Get Your UK Sponsor Licence Right First Time

Apply for a UK sponsor licence with a specialist adviser: eligibility check, Key Personnel selection, HR systems audit and full Appendix A submission package.

Wesbridge Associates is an IAA-regulated UK immigration law firm. Our advisers support individuals, families and UK sponsors with skilled worker visas, sponsor licences, family routes, settlement (ILR), British citizenship, appeals and compliance — combining experienced legal advice with AI-powered self-service tools.

Reviewed by Wesbridge Associates' IAA-regulated immigration advisers. Last updated: July 2026.

A UK sponsor licence lets an employer sponsor overseas workers under the Skilled Worker, Health and Care Worker, Global Business Mobility, Scale-up, Minister of Religion, International Sportsperson or Temporary Worker routes. Wesbridge Associates prepares sponsor licence applications end to end — eligibility assessment, key personnel selection, mandatory HR and recruitment systems, supporting documents from Appendix A of the sponsor guidance, the online application and post-grant compliance support.

Eligibility for a sponsor licence

Your organisation must be a genuine UK-based entity (or a UK branch of an overseas group), able to prove it is trading lawfully, and free of unspent convictions for immigration or serious criminal offences by the business or its key personnel. The Home Office looks at genuineness of the vacancies you intend to sponsor, whether the roles sit at RQF Level 3 or above for Skilled Worker, and whether you have the HR systems in place to monitor sponsored workers.

Key personnel roles

You must nominate three key personnel on the Sponsorship Management System (SMS), all normally UK-based and settled or otherwise permitted to hold the role: the Authorising Officer (the most senior person responsible for sponsorship), the Key Contact (main liaison with the Home Office) and at least one Level 1 User (day-to-day SMS user). Roles can be combined in small organisations. Anyone with an unspent conviction for a listed offence, a history of non-compliance, or who has been fined by the Home Office in the previous 12 months cannot be a key personnel.

Compliance duties from day one

A licensed sponsor must: keep right-to-work checks on file for every sponsored worker, retain contact details and up-to-date addresses, keep a copy of the CoS and job description, monitor attendance, report changes (missed work of 10+ consecutive working days, change of role/salary/location, early termination, absconding) via SMS within the specified windows (usually 10 working days), and cooperate with announced or unannounced Home Office compliance visits. Failure can lead to downgrading (A→B rating), suspension or revocation.

How it works with Wesbridge

Step 1 — genuineness and eligibility review of your business, key personnel and intended roles. Step 2 — mock compliance audit: we test your HR, right-to-work and recruitment systems against the sponsor duties in Workers and Temporary Workers: guidance for sponsors, Part 3. Step 3 — Appendix A document bundle prepared, application drafted on the sponsor portal, submission fee paid (currently £574 small/charitable, £1,579 medium/large). Step 4 — response to any Home Office pre-decision queries or compliance visit. Step 5 — post-grant SMS training for your Level 1 Users, CoS allocation strategy and ongoing compliance calendar.

After you are granted a licence

You will be issued an A-rating (the standard grant) for 4 years, with an annual CoS allocation you can request and top up in-year. You can then assign Defined CoS (for out-of-country Skilled Worker applicants) or Undefined CoS (for in-country switches and non-Skilled Worker routes) subject to paying the CoS fee (currently £525 for Skilled Worker) and the Immigration Skills Charge (£1,000 per year for medium/large sponsors, £364 for small/charitable). Ongoing compliance is monitored; renewals were abolished in April 2024, so a licence continues indefinitely provided you meet your duties.

Frequently asked questions

How long does a sponsor licence application take?

Standard processing is currently around 8 weeks from a complete submission. Priority processing, where slots are available (10 per day, released at 9am), reduces this to roughly 10 working days for an additional £500. Add time for pre-submission preparation and any pre- or post-decision compliance visit.

Can a start-up or new company get a licence?

Yes. New companies with limited trading history can still qualify but must provide additional Appendix A evidence (business plan, bank statements, lease, evidence of trading) and are more likely to face a compliance visit. We routinely secure licences for companies less than 12 months old where the vacancy and business genuineness are well evidenced.

Can costs be passed on to the sponsored worker?

No. It is a breach of the sponsor duties (and can lead to revocation) to pass on the sponsor licence application fee, the Certificate of Sponsorship fee or the Immigration Skills Charge to the worker. The worker's own visa fee and Immigration Health Surcharge are their responsibility unless the employer chooses to reimburse them.

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