When Does Your Business Need a Sponsor Licence?
Your organisation will usually need a Sponsor Licence if it wants to employ someone who requires sponsorship to work in the UK. This includes many workers recruited from overseas under UK work visa routes.
You may not need to sponsor someone who already has unrestricted permission to work, such as an Irish citizen, a person with indefinite leave to remain, or someone with qualifying status under the EU Settlement Scheme.
A Sponsor Licence gives your organisation permission to sponsor eligible workers. It does not automatically make every vacancy suitable for sponsorship or guarantee that a sponsored worker will receive a UK visa.
Which Sponsor Licence Should Your Organisation Apply For?
The type of Sponsor Licence you need depends on the workers and employment routes you intend to use.
A Worker licence covers routes used for skilled or longer-term employment, including the Skilled Worker Visa and certain other sponsored work categories.
A Temporary Worker licence covers specified temporary work visa routes, including certain charity, creative, religious and international agreement categories. Some Global Business Mobility routes also fall within this licence type.
An organisation can apply for one or both licence types where appropriate. Choosing the correct routes at the application stage is important because your licence determines which workers your organisation can sponsor.
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Can Your Organisation Meet the Sponsor Licence Requirements?
Before applying, your organisation must be able to demonstrate that it is eligible and suitable to become a licensed sponsor. UKVI will consider your business, the roles you intend to sponsor and your ability to comply with sponsorship duties.
Your organisation should be able to show that:
- It is genuine and lawfully operating or trading in the UK.
- Any required regulatory registrations or approvals are in place.
- The roles you intend to sponsor are genuine and eligible for the relevant route.
- Appropriate HR systems are available to manage sponsored workers.
- Your organisation can maintain accurate employment and immigration records.
- Suitable people have been appointed to manage the sponsor licence.
- Relevant owners, directors and key personnel satisfy Home Office suitability requirements
- There are no compliance concerns that make the organisation unsuitable to hold a licence.
You will normally need an Authorising Officer, Key Contact and Level 1 User. The same eligible person can hold more than one role in appropriate circumstances. You can read our guide to the Authorising Officer role and sponsor licence responsibilities for more detail.
UKVI may also examine previous immigration breaches, civil penalties, criminal convictions or earlier sponsorship issues when assessing suitability.
How Do You Apply for a UK Sponsor Licence?
A Sponsor Licence application is made online to UK Visas and Immigration. Preparation should take place before the form is submitted because supporting evidence must follow within a strict deadline.
The main stages are:
- Identify the Worker or Temporary Worker routes your organisation requires.
- Check your organisation, proposed vacancies and sponsorship systems against Home Office requirements.
- Appoint suitable key personnel to manage sponsorship.
- Complete the online Sponsor Licence application and pay the relevant application fee.
- Send the signed submission sheet and required supporting documents to UKVI.
UKVI may request additional information or carry out a compliance check before making its decision. Preparing the evidence first can help prevent missing documents, inconsistent information or avoidable delays after submission.
What Evidence Should You Prepare for Your Application?
The documents required depend on your organisation, how long it has been trading, whether it is regulated and the sponsorship routes selected.
Most organisations must provide at least four supporting documents or qualifying combinations of documents. Relevant evidence may include:
- Corporate or business bank statements.
- Employers' liability insurance documents.
- HMRC registration or tax records.
- Evidence of registration with a relevant regulatory body.
- Business premises, accounts or other evidence showing genuine trading activity.
Organisations applying under certain routes may have additional document requirements.
For a Skilled Worker licence, UKVI will normally also require information about your organisation and the positions you intend to fill. This can include:
- Why your organisation is applying for a Sponsor Licence.
- Your business sector and operating hours.
- An organisational hierarchy or structure.
- Details of current vacancies or intended sponsored roles.
- Job titles, duties, salary, working hours and other relevant role information.
Businesses trading for less than 18 months are subject to specific evidence requirements, including evidence of an appropriate UK business bank or building society account.
Supporting documents must normally be sent within five working days of completing the online application.
Sponsor Licence Fees and Home Office Processing Times
The current application fee for a Worker Sponsor Licence is £611 for a small or charitable sponsor and £1,682 for a medium or large sponsor. A Temporary Worker Sponsor Licence costs £611.
An organisation will usually qualify as a small sponsor if it meets at least two of the relevant size conditions relating to turnover, total assets and employee numbers.
Most Sponsor Licence applications are dealt with in less than eight weeks, although UKVI may take longer where further checks or information are required.
For eligible applications, the pre-licence priority service costs an additional £750 and provides a target consideration period of 10 working days. Availability and route restrictions apply, and priority processing does not guarantee approval.
What Happens After You Submit Your Sponsor Licence Application?
UKVI will assess whether your organisation meets the eligibility and suitability requirements. It can verify documents, request further information and examine whether your proposed roles and recruitment plans are consistent with the sponsorship system.
UKVI may also conduct a pre-licence compliance visit. During its assessment, it can consider whether your organisation:
- Has genuine operating or trading activity in the UK.
- Has suitable HR systems and sponsorship processes.
- Understands its responsibilities as a licensed sponsor.
- Has appointed suitable key personnel.
- Intends to offer genuine roles that meet the requirements of the relevant route.
If your application is approved, your organisation will normally receive an A-rated Sponsor Licence and access to the Sponsorship Management System.
Most Sponsor Licences now remain valid while the organisation continues to satisfy the relevant requirements. Different validity rules apply to certain routes, including Scale-up and UK Expansion Worker sponsorship.
Once licensed, your organisation must continue meeting its sponsor duties. Obtaining a licence is the beginning of these responsibilities, rather than the end of them. Our Sponsor Licence compliance guide explains the ongoing reporting, record-keeping and Home Office compliance requirements.
Once your business is ready to sponsor an eligible worker, our guide to Certificate of Sponsorship allocation explains how CoS requests and allocations work after licensing
What Can You Do If Your Sponsor Licence Application Is Refused?
A Sponsor Licence application may be refused where UKVI is not satisfied that the organisation meets the eligibility, suitability or route-specific requirements.
Problems can include:
- Insufficient evidence of genuine UK trading activity.
- Inadequate HR or sponsorship systems.
- Unsuitable key personnel.
- Proposed roles that do not meet sponsorship requirements.
- Adverse immigration or compliance history.
- Failure to provide requested information.
- False, misleading or materially inconsistent information.
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There is no general right of appeal against a Sponsor Licence refusal.
Where the decision resulted from a simple caseworking error or UKVI failed to consider evidence submitted with the application, an error correction request may be available. This must normally be made within 14 calendar days of the refusal decision.
Otherwise, the organisation may need to wait until any applicable cooling-off period has ended before applying again. For many standard refusals this is six months, although different periods can apply depending on the circumstances.
How Salam Immigration Supports Sponsor Licence Applications
Applying for a Sponsor Licence involves more than completing an online form. Your business must be able to demonstrate that its structure, evidence, proposed roles and internal systems satisfy Home Office requirements.
Salam Immigration can assist by:
- Reviewing whether your organisation is eligible to apply.
- Identifying the appropriate sponsorship routes for your recruitment plans.
- Advising on the supporting documents required for your organisation.
- Reviewing proposed vacancies and information that will be provided to UKVI.
- Assisting with key personnel, application preparation and Home Office enquiries.
We can also help your business prepare for potential UKVI scrutiny before a decision is made.
