UK Sponsor Licence Guidance: A Comprehensive Guide for Employers
Hiring skilled talent from abroad is often essential for businesses aiming to fill critical skill gaps and enhance workforce diversity. However, to employ migrant workers in the UK, your business must first secure a Sponsor Licence from the Home Office.
This comprehensive guide explains everything you need to know about Sponsor Licences, including their benefits, eligibility requirements, the application process, compliance obligations, and costs. Whether you're applying for the first time, seeking ongoing support, or addressing a rejected application, understanding these requirements is crucial for ensuring your business stays compliant while accessing global talent.
What is a Sponsor Licence?
If the Home Office determines your business is eligible and meets the requirements set by the immigration rules, your business will be granted a licence allowing you to sponsor migrant workers to work for your business in the UK.
What is the benefit of having a Sponsor Licence?
If your business does not hold a sponsor licence, it cannot employ workers who are not UK residents. This means you may be closing off your business to significant benefits such as access to larger pools of workers, top talent employees, filling skill gaps and increased diversity.
Is my business eligible to obtain a Sponsor Licence?
If your business is applying for a Sponsor Licence for the first time, it will need to demonstrate to the Home Office that you are able to meet various eligibility requirements and can comply with the immigration rules and sponsorship duties.
To meet the eligibility requirements as a company, your business must be registered with Companies House, the business must be genuine, and it must be operating legally in the UK.
When making the application, you must designate certain roles and responsibilities to members of staff who will be responsible for ensuring the duties and compliance obligations of the Sponsor Licence are met. These individuals are known as Key Personnel. You would usually select a permanent employee, director or partner to fill one or more of the following Key Personnel roles:
Authorising Officer: this should be a senior employee or director within the business that is responsible for all members of staff.
Key Contact: this will be the main point of contact that the Home Office will reach out to. This is usually someone in HR or where you do not have HR, it can be someone who monitors the recruitment and onboarding practices, manages employee personnel files and knows their way around your internal systems and practices. Care should be taken when designating this role to an employee as they will have oversight of all employee salaries and personal information.
Level 1 or Level 2 User: this person(s) will be responsible for management of the Sponsor Licence on the Sponsor Management System (SMS).
Please note that the person or persons you designate for the above roles must be an employee or office holder of the Company; a British citizen or hold settled status; and have no history of any immigration charges/offences. The Home Office will conduct background checks.
How will the Home Office know if my business is eligible?
Once your application for a Sponsor Licence has been submitted, the Home Office may carry out a pre-licence visit to your business premises (or where your business is remote working, to the Key Personnel’s home address). They will meet with your Key Personnel and ask various questions about the business and its operations. They will check what processes and systems you have in place and inspect whether these satisfy the requirements to maintain records for all employees.
Once you have been granted your Sponsor Licence, the Home Office has the authority to carry out an investigation at any time. This is known as a compliance visit. See more information on this below.
If you are worried whether your business would satisfy the Home Office inspection and pass a pre-licence visit, we can carry out a mock-pre-licence visit for you. Get in touch with us on to make an enquiry.
How do I apply for a Sponsor Licence?
To make an application for a Sponsor Licence, your business must complete an online application and submit the required supporting documentation within five days of submitting the application.
Typically, a decision is received within 8 weeks, sometimes 12 weeks if a pre-licence compliance visit is required. You can expedite the processing time by opting to pay an additional £500 for priority service, where a decision shall be made within 10 working days.
How much does a Sponsor Licence cost?
The cost of applying for a worker Sponsor Licence will depend on the size of your business and whether it is a charity or not. The fee for a small business or charity is £536 and the fee for medium or large businesses is £1,476.
Our legal costs range from £2,800 – £8,200 plus VAT, depending on the complexity of your business and includes the following service:
Assessing the eligibility of your business against the requirements and immigration rules to obtain a Sponsor Licence and advising on how to mitigate the risks of refusal;
Assessing the chosen Key Personnel eligibility for the roles and advising them on their duties and responsibilities;
Advising on the documentary evidence required to support the application;
Advising on the information the Home Office requires but does not make clear in their guidelines that the company needs for the application (this knowledge has been gained from our years of experience assisting businesses obtain a Sponsor Licence);
Preparing and submitting the application and paying associated costs.
Why do I need a lawyer’s assistance?
Whilst it is possible for you to prepare and submit a sponsor licence application yourself, doing so will be time-consuming and carries a higher risk of rejection. Why spend your valuable time on administrative legal tasks, which if done incorrectly will lead to costly delays and additional legal fees to fix in the future?
The immigration rules are constantly evolving, navigating them without professional expertise can divert your focus from what matters most - managing and growing your business! Instead, you should focus on what you do best, managing and building your business and leave the legal administrative tasks to us. We have years of experience and expertise which allows us to prepare and submit the relevant application with accuracy, efficiency and minimal risk.
Whether you are looking to apply for your first Sponsor Licence, renew an existing licence, ongoing support with managing your current licence and ensuring compliance with your duties as a sponsor or have had an application refused or licence revoked, we can assist. We are repeatedly instructed to assist on the following:
full assistance with a first-time sponsor licence application;
review of a pre-prepared application and flagging errors likely to trigger a rejection;
assessing the eligibility of the individual(s) the business intends to sponsor;
conducting a mock pre-licence visit (auditing internal systems & interviewing staff) and providing a report;
training key personnel on the Sponsor Management System (SMS) and the compliance duties;
advising and assisting with licence renewal applications;
advising and assisting on assigning certificates of sponsorship;
full assistance with Skilled Worker Visa applications; and
advice on alternative visa or immigration routes.
Compliance Visit
Once your business has successfully obtained a Sponsor Licence, it must be capable of meeting its sponsorship duties, which can be managed by ensuring appropriate systems are in place to monitor your employees. Some (not all) immigration compliance responsibilities include:
monitoring employee attendance and absences;
retaining personnel documents of each employee on file;
ensuring right to work checks of each employee are up to date; and
reporting certain information using the SMS within the set timeframes.
The Home Office has the authority to conduct an immigration audit or compliance visit at random once your Sponsor Licence has been granted. If you are worried whether your business would satisfy a Home Office compliance visit, we can carry out a mock compliance visit for you. Get in touch with us on to make an enquiry.
Additional Resources
UK Government: Apply for a Sponsor Licence
https://www.gov.uk/uk-visa-sponsorship-employers
Comprehensive guidance from the UK government on applying for a sponsor licence, including eligibility, fees, and the application process.
UK Government: Skilled Worker Visa Guidance
https://www.gov.uk/skilled-worker-visa
Official guidance on the Skilled Worker Visa, detailing requirements for both employers and employees.
Home Office Employer Checking Service
https://www.gov.uk/employee-immigration-employment-status
A service for employers to check if a potential employee has the right to work in the UK, essential for ensuring compliance.
Speak to one of our Immigration Solicitors today ↓
Written by:
Head of Employment and Legal Operations
Trainee Solicitor
Legal Disclaimer
The matters contained in this article are intended to be for general information purposes only. This article does not constitute legal advice, nor is it a complete or authoritative statement of the law, and should not be treated as such. Whilst every effort is made to ensure that the information is correct at the time of writing, no warranty, express or implied, is given as to its accuracy and no liability is accepted for any error or omission. Before acting on any of the information contained herein, expert legal advice should be sought.