Sponsor Licence

Application fees are £574 for small businesses and charities, or £1,579 for medium and large organizations. From April 2024, sponsor licences are valid for 10 years (previously 4 years) and auto-renew, eliminating renewal fees. Processing typically takes 8 weeks.

Your business must be genuine and trading, have appropriate HR systems, demonstrate you can meet sponsor duties, have suitable Key Personnel (including at least one Level 1 User who is a settled worker and direct employee/director), and not intend to sponsor workers for personal capacity roles.

Key 2025 changes include: prohibition on sponsoring workers in personal capacity, stricter rules on passing fees to sponsored workers, enhanced Key Personnel requirements (Level 1 User must be settled worker), and increased skill thresholds requiring most roles to be RQF6+ (graduate level) from July 22, 2025.

From July 22, 2025, most sponsored roles must be RQF6+ (graduate level). Some RQF3-5 roles remain available through the Immigration Salary List or Temporary Shortage List until December 2026. Care worker sponsorship for new overseas workers closed on July 22, 2025, though existing workers can switch until July 2028.

Key duties include: maintaining accurate records of sponsored workers, reporting changes in circumstances within 10 working days, ensuring genuine vacancies, paying correct salaries, conducting right-to-work checks, and being available for Home Office compliance visits. Non-compliance can result in licence revocation.

Once licensed, you use the Sponsorship Management System (SMS) to issue CoS to eligible workers. There are two types: Defined CoS (for workers outside UK) processed within 1 working day, and Undefined CoS (for workers in UK) with no annual cap. Each CoS confirms the job details and enables visa applications.

If refused, there's no automatic right of appeal, but you may request reconsideration in specific circumstances. Common refusal reasons include inadequate HR systems, unsuitable Key Personnel, or failure to demonstrate genuine trading. We help address refusal reasons and reapply when appropriate.