This license allows you to sponsor an overseas national to work in the UK for up to two years.
The holder can work for your leisure or business, but not for more than 15 hours per week during the first year.
A sponsor license to employ someone from outside the European Economic Area (EEA) and Switzerland to work for you in the UK.
You might need a sponsor licence to employ someone from outside the European Economic Area (EEA) and Switzerland to work for you in the UK. This includes unpaid work, like running a charity.
Sponsoring someone doesn’t guarantee that they’ll be allowed to come to or stay in the UK.
Please note: Sponsor licences are only available to bonafide companies who meet strict criteria. You cannot use this route to sponsor another individual if you are not an established employer in the UK.
Claim Time Immigration Solicitors do not assist in sourcing /matching sponsors with employers. We only assist organisations to obtain sponsor licences and employees to obtain a work permit which will allow them to work for an existing sponsor licence holder who is willing to employ them.
Speak to our assessment team now to confirm your eligibility and options for free on 0800 970 2727.
To get a licence, you can’t have:
● unspent criminal
convictions for immigration offences or certain other crimes, such as fraud or
money laundering
● any history of failing to
carry out your sponsorship duties
You’ll need appropriate systems in
place to monitor sponsored employees. UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) will
review your application form and supporting documents. They may visit your
business to make sure you’re trustworthy and capable of carrying out your
duties.
The licence you need depends on
whether the workers you want to fill your jobs are:
● Tier 2 – skilled workers
with long-term job offers
● Tier 5 – skilled temporary
workers
You can apply for a
licence covering either tier or both.
Tier 2 is for skilled
workers who you want to employ long-term or permanently. It’s split into:
● General – the role must
meet the job suitability requirements
● Intra-Company Transfer –
for multinational companies which need to transfer employees to the UK
● Minister of Religion – for
people coming to work for a religious organisation (for up to 3 years)
● Sportsperson – for elite
sportspeople and coaches who will be based in the UK
Tier 5 is for skilled workers you
want to employ on a temporary basis. It’s split into:
● Creative and Sporting – to
work as a sportsperson (up to 1 year), entertainer or artist (up to 2 years)
● Charity Worker – for
unpaid workers (up to 1 year)
● Religious Worker – for
those doing preaching, pastoral and non-pastoral work (2 years)
● Government Authorised
Exchange – work experience (1 year), research projects or training, for example
practical medical or scientific training (2 years) to enable a short-term exchange
of knowledge
● International Agreement –
where the worker is coming to do a job which is covered by international law,
for example employees of overseas governments
You need to appoint people within
your business to manage the sponsorship process when you apply for a licence.
The main tool they’ll use is the sponsorship management system (SMS). The roles
are:
● authorising officer – a
senior and competent person responsible for the actions of staff and
representatives who use the SMS
● key contact – your main
point of contact with UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI)
● level 1 user – responsible
for all day-to-day management of your licence using the SMS
These roles can be filled
by the same person or different people. You can also appoint an optional level
2 user once you have your licence. This is an SMS user with more restricted
access than a level 1 user, for example they can’t withdraw a certificate of
sponsorship.
You and your staff will be
checked to make sure you’re suitable for these roles. You may not get your
licence if anyone involved in sponsorship has:
● an unspent criminal
conviction
● been fined by UKVI in the
past 12 months
● been reported to UKVI
● broken the law
● been a ‘key person’ at a
sponsor that had its licence revoked in the last 12 months
● failed to pay VAT or other
excise duty
You and your allocated
staff must also:
● be based in the UK most of
the time
● not be a contractor or
consultant contracted for a specific project
● not be subject to a
bankruptcy restriction order or undertaking, or a debt relief restriction order
or undertaking
● not have a history of
non-compliance with sponsor requirements
Your allocated staff must
usually be paid members of staff, or office holders. Read the full guidance on
appointing ‘key personnel’.
You must have at least one
level 1 user who is your employee. You can have other level 1 or level 2 users
employed by third-party organisations contracted to provide you with HR
services. Your level 2 user can be a temporary member of staff supplied by an
agency.
You can allocate any of the roles to
a UK-based legal representative, apart from the authorising officer role. Your
representative must be qualified to give immigration advice or services.
You’ll get an A-rated licence if your
application is approved.
An A-rated licence lets
you start assigning certificates of sponsorship. Your business will be listed
in the register of sponsors.
Your A-rated licence may
be downgraded to a B-rating at a later stage if you don’t continue to meet your
sponsor duties. If this happens, you won’t be able to issue new certificates of
sponsorship until you’ve made improvements and upgraded back to an A-rating.
You’ll still be able to issue certificates to workers you already employ who
want to extend, or who are switching from a Work Permit.
You need to follow an
‘action plan’ provided by UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) to upgrade your
licence. You have to pay £1,476 for an action plan. You must pay the fee within
10 working days of the dateUKVItells you about the downgrade. If you don’t,
you’ll lose your licence.
You’ll be upgraded to an
A-rating if you complete all the steps and there’s nothing else you need to
improve. You’ll lose your licence if you don’t complete all the steps. If you
need to make other improvements, you’ll be given another B-rating and will have
to follow a new action plan. You’ll have to pay the fee again.
You can only have 2
B-ratings in the 4 years that your licence is valid. You’ll lose your licence
if you still need to make improvements after your second action plan.
You can’t appeal if your application
is unsuccessful, but you can reapply. You may have to wait before reapplying –
the time will depend on your circumstances. You need to start a new
application. You have to wait up to 12 months before reapplying if you’ve been
fined for employing illegal workers and you lost your licence.
You must assign a certificate of
sponsorship to each foreign worker you employ. This is an electronic record,
not a physical document. Each certificate has its own number which a worker can
use to apply for a visa. Certificates must be used within 3 months from when
they’re assigned.
When you apply for your
licence you’ll be asked to estimate how many Tier 2 and Tier 5 certificates
you’ll need. These are called unrestricted certificates because you can get as
many as your business needs. You’ll need to give evidence that you need the
amount of certificates that you’ve asked for.
These are for:
● Tier 2 (General) workers
currently abroad who’ll be paid less than £159,600 a year and aren’t in an
inward investment post
● family members
(dependants) of Tier 4 migrants who are switching to a Tier 2 visa
You must apply for
restricted certificates for these workers through the sponsorship management
system (SMS). You’ll get access to this when you get your licence. There’s a
limited number of restricted certificates available each month. Each
application is assessed using a points system.
Applications are considered on the
first working day after the 10th day of the month. This is called the
‘allocation date’. If you apply after the 5th day of the month then your
application will be held until the next month’s allocation date. Your
application may also be held until the next month’s allocation date so that the
details of your application can be checked. Your restricted certificate will
appear in your SMSaccount on the allocation date if your application has been
approved. You can then assign a certificate to a worker. You can apply again if
your application isn’t approved.
You might have to pay an additional
charge for each foreign worker you employ. This is called the ‘immigration
skills charge’. You must pay this if they’re applying for a visa to work in the
UK for 6 months or more under either a:
● Tier 2 (General) visa
● Tier 2 (Intra-company
Transfer) visa
If the worker has applied
for their visa from within the UK, you must pay the charge even if they’re
applying for less than 6 months.
You won’t pay the
immigration skills charge if the worker you’re sponsoring:
● has a Tier 4 (Student)
visa and is switching to a Tier 2 (General) visa
● has a Tier 2
(Intra-company Transfer) Graduate Trainee visa
● will do a job with a
PhD-level standard occupational classification (SOC) code
You won’t need to pay the charge for
any of the worker’s dependants, for example their partner or child.
You can sponsor a worker if the job
they’re going to do has a suitable rate of pay and skill level. If your worker
has a Tier 2 (General) or Tier 2 (Intra-company Transfer) visa, the job will
usually need to be Regulated Qualifications Framework (RQF) level 6 or above.
There are separate rates
of pay and skill levels for:
● ballet dancers and other
dancers
● film and TV performers
● theatre and opera
performers
● film and TV workers
You may need to advertise
the job you’re offering if it’s not on the shortage occupation list. This is
known as carrying out the ‘resident labour market test’. You must advertise any
job you offer to a worker in the following categories:
● Tier 2 (General)
● Tier 2
(Minister of Religion) or Tier 5 (Religious Workers) unless it’s a non-essential
position or involves living within a religious order (such as a monk or nun)
● Tier 5 (Creative and
Sporting) in the creative and entertainment sector, unless you can explain why
the job can’t be done by a settled worker
You must place at least 2
adverts. Follow the rules in the ‘How to carry out the resident labour market
test’ section of the guidance for sponsors. The adverts make sure that there
are no suitable workers already living permanently in the UK. It must be a
genuine vacancy.
Each advert must run in
the UK for 28 days in most cases, either continuously or in 2 stages. If you
advertise in 2 stages, each advert still needs to run for a total of 28 days
and neither stage can be less than 7 days. You must be able to show that you
didn’t find a suitable worker.
You can’t sponsor a
foreign worker under 18 for:
● a Tier 5 (Youth Mobility
Scheme) visa
● a Tier 5 (Temporary Worker
– International Agreement) visa – if they’ll be working as a private servant in
a diplomatic household or in the household of an employee of an international
organisation
You can’t sponsor a child under 16
for a Tier 2 visa.
You must:
● check that your foreign
workers have the necessary skills, qualifications or professional
accreditations to do their jobs, and keep copies of documents showing this
● only assign certificates
of sponsorship to workers when the job is suitable for sponsorship
● tell UK Visas and
Immigration (UKVI) if your sponsored workers are not complying with the
conditions of their visa
Your licence may be
downgraded, suspended or withdrawn if you don’t meet them.
You must have HR systems
in place that let you:
● monitor your employees’
immigration status
● keep copies of relevant
documents for each employee, including passport and right to work information
● track and record
employees’ attendance
● keep employee contact
details up to date
● report to UKVI if there is
a problem, for example if your employee stops coming to work
You must report any
significant changes in your own circumstances within 20 working days, for
example if you:
● stop trading or become
insolvent
● substantially change the
nature of your business
● are involved in a merger
or take-over
You must also tell UKVI if
you’re changing your details, like your address or allocated roles.
You must make sure that
foreign workers under 18 have suitable care arrangements for their:
● travel to the UK
● arrival in the UK
● living arrangements in the
UK
You must also get a letter
from their parents giving consent to the care arrangements. You must get a
Disclosure and Barring Service check on any of your workers who need it. You’ll
lose your licence if you don’t do this.
You must get a licence from the local
education authority in the area where the child will work.
