Start here: a licence is not a worker’s visa
If your company wants to employ someone who needs Skilled Worker sponsorship, it will normally need the relevant Home Office sponsor licence. The company applies for the licence; an eligible worker later makes a separate visa application using a Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS). Approval of one is not approval of the other.
This guide focuses on a first Skilled Worker licence for a UK employer. It is general information, not an assessment of your company or immigration advice. Other routes and regulated sectors have additional requirements. Use the linked official guidance before paying or submitting.
1. Choose the route before collecting paperwork
A Worker licence can include Skilled Worker sponsorship. Temporary Worker and Global Business Mobility routes serve different purposes; they are not cheaper substitutes for an unsuitable Skilled Worker role. Decide which route your actual recruitment plan requires and which branches or work locations need to be covered.
2. Check the company is eligible and ready
UKVI considers whether the organisation operates lawfully, is suitable to act as a sponsor and can meet its duties. Relevant convictions, past immigration breaches and previous licence decisions can affect eligibility. The employer needs suitable people and working HR controls, not just a company registration number.
Before starting the form, nominate one application owner and one checker. As a practical preparation exercise, ask them to explain who checks right to work, who monitors attendance and who handles a UKVI request when the usual contact is away. If nobody owns these tasks, resolve that gap before applying.
3. Newly registered companies: show real operations
A new company is not automatically excluded, but incorporation alone does not establish an operating or trading business. Part 1 explains that an absence of meaningful activity, or circular transactions between connected businesses, can undermine an application. Do not manufacture invoices, roles or activity to obtain a licence.
For a business operating or trading for under 18 months, Appendix A normally requires its latest itemised business bank statement from a bank or building society meeting the specified PRA/FCA requirements, subject to the stated exceptions.
Practical preparation: separate genuine customer work from startup funding in your records. Keep a clear explanation of what your business sells, who its customers are and how the proposed employee fits. A polished website or a director’s cash injection is not a substitute for the evidence UKVI requires.
4. Check the proposed job, code and salary
Test the vacancy before committing to sponsorship costs. The duties must fit an eligible occupation and the salary must meet the rules that apply to that job and worker. A suitable-sounding title or a high advertised salary is not enough. Minimum wage and working-time rules also apply.
Prepare a job description that explains the work actually needed: responsibilities, reporting line, location, hours, required experience and pay. Choose the occupation code from those duties rather than adjusting the description to reach a preferred code. Healthcare, education and some transitional cases have different salary rules.
5. Appoint eligible key personnel
You must nominate an authorising officer, key contact and Level 1 user. The authorising officer oversees sponsorship; the key contact receives UKVI communications; the Level 1 user manages the licence through the sponsorship management system (SMS). One suitable person can hold multiple roles.
Check the personnel rules carefully. They cover suitability, UK presence, employment or office-holder status and other restrictions. At least one Level 1 user must normally be an employee, partner or director and a settled worker. Do not assume a consultant can replace every internal role; consult the full guidance for exceptions and your route.
Give your proposed personnel the actual responsibilities before naming them. Agree access, absence cover and a process for escalating changes. Never share SMS login credentials. Current GOV.UK guidance also says new Level 2 users can no longer be appointed.
6. Build the correct document pack
Most applicants need at least four supporting documents, but Appendix A determines the mandatory evidence and exceptions. Four convenient documents are not necessarily the right four. Skilled Worker applicants normally also need business and vacancy information: recruitment reasons, operating hours, organisation chart and proposed role details. Include identified-worker information where required.
- Match every required item to the relevant Appendix A section.
- Check names and addresses agree, or explain genuine differences.
- Use readable files and an index so the caseworker can locate each item.
- Ask a second person to compare the pack against the current requirements.
7. Budget for the licence and each worker separately
At the review date, the Worker licence application fee is £611 for small or charitable sponsors and £1,682 for medium or large sponsors. A business is usually small if it meets at least two of these: turnover no more than £15 million, assets no more than £7.5 million, and 50 or fewer employees. Confirm your classification before paying.
The Skilled Worker CoS assignment fee is £525 per worker. The Immigration Skills Charge may also apply: £480 for the first year plus £240 per additional six months for small or charitable sponsors; £1,320 plus £660 respectively for medium or large sponsors. Exemptions exist. These are not the worker’s visa application or health surcharge fees.
Do not pass the licence application fee or linked application costs to the sponsored worker. The employer must also bear the Skilled Worker CoS fee and any applicable Immigration Skills Charge. Check the official restrictions before drafting repayment clauses. Adviser fees, HR administration and ongoing salary costs are separate budget items.
8. Apply online, then send the submission pack
Use the official application service linked from GOV.UK. Check the organisation, routes and personnel details before payment. Appendix A requires the authorising officer’s signed submission sheet, all its pages and the required evidence to reach the stated email address within five working days after online submission. Follow the submission instructions and retain proof of sending.
GOV.UK accepts readable PDF, JPEG or PNG files, with descriptive filenames of no more than 25 characters. Documents outside English or Welsh need certified translations. Keep the application, payment receipt, final evidence pack and correspondence together in a restricted-access company folder.
9. Prepare for UKVI questions and compliance checks
Most applications are dealt with in under eight weeks. A limited faster-decision service may be available for an additional £750, targeting ten working days; availability and further checks matter. Do not promise an employee a fixed starting date solely on that estimate.
UKVI may assess your systems through compliance checks and ask for more information. Make sure the key contact can respond promptly. Practical rehearsal: can your team show a sample right-to-work process, explain a worker’s reporting line and locate records without relying on one absent person? Explain gaps honestly instead of creating retrospective records.
If the application is rejected as invalid or refused, read the decision carefully before submitting again. These outcomes have different consequences. A refusal can trigger a cooling-off period; a limited error-correction review is not a general appeal just because you disagree.
10. After approval: CoS, visa and right-to-work checks
A successful Skilled Worker licence application normally receives an A-rating and a register entry. The business then uses SMS for sponsorship. Defined CoS are for Skilled Worker applications made outside the UK; undefined CoS cover Skilled Worker applications made inside the UK. Use the correct process and allocation.
Assigning a CoS does not grant immigration permission. The worker must meet the visa requirements, and the employer must complete the appropriate right-to-work checks before employment starts. Check the terms of any existing permission rather than assuming a pending application permits work.
11. Treat compliance as an ongoing job
Approval is the start of the sponsor’s responsibilities. Maintain immigration-status and right-to-work records, current contact details and attendance monitoring. Report relevant worker and business changes through the required process and within the applicable deadlines. Significant business changes generally require reporting within 20 working days; do not apply that deadline to every worker event.
Set recurring internal reviews for personnel access, worker permission dates and reporting tasks. A spreadsheet or tool is only useful if someone checks and acts on it. Failing sponsor duties can lead to a downgrade, suspension or revocation.
Before you press submit: a final practical check
Use this as a preparation check, not a promise of approval. If an answer is uncertain, return to the official requirement or obtain advice before paying.
- Can we explain the business and the genuine recruitment need clearly?
- Do the intended duties, occupation code, pay and hours fit the relevant route?
- Have we checked personnel eligibility rather than just job titles?
- Does the document index map to the current mandatory requirements?
- Can the authorising officer sign and the team send the pack on time?
- Is the company funding the employer-side fees and ongoing duties?
- Who will answer UKVI questions and maintain records after approval?
When to get professional advice
Obtain advice from an appropriately regulated immigration adviser or solicitor where the company structure, founder’s immigration position, personnel eligibility, job classification or previous refusal is unclear. Buying or forming a company is not itself a visa route, and no checklist can guarantee a licence. SponsorRoles provides research information, not Home Office approval or individual legal advice.
Official sources
This guide supports your research and is not individual immigration advice.
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