionally worked with for almost my entire career as a frontend developer. The refusal later suggested that someone with my experience should have provided a broader overview of languages and technologies.
I also had a moment where I completely blanked on what the "D" in PRD stands for. I knew it was Product Requirements..., but I couldn't remember Document in that moment.
The refusal also says:
"Your example of a project issue did not clearly demonstrate ownership, a systematic problem-solving approach, or awareness of production-level considerations such as API versioning and established code review practices. Based on these concerns, I am not satisfied that you are genuinely coming to the UK to undertake the role of Frontend Developer."
This part surprised me the most because I did describe a real production incident involving an API change, backward compatibility, code review, and what I learned from it. They may not have liked my explanation, but concluding that I'm not a genuine Frontend Developer based on that feels extremely harsh.
My biggest question is this:
If UKVI is assessing whether someone is technically capable of doing a software engineering job, shouldn't the interview be conducted by someone with a software engineering background?
I'm not expecting the interviewer to be a senior developer, but if the decision is based on technical answers, shouldn't those answers be evaluated by someone who understands the field?
Has anyone here had a similar experience?
- Were you also interviewed?
- Was your interviewer technical or non-technical?
- How did you handle it?
- Did your employer get involved afterward?
I'd really appreciate hearing from anyone who has gone through one of these interviews. Right now I'm trying to understand whether this is an isolated case or whether others have experienced the same thing.