Sponsor Licence Guidance: Essentials of sponsoring a worker

When it comes to sponsoring your perfect candidate or employee for a work visa, there are several key considerations to take into account. 

With some planning and budgeting, immigration sponsorship can be a key way to help diversify your workforce. We have compiled a guide to sponsor licenses to help you understand what’s involved in sponsoring workers.

1. Do you have the right sponsor licence (or know which you need to apply for)?

With 15 different types of worker sponsor licences, it can initially be quite overwhelming. Most of them have been named for easy recognition, but this isn’t always the case.

For example, an International Sportsperson licence will allow an organisation to sponsor elite sportspeople and coaches to work in the UK. 

The Minister of Religion licence is used to sponsor individuals working in a mainly pastoral leading role in a faith-based organisation. This is not to be confused with the Religious Worker visa which is suitable for those wanting to do religious work in a non-pastoral role or religious order.

What about the Global Business Mobility: Senior or Specialist Worker licence? This is for multinational companies who are transferring their overseas staff to the UK – an “intra-company transfer” visa. Not to be confused with the similarly named Global Business Mobility: UK Expansion Worker licence. This is for overseas business wishing to expand into the UK. This licence will allow the sponsorship of an existing overseas worker to help set-up and establish the business.

With over 128,500 work sponsor licences, the Skilled Worker licence is the most popular – accounting for around 85% of the total number of work sponsor licences held by organisations. We will focus on the Skilled Worker route for the rest of this sponsor licence guidance. This is the licence used to sponsor a migrant working in an approved, skilled role.

It is worth noting that sponsor licences are not interchangeable. For example, if you only hold a Minister of Religion licence, you can only sponsor a migrant for this visa and not, for example a Skilled Worker visa. You can apply to “top-up” and extend the scope of sponsorship.

2. How long does it take to get a sponsor licence?

This is one of the most common questions when it comes to sponsor licence guidance.

After submitting and paying for the online application form and sending a minimum of four supporting documents to the Home Office, they will usually decide within eight weeks.

Where time is of the essence, it is usually worth paying the premium priority service (in addition to the standard fee), which usually results in getting a decision within 10 working days.

An important point to remember is that the Home Office can request additional information or documents, or conduct a pre-licence compliance audit, which may delay the decision-making process. Once the licence has been granted, you can use it to sponsor multiple migrants.

3.    What are the costs associated with sponsorship?

There is the one-off sponsor licence application fee, currently ranging between £536 and £1,476 depending on the size of the business. This will increase to £574 and £1,579 respectively from 9 April 2025.

There are then additional costs to sponsor a migrant. Currently it costs £239 to assign a “Certificate of Sponsorship” to a migrant – increasing to £525 from 9 April 2025. There is also the Immigration Skills Charge which is an upfront levy charged for the length of sponsorship, at between £364 and £1,000 per year.

4.    Do we need a minimum headcount to apply for a sponsor licence?

In most cases, you will usually need to have at least one paid employee who is a British citizen or has indefinite leave to remain, in order to meet the core requirement to apply.

5.    Are there minimum salary requirements?

In most cases, the starting point is £38,700 gross per annum, which is based on a 37.5-hour week. However, there will be instances where you need to pay a higher figure than this to meet the rules for the role you are sponsoring because it has a higher “going rate”, as well as pro-rating the salary figure.

In specific circumstances, usually based on the migrant’s circumstances, it is possible to pay a lower salary – down to £23,200 (although this will change to £25,000 from 9 April 2025). This will also allow for a discount on the full “going rate” ranging between 10% and 30% for example if the sponsored role is found in the Immigration Salary List or where the applicant qualifies as a “new entrant”. 

6.    Can any role be sponsored?

A role can only be sponsored if it appears on one of the approved lists. The job also needs to be skilled at RQF Level 3 or above. This is the equivalent of Scottish Highers or A Levels in England.

You need to obtain a relevant “Certificate of Sponsorship” to confirm the skill level and pay for this so the migrant can apply for their visa.

7.    How long is the visa valid for?

You have absolute control how long you want to sponsor a migrant for, and therefore how long their visa lasts. There is no minimum sponsorship period, but each Certificate of Sponsorship can only cover a period of five years.

8.    What documents should the individual provide with their visa application?

It is essential that applicants provide their passport as part of their application. They will need to meet the English language requirement, which they might automatically meet by being a national of an approved “majority English speaking country”, by having a suitable Bachelor’s degree or above, or by sitting a suitable, approved English language test. Certain sponsored roles will require criminal record checks, and applicants from certain countries may need to undergo an approved tuberculosis test. In some instances, the applicant will also need to provide their bank statements to meet the financial maintenance requirements.

9.    Does the business need to pay for the visa application costs?

Sponsoring a migrant can be costly, but a useful investment. It is a commercial decision whether the business pays and recover this under a “clawback agreement” or similar tool, or simply requiring the individual to pay directly including the mandatory visa application fee (currently ranging between £719 to £1,639 for a standard application – increasing from 9 April 2025 to £769 and £1,751 respectively) and Immigration Health Surcharge. The latter is also charged upfront at £1,035 per year for an adult, for the length of sponsorship. 

For those applying for a Health and Care Worker visa, the fees will be discounted and there is no requirement to pay the Immigration Health Surcharge.

If you pass on certain costs to (recover from) the migrant, you could be in breach of your sponsor licence duties and obligations – giving the Home Office ground to take action against you up to and including revoking your sponsor licence.

10.    What other duties and obligations does a business have?

There are quite a few and we can offer further sponsor licence guidance on these. The Home Office have been conducting more compliance visits and are taking a much stronger enforcement stance than the previous Government. 

You will need to review your processes and policies ensuring compliance in areas such as: right to work checks; record-keeping; and reporting requirements relating to the sponsor migrant and the business itself.

At Burness Paull we have years of experience dealing with the sponsorship system. We can guide you through the process and ensure compliance with the immigration rules to maximise the chance of success. Get in touch with our Immigration team.

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