Sponsorship Licence

In order to apply for a Sponsorship Licence, you will need to show:

• your company is active and trading;
• you have adequate human resource systems to ensure your non-resident worker* employees have immigration permission to work;
• the company has not previously incurred civil penalties or criminal convictions for illegal immigration employment; and the company does not have a history of non-compliance.

* A resident worker is a British or a settled person or someone who holds appropriate work permission in another category, all others require permission to work.

The Home Office can audit an employer’s files at any time to ensure the appropriate steps have been undertaken to comply with the Sponsorship Licence requirements.

Similarly, an Entry Clearance or Immigration Officer can make additional checks when deciding whether to grant permission for an employee to enter or stay in the UK based on a Certificate of Sponsorship.

A decision maker can refuse an application under the Skilled worker route where there are 'reasonable grounds to believe' that the job on offer;

• is not genuine
• has been exaggerated to satisfy the skilled worker threshold threshold
• has been tailored to exclude resident workers or
• the applicant is not qualified to undertake the job.

Once issued a CoS by a Sponsorship Licence, an individual can then apply for leave to enter or remain in the UK (visa permission) as a Sponsored Skilled Worker.

CoS's can be issued by a Sponsorship Licence holder to:

- Skilled Worker - Experienced hires and new entrants. The Home Office no longer requires UK employer to advertise the position in what used to be known as the resident labour market test. An employer must demonstrate that there is a genuine vacancy within the business which meets the skills threshold and the requisite minimum salary levels.  

New hires from outside the UK are allocated a defined certificate of sponsorship. All other types of certificate are known as undefined.

- Global Business Mobility (senior, specialist, graduate worker and secondment) are intra-company transfers, i.e. used by multi-national organisations to transfer employees from an overseas office, subsidiary or sister company to fill a skilled post in the UK which cannot be filled by a locally recruited employee.

Global Business Mobility visas can used to transfer employees for graduate training, skills transfer and short & long term purposes depending on the circumstances. Minimum salary thresholds and prior employment requirements can apply.

- Shortage occupations. Certain posts identified by the Home Office in conjunction with the Migration Advisory Committee are deemed to be recognised shortage areas, i.e. where there are insufficient suitably qualified resident workers available to meet the UK’s requirements. The shortage occupation list changes periodically depending upon the prevailing circumstances in the UK economy and since Brexit has become more so.

- Individuals that have either already been retained by the company whilst on other immigration permission or who have gone through a graduate recruitment process (for example, Students following the completion of a degree or Graduate visa holders).

The Home Office charges a fee to employers both for the initial Sponsorship Licence registration application, and thereafter, to issue CoS's.

Premium sponsor scheme

Employers can register with the Home Office through a 'Premium sponsor scheme' which allows them to have visa applications processed through a 'priority postal service' route within 7 days for a Sponsorship Licence.

Premium sponsorship licence Skilled worker and Tier 5 (large sponsor) - £25000

Premium sponsorship licence Skilled Worker (small sponsor) - £8000

Premium sponsorship licence Student - £8000

Sponsor licence application immigration fees

Skilled worker large sponsorship licence - £1476

Skilled worker small sponsorship licence - £536

Student sponsorship licence - £536

Tier 5 sponsorship licence - £536

CoS fee

Skilled Worker CoS - £239

Once the CoS has been issued by the Sponsorship Licence holder, a skilled worker must then apply for a visa to enter the UK, or if already in the UK in a qualifying category, apply to the Home Office to change the basis of their stay in the UK.

Optional Super-priority Visa and Priority Visa services are available for most skilled worker immigration applications.

The Home Office can visit the employer’s premises to check documentation procedures as part of the Sponsorship Licence application process.

This is a key role for a licence holder. The employer must provide an Authorising Officer who will have ultimate responsibility for all Sponsorship Licence matters. This role cannot be outsourced to a solicitor or legal representative.

The Authorising Officer must then provide details of:

• the primary contact for any queries regarding sponsorship;
• a key contact; and 
• Level 1 Users, i.e. those authorised to issue Certificates of Sponsorship on the employer’s behalf. 

Both the key contact and Level 1 User roles can be fulfilled by a solicitor or representative.

Once the sponsorship licence registration is approved, an employer will be supplied with details of how to issue CoS.

The shift of emphasis from the Home Office issuing work permits to employers issuing CoS's through the Sponsorship Licence system placed an executive burden on an employer, it means employers are the gatekeepers of the UK’s immigration system; with the privilege of holding a sponsorship licence comes significant penalties if the system is abused, even if non-compliance was unintentional.

Employers are granted undefined Certificates of Sponsorship, which can be used to sponsor in-country application, through an annual limit based on the number of certificates granted in the previous year, although additional ones can be requested either as part of the annual allocation or by requesting an increase to the allocation. 

Please note when applying for additional increase for undefined Certificates of Sponsorship, the processing time for such requests is up to 18 weeks, although for an additional fee of £200 a licence holder can request to prioritise the request.

Employers can request 'Defined' Certificates of Sponsorship for out of country applicants. 

Employers must keep very detailed records and can be audited by the Home Office at any stage.

Moreover, there are circumstances in which employers and managers are under an obligation to notify the Home Office of any breach of the immigration rules by an employee.

Currently fines of up to £10,000 or more can be levied against the corporate body and individual complicit managers for any breach of the immigration regulations.