Your sponsor licence no longer expires — but your duties never stop
Worker and Temporary Worker licences used to run for four years and had to be renewed with a fee. That requirement was removed, so existing licences continue without an expiry date and there is no renewal application to file. What has not changed is everything the licence depends on: accurate records, timely reporting, correct right to work checks and up-to-date key personnel. Those are now the only things keeping the licence alive.
- Renewal fee
- No longer charged
- Licence expiry
- None for Worker routes
- Certificate of Sponsorship fee
- £525
- IAA regulated advisers
- ILPA member (9304)
- ICO registered (ZB830408)
- Professional indemnity insured
What changed, in plain terms
- Worker and Temporary Worker licences no longer carry a four-year expiry date
- There is no renewal application and no renewal fee to pay
- Licences already held simply continue, subject to compliance
- The Home Office can still suspend or revoke a licence at any point
- Sponsors are still expected to keep the Sponsorship Management System accurate
What replaced the renewal checkpoint
Renewal used to force a periodic tidy-up: files were reviewed, key personnel were confirmed and processes were revisited. Without it, many sponsors drift for years without anyone testing whether the licence would survive a compliance visit. A scheduled internal review is now the sensible substitute.
- An annual self-review of sponsored worker files and right to work checks
- A confirmed owner for reporting duties, with cover during absence
- Sponsorship Management System user access reviewed when staff change
- Key personnel details updated whenever roles or people change
- A record of the checks you carried out, and when
Events that still need action from you
- Change of authorising officer, level 1 user or key contact
- Change of trading name, address, ownership or company structure
- New sites or entities you intend to sponsor workers at
- Sponsored workers leaving, changing role, salary or work location
- A need for more Certificates of Sponsorship than your current allocation allows
Who this page is for
- Sponsors who were expecting a renewal reminder that will never arrive
- HR teams that inherited a licence and are unsure what is outstanding
- Organisations whose key personnel have left since the licence was granted
- Sponsors who have not reviewed their files since the licence was granted
Home Office sponsor fees that still apply
| Sponsor licence renewal | No fee — renewal abolished |
|---|---|
| New sponsor licence — small or charitable sponsor | £611 |
| New sponsor licence — medium or large sponsor | £1,682 |
| Certificate of Sponsorship | £525 |
Home Office charges as published in our fee data (effective 8 April 2026). There is no renewal fee. Figures below are Home Office charges, not our professional fees.
Check where your licence actually stands
Tell us when your licence was granted and who currently holds the key personnel roles. We will tell you what needs updating and whether a fuller audit is worthwhile.
- IAA regulated advisers
- ILPA member (9304)
- ICO registered (ZB830408)
- Professional indemnity insured