What is a sponsor licence?

A sponsor licence lets your business legally hire and employ non-settled workers through the skilled worker or other economic migration routes.

Obtaining a licence shows that your business is genuine, follows the rules, and can handle the strict reporting requirements from UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI).

Our skilled lawyers focus on helping small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) secure licences. We make sure you meet all pre-application requirements and that your internal systems are ready for audits. This reduces the chance of refusal.

Sponsor licence eligibility

To apply for a sponsorship licence in the UK, your business must prove to the Home Office that you are a genuine trading entity and that you have strong internal HR systems to manage your sponsorship responsibilities.

You can apply for a sponsor licence as a sole trader, limited company or LLP/PLC. Newly established companies can apply but they must provide additional documentation such as a corporate bank statement from an FCA regulated bank and employer’s liability insurance certificate.

Key requirements include:

• Genuine vacancy: a role that a settled worker cannot fill
• Key personnel: appoint suitable, reliable people within your organisation to manage the licence (authorising officer, key contact, level 1 user)
• HR systems: establish effective HR and monitoring systems to track sponsored employees’ attendance, contacts, and right to work
• Documentation: provide at least four mandatory supporting documents (e.g., proof of trading, VAT registration, PAYE registration)

Ongoing sponsor duties

Once you receive the licence, you must keep meeting the requirements. Not meeting these duties can lead to downgrading, suspension, or loss of the licence. Your main responsibilities include:

• Reporting duties: you need to report changes to the sponsored employee’s situation (salary, job title, end of employment) within 10 working days using the Sponsor Management System (SMS)
• Record-keeping: you must keep updated contact details, records of absences, and copies of sponsored workers’ documents
• Compliance: you should cooperate with any unplanned compliance visits or audits from UKVI to check your HR and recruitment files

Appointing key personnel

During a sponsor licence application, your business must designate certain individuals who will be responsible for managing the entire process. These key personnel serves as the link between your company and the Home Office. The most important figure is the Authorising Officer, who should be a senior staff member or director. They have the ultimate responsibility for making sure the business abides by the immigration rules and keeps good records. Since they are legally accountable, the Home Office expects the Authorising Officer to be the one who has the most control over your recruitment and HR processes.

Apart from the Authorising Officer, you are required to appoint a Key Contact and a Level 1 User as well. The Key Contact is the main point of contact for UKVI and the person with whom they will communicate most. At the same time, the Level 1 User is responsible for the actual daily management of the Sponsor Management System (SMS). This means assigning Certificates of Sponsorship (CoS) and notifying changes in employee circumstances. Any one individual can hold multiple roles, but the person must be permanently based in the UK and, in most cases, be a settled worker or a British citizen.

It is very important to select the right people because the Home Office carries out suitability checks on all the individuals named in your application. If any of the nominated persons have a past involving immigration violations, unspent criminal convictions, or has been involved with a company that previously lost its licence, your application could be rejected. Our team helps you review the backgrounds of your proposed personnel to ensure they meet the strict requirements before you submit your files.

Understanding the Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS)

Once your business has successfully secured its licence, you gain the ability to issue a Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS). Despite the name, this isn’t a physical paper certificate. Instead, it is a digital record the Home Office manages on its Sponsor Management System (SMS). Think of the CoS as a unique reference number that confirms your business is willing to sponsor a specific individual for a specific role. Without this reference number, a migrant worker cannot apply for their Skilled Worker visa.

There are two distinct types of certificates you need to be aware of: Defined and Undefined. Employers generally use Undefined certificates for workers already inside the UK who are switching from another visa. Workers applying from outside the UK require Defined certificates. It is vital to apply for the correct type; assigning a Defined CoS when an Undefined one was required can lead to the worker’s visa being refused and could trigger a compliance review of your licence.

Each CoS comes with a fee—typically £525 for Skilled Workers and must be used for a visa application within three months of assigning it. When you “assign” a certificate, you are essentially vouching for the candidate, confirming that the job meets the minimum salary thresholds and skill levels required by the Home Office. Because this is a legal declaration, any errors in the data entry can be costly and time-consuming to fix. Our lawyers act as a second pair of eyes, ensuring every CoS you issue is accurate and compliant.

Required documents

To secure a sponsor licence, Your company must submit a digital application backed by at least four required documents, as listed in Appendix A. of the sponsor guidance. These documents demonstrate that your business is a legitimate entity that conducts business in the UK and has a valid need to hire foreign workers. Accuracy is crucial because one of the most frequent reasons for application rejection is not submitting the right set of documents.

Depending on the nature of your business and how long you have been trading, different documents may be needed. A VAT registration certificate, your most recent annual accounts, and documentation of your company’s location (such as a signed lease or proof of ownership) are typical pieces of evidence for the majority of well-established SMEs. For PAYE and National Insurance purposes, you must also show that your employer has at least £5 million in liability insurance and that you are registered with HMRC as an employer.

Alternative proof, such as a business bank statement from a regulated financial institution or a letter from your bank verifying your business relationship, may be required by the Home Office if you are a startup or recently established company. High-quality digital copies of the originals are required for all documents, and if they are not in Welsh or English, a certified translation must be included. Before submitting your document pack, our staff carefully examines each file to make sure it satisfies the Home Office’s stringent evidentiary requirements.

Application costs

The application fee depends on your business size: £536 for small businesses and charities, and £1,476 for medium and large companies.

Note that additional fees apply when you later issue a Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) to a worker, plus the Immigration Skills Charge (ISC).

Processing time

Standard processing takes around 8 weeks. A priority service, available for an additional fee of £500 which can shorten the timeframe to as little as 10 working days.