In addition to being a popular tourist destination, the United Kingdom attracts people from all over the world who want to live and work there. To encourage more people to live in the UK, the government has adopted a regulation requiring firms to secure the appropriate sponsor licence if they intend to hire staff from outside the UK and Ireland. This policy allows those who live outside of the United Kingdom to seek employment in the country.
This article provides comprehensive information about work visa sponsorship in the UK.
Sponsoring a UK work visa
UK work visa sponsorship is the approval granted by a licensed employer to engage foreign workers. If you are not a UK resident and want to work in the country, you must be sponsored by a licensed employer under the UK immigration system. This signifies that the employer has been granted permission to hire foreign workers and bring them to the UK.
When a business agrees to become a licensed sponsor, it must follow certain criteria and undergo Home Office checks. Sponsor licence holders have the following duties:
Maintaining any right-to-work papers, NI numbers, and contact information
Monitor sponsored individuals and alert the Home Office of any changes in circumstances.
Monitoring absences.
Types
There are two sorts of UK work visa sponsorship licences.
- ‘Workers’—for skilled or long-term work
- “Temporary labourers” refers to various sorts of temporary employment.
You can apply for a licence that includes one or both types of workers.
Companies List
To view the list of worker and temporary worker sponsors, click here. The list also includes information about the type of workers they are authorised to sponsor and their sponsorship rating.
How do you apply for UK work visa sponsorship?
Eligibility
To obtain an employment licence, you must meet certain criteria. You can’t have:
- Unspent criminal convictions for immigration and other crimes, including fraud and money laundering.
- had a sponsor licence cancelled during the last 12 months.
To handle sponsorship in your firm, it’s important to have effective mechanisms in place to monitor sponsored personnel.
UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) will assess your application and accompanying papers. They may visit your business to ensure that you are trustworthy and competent of carrying out your responsibilities.
Requirements
An eligible employer can then hire a worker if the job they’re intending to undertake pays well and requires a high degree of competence, or if it fits the other requirements for their visa. To learn more about the requirements for each sort of worker, please click on the appropriate link below.
- A skilled worker.
- A health or care worker
- A worker with a ‘Global Business Mobility’ visa, including senior or specialist workers, graduate trainees, secondment workers, UK expansion workers, or service suppliers.
- A scale-up worker
a worker on a government-approved exchange.
A worker with an International Sportsperson visa
A worker on an international accord.
A religious worker or minister
Each type of workers may have extra standards that must be met. Please review and fully comprehend these standards to ensure compliance.
Additional criteria for religious workers.
You must normally publicise any employment you provide to someone with a Religious Worker visa, unless it is a non-essential position or requires living within a religious order (for example, as a monk or nun).
You must keep track of when you do not need to publicise the job. You must demonstrate that there is no appropriate person to fill the post who does not require sponsorship.
Additional criteria for creative professionals.
Creative jobs performed by a Creative Worker visa holder include:
- Ballet dancers and other performers
- Actors in films and television
- Theatre and opera performers
- Film and television workers
- models
For creative employment, you have to ensure that either:
- You adhere to the creative workers’ code of practice (if one exists for that occupation).
- The employment is listed as a shortage occupation.
If the job is not on the shortage occupation list and there is no rule of practice, you must ensure that it cannot be performed by a worker who does not need sponsorship.
Additional restrictions for workers with an international sportsperson visa
For sporting jobs to be performed by someone on an International Sportsperson visa, you must get an endorsement letter from the relevant governing organisation.
Sponsoring under-16s
A child performance licence may be required if the worker participates in the following:
- Films, plays, concerts, or other public acts that the audience pays to view, or that take place in permitted premises
- Paid modelling assignments
You must ensure that the person organising the event applies at least 21 days before the event.
Sponsoring under 18
You can only sponsor a foreign worker under the age of 18.
- an International Sportsperson visa—they must be 16 or older.
- A Creative Worker visa has no minimum age.
- a Government Authorised Exchange visa – there is no minimum age.
You cannot sponsor a foreign worker under 18 on any other visa.
Document submission
You can scan or photograph your submission page and supporting documentation. Send them to the email address provided on the submission sheet. Ensure your files:
- are in PNG, JPEG, or PDF format
- Have descriptive titles of 25 or fewer characters.
- are of sufficient quality for reading.
If your documents are not in English or Welsh, you must provide a certified translation. If you are unable to scan and email the papers, please contact UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) using the contact information provided on the submission sheet.
Application Process
To obtain your licence, you must apply online. Click here to apply online.
Once you’ve completed the online application, you must send in:
- the submission document at the conclusion of the application
- Please provide supporting documents as requested.
Any affidavits or statutory declarations you submit must be attested by a qualified, independent person, such as an attorney, Notary Public, Justice of the Peace, Commissioner for Oaths, or (in Scotland only) a Councillor.
Fees
You must pay a charge when applying to become a licensed employer. The charge varies depending on the licence you’re asking for and the type of organisation you are.
Worker
- GBP 536 (a fee for modest or charitable sponsors)
- GBP 1,476 (fee for medium to large sponsors)
Temporary Worker
- GBP 536 (a fee for modest or charitable sponsors)
- GBP 536 (fee for medium/large sponsors)
Worker and temporary worker.
- GBP 536 (a fee for modest or charitable sponsors)
- GBP 1,476 (fee for medium to large sponsors)
Add a Worker licence to an existing Temporary Worker licence.
- No cost (fee for modest and charity sponsors)
- GBP 940 (fee for medium/large sponsors)
Add a Temporary Worker licence to an existing Worker licence.
- There are no fees for both small and large sponsors.
