A sponsor licence is the formal authorisation granted by the UK Home Office to a UK organisation, allowing them to sponsor non-UK nationals under certain work visa routes.
Sponsor licences are an important part of the UK’s immigration system, designed to regulate and facilitate the employment of skilled workers from overseas.
Employers make their application for a sponsor licence to the Home Office to evidence their eligibility and prove they meet the immigration compliance requirements.
There are two main types of Sponsor Licences: the Worker Sponsor Licence, which allows businesses to sponsor skilled workers under categories like the Skilled Worker and Intra-Company Transfer visas, and the Temporary Worker Sponsor Licence, for sponsoring workers on short-term visas, such as seasonal or charity work.
Sponsor Licence Type | Visa Categories Covered |
|---|---|
Worker Sponsor Licence | Skilled Worker Visa Senior or Specialist Worker Visa (Global Business Mobility) Minister of Religion Visa International Sportsperson Visa |
Temporary Worker Sponsor Licence | Creative Worker Visa Charity Worker Visa Religious Worker Visa Government Authorised Exchange Visa International Agreement Visa Seasonal Worker Visa Scale-up Work Graduate Trainee Visa (Global Business Mobility) Service Supplier Visa (Global Business Mobility) UK Expansion Worker Visa (Global Business Mobility Secondment Worker Visa (Global Business Mobility) |
The Home Office uses the sponsor licence application process to assess the employer’s ability to meet specific eligibility and suitability requirements. Failure to meet either the eligibility and suitability criteria will result in a refused application.
To get a licence as an employer, you cannot have:
You’ll need appropriate systems in place to monitor sponsored workers and people to manage sponsorship in your business.
As part of the UK sponsor licence application process, businesses need to show that they are honest, dependable, and reliable. They must also be able to meet their responsibilities as a sponsorship licence holder. Specifically, the business must:
Businesses applying for a sponsor licence must show they have a genuine need to hire overseas workers. Part of this requirement includes meeting the genuineness test for sponsorship. To meet the genuineness test, the business must intend to sponsor workers for eligible roles and be able to meet the skill and salary requirements for each job type.
The Home Office will also check to ensure that the intended roles make sense for the type of business and the existing jobs within the business. It is important to note that the genuineness test must be met at the application stage and throughout the life of the sponsor licence.
When applying for a sponsor licence, UKVI will ask for the names of all key personnel. Key personnel must be British, have no unspent criminal conviction, be on the payroll, and not be related to the candidate. There are four main types of key personnel:
Any employer wishing to apply for a licence to sponsor workers must submit the appropriate online application form and pay the application fee depending on the size of the business.
An employer must also submit the appropriate supporting documents within 5 working days of submitting the application form. The documents required are set out in Appendix A of the Sponsor Guidance. Generally, a minimum of four documents are required to support any sponsor licence application. The type of documents required can depend on the type of business. All prospective sponsors are nevertheless required to show that they are actively and lawfully trading.
When an organisation applies for a sponsor licence, the Home Office charges either:
The Pre-Licence priority service allows sponsors to prioritise their application for a sponsor licence, by submitting an application by email.
The Home Office will carefully scrutinise an application for a sponsor licence application. We are experienced in preparing sponsor licence applications to ensure a successful outcome and will provide expert guidance and assistance to organisations throughout the process.
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