Sponsor Licence

What is a Sponsor Licence

UK employers have to be granted a Sponsor Licence by the Home Office before they can employ workers from outside the UK under the points-based visa system, such as Skilled Worker route (previously Tier 2 General), Intra Company Transfer route (previously Tier 2 ICT), and some Tier 5 temporary worker routes. From January 2021, this includes workers from the EU unless they are already in the UK with settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme. 

Once the licence is granted, your organisation will become a registered sponsor. You can sponsor any number of employees as needed under your Sponsor Licence, by issuing the individual a specific Certificate of Sponsorship.

From day one and throughout the duration of the Sponsor Licence, all sponsors must be fully aware of their immigration duties and have processes and systems in place to both meet these requirements and to maintain records as evidence of their compliance.

Sponsors can be subject to Home Office investigation at any time. Where there are allegations of compliance breaches, the Home Office has powers to downgrade, suspend or revoke Sponsor Licences, impacting your ability to hire skilled migrant workers and impacting your sponsored workers’ permission to stay and work in the UK.

The remainder of the page will provide an overview of the Sponsor Licence for established businesses in the UK. If you are an overseas business that have not established a trading presence in the UK, you may want to look at our specific sections for Expansion Worker Sponsor Licence and Expansion Worker.

General requirements

In order to obtain a Sponsor Licence, you will need to satisfy UK Visas and Immigration that you meet the following requirements:

• Your company is a genuine organisation operating lawfully in the UK;
• You are honest, dependable and reliable;
• You are capable of carrying out your sponsor duties and evidencing your compliance in an appropriate timeframe and manner;
• You can offer genuine employment that meets the appropriate skill level and appropriate rates of pay.

In order to establish that you are a genuine organisation operating lawfully in the UK, you will need to submit a number of company-related documents. The exact documents will depend upon the type of organisation that you are and the tiers that you wish to sponsor migrants under.

UKVI will look at your history and background, as well as that of the key personnel named on your application and any people involved in the day to day running of your business.

UKVI will examine your current human resources and recruitment practices in order to make sure that you are able to fulfil your sponsor duties.

Under the genuineness test, UKVI will look at the role that you are seeking to recruit foreign nationals for, and the extent to which this role fits within your organisation as a whole.

Application process and fees 

A Sponsor Licence application is submitted online, followed by the submission of all your supporting documents to UKVI within 5 working days. If you send supporting documents later, your application will be rejected.

As part of the Sponsor Licence application process, UKVI may visit your business premises in order to check if you satisfy the sponsorship criteria.

If UKVI has concerns about your ability to comply, your application could be refused and you may lose your application fee. You may also be subject to a cooling off period before you can apply again.

For medium to large companies, the current application fee is £1,476. For small companies, the current application fee is £536. 

Certificate of Sponsorship (COS)

If your application is successful and you become registered as a licenced sponsor, in order for you to support your prospective employee's visa application, you must issue the individual a Certificate of Sponsorship.

A Certificate of Sponsorship is a virtual document which confirms the details of the employee as well as of the specific skilled job on offer (job title, job description, work address, salary etc).

An issued Certificate of Sponsorship has a unique reference number, which the individual will need when making his/her visa application.

Sponsorship Management System (SMS) and compliance

As a licenced sponsor, you are responsible to ensure all of the compliance duties are met and you are not at risk of breaching any UK immigration rules and policies.

Key duties will include record keeping. in relation to both the organisation and all sponsored workers. In addition, you are also under a positive duty to act and notify UKVI of certain change of circumstances, both for the organisation and all sponsored workers.

Failing your sponsor's duties may result in your Sponsor Licence being downgraded, suspended, or revoked by UKVI, which will affect all the employees sponsored by you.

The Sponsorship Management System (SMS) is an online system for you to access and manage your Sponsor Licence account, including issuing a Certificate of Sponsorship, and reporting a change of circumstances. You must maintain access to the SMS, but can use an UK-based immigration advisor to help you manage the daily tasks of the licence.

Sponsor Licence renewal 

Once granted, your Sponsor Licence will be valid for 4 years. If you wish to continue sponsoring migrant workers, you must apply to renew it before it expires.

If you do not renew your Sponsor Licence, it will lapse on its expiry date. This means you can no longer sponsor any migrant workers in the UK, including the employees who are already working for you based on an issued Certificate of Sponsorship.

As a general rule, you can apply to renew your licence up to three months before it expires, and you should aim to apply at least one month before the expiry date.

How we can help

Our knowledgeable and experienced immigration team can:

• Assess your case and advise whether you are eligible to apply
• Assist with your initial consideration as to the appropriate type of licence and suitable key personnel
• Provide you with a tailored & comprehensive document list
• Review all your documents and advise on necessary amendments
• Review your HR and recruitment procedures in preparation of a UKVI visit
• Suggest on how to improve your application
• Complete your application forms in accordance with the UKVI requirements
• Assist you to complete the application submission process
• Provide our representation letter to support your application with necessary legal arguments
• Liaise with UKVI on your behalf
• Advise on sponsor duties and compliance
• Act as your Level 1/2 user for the Sponsorship Management System and assist in sponsorship related tasks

Depending on your need and budget, we have different levels of services that you may choose from. Check out Our Services to see which one is for you. 

Want to discuss your case with an immigration specialist? Contact Us now.