Any UK-based company or organisation looking to employ global talent needs to sponsor the worker. But before one can sponsor, they must be a Home Office-approved sponsor. Those who are not a licenced sponsor but want to recruit foreign workers must first apply for and obtain a sponsor licence; only then can they issue a CoS (Certificate of Sponsorship) to the foreign worker. CoS is a mandatory requirement for both the sponsor and the work visa applicant.

What is a UK sponsor licence?

If you are a UK-based employer and you wish to recruit a non-UK person who is not a settled worker (for example, a British citizen or an Irish citizen) in the UK and does not otherwise hold immigration permission to work for you, you will need to be formally authorised by the Home Office. This Home Office authorisation is known as a ‘sponsor licence’, and once you hold a sponsor licence, you are known as a ‘sponsor’.

Who needs a sponsor licence?

You will usually need a sponsor licence to employ a person from outside the UK, including citizens of the EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland who arrived in the UK after 31 December 2020 to work for your company/organisation.

This includes unpaid work, like running a charity.

You do not need a sponsor licence to sponsor certain people, for example, Irish citizens, persons with ‘settled’ or ‘pre-settled’ status under the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS), and persons with ILR (also known as ‘settlement’) in the UK.

Types of sponsor licence

There are two types of sponsor licence. You can apply depending on whether the workers you want to fill the jobs are:

• ‘Workers’ – required for skilled jobs or long-term employment, for example, UK Skilled Worker route, UK GBM (Global Business Mobility) – Senior or Specialist Worker route, and UK International Sportsperson route. 

• ‘Temporary workers’ – required for short-term and specific types of temporary employment, for example, UK Charity Worker route, UK Creative Worker route, UK International Agreement route, UK Religious Worker route, and UK Scale-up route.

You can apply for a sponsor licence that covers workers, temporary workers, or both types of workers.

Eligibility for a sponsor licence

For a sponsor licence, you (such as a director or Authorising Officer) cannot have any unspent criminal convictions for immigration-related offences (such as employing illegal workers or failing to carry out Right to Work checks) or certain other crimes, such as fraud or money laundering.

You also cannot have had a sponsor licence revoked in the last 12 months or in the last 24 months (If your licence was revoked more than once).

When you apply for a sponsorship licence, you will need appropriate systems in your company/organisation to monitor your sponsored employees, and there must be the required personnel to manage sponsorship in your business. Also known as compliance management. The Home Office can demand to see this at the stage of the application.

You must offer a job that is genuine and suitable for the overseas worker, which means the job complies with the UK minimum wage and working time regulations – an applicant’s worker visa may be refused, and you may lose your sponsorship licence if it fails to meet this and the other criteria needed for a route-specific visa. You may need to prove that you have a genuine need for the business to recruit a migrant worker. How your business can pay for their salary and what value would add to the business if sponsored.

UKVI will review your UK sponsor licence application form and supporting documents. One or more officials from UKVI may visit your business to ensure you are trustworthy and also capable of carrying out your sponsorship duties.

Key personnel for sponsorship management roles

You need to appoint ‘key personnel’ within your business who would manage the sponsorship process when you apply for a UK sponsor licence.

SMS (Sponsorship Management Systems) is the main tool that is used to manage sponsorship licences.

The roles are:

• Authorising officer – he/she is a senior and capable individual responsible for the actions of your business's staff and representatives who use the SMS

• Key contact – he/she is your business’s main point of contact with UKVI (they can be a UK-based legal representative) 

• Level 1 user – he/she is responsible for all day-to-day practical tasks for the management of the sponsor licence using the SMS. The person must be a settled worker in the UK.

Same person or different people can fill these roles (authorising officer, key contact, and level 1 user). 

How to apply for a sponsor licence?

You need to apply online for your UK sponsor licence. After completing the online application, you need to send in the submission sheet (summary cover page) at the end of your application, along with supporting documents (if asked), to the email address that you can see on the submission sheet.

If you are sending any affidavits or statutory declarations (formal written statements declared to be true) it be witnessed by a qualified, independent person.  Witnessed” means you sign the document in front of a qualified person, for example, a solicitor, Justice of the Peace, Notary Public, Commissioner for Oaths, or a Councillor (in Scotland only). They confirm you are the person signing, understand the statement, and are signing it voluntarily. 

This makes your documents legally credible.

Pay the sponsor licence application fees

You need to pay a sponsor licence application fee when you apply. The fee depends on the type of licence you are applying for and the type of organisation you are.

You are usually a small sponsor if at least 2 of the following apply:

• Your annual turnover is no more than £15 million 

• Your total assets are worth no more than £7.5 million

• You have no more than 50 employees 

You must pay the licence fee yourself. You cannot ask any sponsored worker to pay the application fee or any costs linked to your sponsorship licence application. Doing so may result in your sponsor licence being revoked.

Wait for a decision

You will usually get a decision within less than 8 weeks. UKVI may need to visit your business before making a decision.

You may have the option to pay an extra £750 (on top of the sponsor licence application fee) to receive a faster decision within 10 working days. However, this service is available to a limited number of licence applications every working day. Faster decisions are allocated on a first-come, first-served basis.

Get a decision

If your application is successful, you will get an A-rated licence, which enables you to start assigning CoS to the sponsored workers. Your business will be registered in the register of sponsors.

Your licence usually remains valid for as long as you continue to meet the eligibility requirements, unless you have a licence to sponsor UK Expansion Workers or Scale-up Workers, in which case you will have your sponsor licence valid for 4 years. You will not be able to apply for another sponsorship licence to sponsor these types of workers.

Certificates of sponsorship

You must assign a Certificate of Sponsorship, which is an electronic record, to each foreign worker you want to employ. Each CoS has a unique number that a worker or a temporary worker visa applicant can use to apply for their visa. 

Defined certificates

This is for applicants applying on a Skilled Worker route from outside the UK.

Undefined certificates

This is for Skilled Workers applying from within the UK, and applicants on all other visas.

What are your sponsor's licence responsibilities?

As a sponsor licence holder, you must comply with your sponsor duties and responsibilities; otherwise, your licence may be suspended or revoked. 

You must:

• check that your overseas workers have the appropriate skills at the required level (currently RQF level 6 or above), qualifications, or professional accreditations to do the jobs you are sponsoring them for, and keep copies of documents showing this

• only assign CoS to workers when the job is suitable for sponsorship 

• inform UKVI if any of your sponsored workers are not complying with their visa conditions 

• comply with UK employment law for jobs you are offering  

• meet any specific requirements for workers under the age of 18, scale-up workers, or offshore workers

If you fail to fulfil these responsibilities, you may have your licence downgraded (from an A-rating to a B-rating), suspended, or even withdrawn.

How can Visa and Migration help?

We provide support to UK-based organisations to apply for and obtain a UK sponsor licence by guiding them from start to end. We ensure they comply with Home Office requirements. We help you determine whether you need a worker, a temporary worker, or both types of licences. We guide you on offering a suitable job and gathering the supporting documents required, such as evidence of right-to-work checks, company registration, and financial records.

We prepare and review your sponsor licence application, making sure all sections of the application are accurately filled and that your staff meet suitability criteria, including checks for any unspent criminal convictions related to immigration offences or other crimes, compliance history, and financial penalties. 

After the application submission, we will help you with any follow-up questions or inspections from the UKVI. Additionally, we keep advising you on your ongoing sponsor compliance, including performing mandatory activities such as right-to-work checks, record-keeping, and reporting duties. This helps reduce the risk of fines or licence revocation.

We offer you the best possible chance of receiving and maintaining a sponsor licence while ensuring you meet all legal and procedural requirements.

For expert advice and queries, you can call us at +44 (0)20 3411 1261 or write to  info@visaandmigration.com