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Sponsor Licence for UK Employers

A practical guide for UK employers to applying for a Worker or Temporary Worker sponsor licence, and to the duties that keep it safe once granted.

Reviewed against GOV.UK on 18 August 2026.

A sponsor licence is Home Office permission to recruit from outside the UK labour market. GOV.UK puts it plainly: you will usually need a sponsor licence to employ someone to work for you from outside the UK. Without a licence you cannot assign a Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS), and without a CoS a worker cannot apply on the Skilled Worker or any other sponsored route.

The two licence types and the routes they cover

UK Visas and Immigration issues two licences. Employers may hold one or both.

• Worker licence - for longer-term, skilled employment: Skilled Worker, Senior or Specialist Worker (Global Business Mobility), Minister of Religion and International Sportsperson.
• Temporary Worker licence - for time-limited roles: Scale-up Worker, Creative Worker, Charity Worker, Religious Worker, Government Authorised Exchange, International Agreement, Seasonal Worker, and the Graduate Trainee, Service Supplier, UK Expansion Worker and Secondment Worker strands of Global Business Mobility.

Once granted, a licence is valid indefinitely unless UKVI revokes it or you surrender it, so there is no longer a four-yearly expiry date or renewal fee to diarise. The exceptions are UK Expansion Worker and Scale-up licences, which are granted for a maximum of four years.

Are you eligible?

UKVI tests three things. First, that you are a genuine organisation with an operating or trading presence in the UK (for UK Expansion Worker, a UK footprint). Second, that you and your key people have no unspent convictions for immigration offences or certain other crimes such as fraud or money laundering - the full list sits at Annex L4 of the sponsor guidance. Third, that your existing human resources and recruitment practices are capable of meeting the sponsor duties: monitoring workers, keeping records and reporting changes on time. UKVI assesses the form and documents and may make a pre-licence visit before deciding.

You cannot apply if your licence was revoked in the previous 12 months (24 months if it has been revoked more than once), or, with limited exceptions, if an application was refused in the previous six months.

The application, documents and fees

You apply online, appoint your key personnel and pay the fee, then send supporting documents. Most organisations must send a minimum of four documents (or four combinations of documents) from Appendix A to the sponsor guidance, made up of mandatory documents for your organisation type and route plus optional documents to reach the minimum. Documents are normally sent electronically as PDF, JPEG or PNG. They must reach UKVI no later than five working days after you submit the online application - miss that and the application is rejected without consideration and the fee is not refunded. The submission sheet must be sent in full, every page signed and dated by your authorising officer.

You are a small sponsor if at least two of the following apply: annual turnover of £15 million or less, total assets worth £7.5 million or less, or 50 employees or fewer. Charities pay the small rate. Note that a Temporary Worker licence costs the same whatever your size.

Most applications are dealt with in less than eight weeks. A pre-licence priority service costs an extra £750 for a decision within 10 working days. Slots are limited each working day and allocated first come, first served, and the service is not available for UK Expansion Worker, Service Supplier, Secondment Worker, Scale-up, Government Authorised Exchange, International Agreement or Seasonal Worker applications.

Key personnel

• Authorising officer - the most senior person in your organisation responsible for the recruitment of all sponsored workers. Must be a paid member of staff or an office holder; an external adviser cannot hold the role.
• Key contact - your main point of contact with UKVI. Can be a paid member of staff, an office holder or a UK-based representative.
• Level 1 user - runs day-to-day sponsorship on the Sponsorship Management System (SMS), including assigning CoS. Must be an employee, director or partner, and at least one Level 1 user must be a settled worker.
• Level 2 user - fewer permissions: can create and assign CoS and report only on CoS they created. Can be staff, an employee of an HR partner, a temporary worker or a UK-based representative.

Certificates of Sponsorship

Defined CoS are for Skilled Workers applying from outside the UK. You request each one through the SMS and requests are usually approved within one working day. Undefined CoS cover in-UK Skilled Worker applications and the other sponsored routes; you estimate your annual need when you apply and request more if the allocation runs out. The fee is £525 for Worker routes and £55 for Temporary Worker routes and International Sportsperson roles of 12 months or less. The worker must use the assigned CoS to apply within three months of assignment and cannot apply more than three months before the job start date. You must pay the CoS fee yourself - recouping it from the worker may result in revocation.

Immigration Skills Charge

Payable when you assign a CoS to someone applying for a Skilled Worker or Senior or Specialist Worker visa.

No charge is due for occupation codes 2111, 2112, 2113, 2114, 2115, 2119, 2161, 2162 and 2311; where the CoS was assigned before 6 April 2017; where the worker is switching from a student visa in the UK and later extends; for dependants; or for Global Business Mobility workers who are EU nationals or hold a Latvian non-citizen's passport, transferred temporarily for no more than 36 months on a CoS assigned on or after 1 January 2023.

Sponsor duties, and what happens if you slip

Record keeping. Appendix D of the sponsor guidance lists the documents you must hold for each sponsored worker and how long to keep them. Paper or electronic is fine, but they must be produced on request.

Reporting. Changes affecting a sponsored worker - unauthorised absence of more than 10 consecutive working days, salary falling below the CoS level, a change of work location or a change of role within the same occupation code - must be reported within 10 working days. Changes affecting your organisation - key personnel, structure, insolvency, mergers, takeovers or a change of ownership - must be reported within 20 working days. If you know or suspect a worker has breached their conditions, tell UKVI as soon as reasonably practicable.

Compliance visits. UKVI may visit announced or unannounced. You must give full access on demand to any premises or sites under your control; officers may inspect records, speak to staff and photograph the premises.

Consequences. Lesser breaches lead to a B-rating and an action plan, set for a fixed period of three months and charged for. While B-rated you cannot sponsor any new workers until you regain your A-rating, and a sponsor can only be B-rated twice in any four-year rolling period. Suspension stops you assigning CoS; existing workers with valid permission are unaffected unless the licence is then revoked. Revocation ends the licence: you cannot reapply for at least 12 months (24 months if revoked more than once), sponsored workers' CoS are cancelled and their permission is normally cut to 60 days, or the time remaining if less, to find a new sponsor or leave. A worker involved in the conduct that cost you the licence loses their permission without the 60 days. The public register of licensed sponsors shows who is licensed, for which categories of worker, and their rating.

What changed in 2025 and 2026

• Skill level. From 22 July 2025 Skilled Worker jobs must normally be skilled to RQF level 6 (graduate level), up from RQF 3 - around 180 occupations lost eligibility.
• Salary. The general threshold is £41,700 a year, or the going rate if higher. Lower options apply to specific discount categories such as PhD holders, new entrants and listed occupations.
• Temporary Shortage List. An interim list of RQF 3 to 5 occupations important to the Modern Industrial Strategy, alongside an expanded Immigration Salary List. Entries are time-limited and the jobs currently listed are due to be removed by the end of 2026.
• English. From 8 January 2026 Skilled Worker applicants must show CEFR level B2. Those who held permission before that date and are extending or switching need only B1. A B2 requirement at settlement follows on 26 March 2027.
• Pay period test. From 26 March 2026 the worker must be paid the required salary in each pay period, subject to the variations already allowed in the Rules - so underpayment shows up sooner.
• Fees and skills charge. Licence fees rose on 8 April 2026 to £611 and £1,682, and the Immigration Skills Charge is now £480 and £1,320 for the first 12 months.

How PRIMEVISA helps

• Eligibility and readiness review before you apply, covering trading presence, key personnel choices and the four Appendix A documents you will actually rely on.
• End-to-end application handling, including the submission sheet and getting documents in within the five-working-day window, plus priority service where it is available.
• HR and SMS system design so 10 and 20 working-day reports, Appendix D files and right to work checks happen automatically, not from memory.
• Mock audits and urgent response on compliance visits, action plans, suspension and revocation, including protecting sponsored staff within the 60-day window.

Common questions

How long does a sponsor licence application take, and can it be sped up?
Most applications are dealt with in less than 8 weeks. You may be able to pay an extra 750 pounds for the pre-licence priority service, which considers eligible requests within 10 working days. Slots are limited each working day and allocated first come, first served, and the service is not available for UK Expansion Worker, Service Supplier, Secondment Worker, Scale-up, Government Authorised Exchange, International Agreement or Seasonal Worker applications.

How much does a sponsor licence cost?
From 8 April 2026 a Worker licence costs 611 pounds for a small or charitable sponsor and 1,682 pounds for a medium or large sponsor. A Temporary Worker licence costs 611 pounds regardless of size. You count as small if at least two of these apply: turnover of 15 million pounds or less, total assets of 7.5 million pounds or less, or 50 employees or fewer.

Does a sponsor licence expire and need renewing?
No. A sponsor licence is now valid indefinitely unless UKVI revokes it or you surrender it, so there is no renewal application or renewal fee. The exceptions are UK Expansion Worker and Scale-up licences, which are granted for a maximum of four years.

What is the difference between a defined and an undefined Certificate of Sponsorship?
Defined CoS are for Skilled Workers applying from outside the UK; you request each one through the SMS and requests are usually approved within one working day. Undefined CoS cover in-UK Skilled Worker applications and other sponsored routes, and are held as an annual allocation. Both cost 525 pounds on Worker routes and 55 pounds on Temporary Worker routes, and the worker must apply within three months of the CoS being assigned.

What happens to our sponsored staff if the licence is revoked?
Their Certificates of Sponsorship are cancelled and their permission is normally curtailed to 60 days, or the time remaining on their visa if that is less, within which they must find a new sponsor or leave the UK. A worker who was involved in the conduct that led to revocation loses their permission without the 60-day grace period.

Related guides

• UK work visas: Skilled Worker and sponsored routes
• Skilled Worker visa refusal: what to do next
• UK students and the Graduate route
• UK visa fees 2026
• Health and Care Worker visa

This page summarises guidance published on GOV.UK and was last reviewed on 18 August 2026. It is general information, not immigration advice on your own case. PRIMEVISA LTD is regulated by the Immigration Advice Authority, registration F201600043.

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