Sponsor License

New sponsor licence application guidelines have been released by the Home Office. The new Skilled Worker visa route has replaced the Tier 2 (General) visa route for sponsored work, which overhauled the Tier 2 visa route in the UK in December 2020. The European Nationals and their family members who have not been given settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme will no longer be able to work in the UK from 1 January 2021 unless they have a valid sponsor. 

Therefore it is important for the businesses to obtain a Skilled Worker license for their companies to sponsor their employees from outside the UK.

What are the requirements for obtaining a sponsor licence?

As a sponsor, your organisation must have a presence in the United Kingdom and be operating or dealing legitimately inside the country. A single licence may cover all of your connected UK organisations, or you can apply for individual licences for each branch, depending on your specific needs if you have numerous UK branches.

There are a number of ways to prove that your business is registered in the United Kingdom, including submitting a copy of your companies house incorporation certificate. An additional piece of documentation that may be requested is proof of approval from your local planning authority to operate your particular line of business at your trade location.

If you want to work in the UK, you must be able to prove to the Home Office that you can provide legitimate employment in a skilled occupation and that you will pay the relevant wage rate as per the Home Office guidelines.

As part of your application for a sponsor licence, you agree to take on all of the responsibilities that come with that position.

Our Sponsor license team can assist you in obtaining the license, preparing for the Home Office audit, preparing and organising your Human Resource system, collating your financial and professional documents etc. 

Our Sponsor license team has in-depth knowledge, they can advise you from start till the end of the process and make things happen in a short time frame. 

How much does it cost to apply for a sponsor licence?

The fee for the sponsor license varies according to the portfolio of the business and the number of employees it has. 
The sponsor must renew the license every four years and pay the fee.

Medium or large-sized companies pay £1476 while a small-sized company must pay a fee of £536. 

What is a medium to large-sized company?

Two of the following conditions must be met for an organisation to be considered a small company. 

The company have 50 or fewer employees. 

The total assets of the company are worth £5.1 million or less, and/or
The company’s annual turnover is £10.2 million or less. 

What are the benefits of having a Sponsor license for the company?

It allows you to employ the best talent from outside the UK on a competitive salary package as the UK is a desirable country for any individual to live and work in.

It allows you to control the employee turnover of the company and saves the HR cost in the longer run.

Sponsored employees aim to stay with the company for at least 5 years to attain Indefinite Leave to Remain in the UK, therefore, it brings stability to the company.

What is the Sponsor Licence rating?

Once the application for sponsorship license is accepted the business automatically receives an A-rated license status on the UKVI Sponsor License Register list.

The status always remains the same, unless the license holder breaches any of the requirements or the procedures addressed by the UKVI This can be considered as moving from Green to Amber, where, the License holder must take appropriate actions to address the shortfalls in their system. During this time you will not be able to issue a new Certificate of Sponsorship until you demonstrate that you have made the improvements and have regained A-rating status.

The UKVI will provide you with an action plan which you will need to follow to upgrade your license to an-A rating, the cost of the action plan is £1476.

Please consult with our very experienced team who can guarantee you that your license will be upgraded to A-rating.

We deal with these matters on a no-win-no-fee basis. 

Failure to fulfil your sponsor obligations might result in your licence being degraded to a B. If you find yourself in this predicament, the UKVI will present you with an action plan for restoring your licence to an A-rating. The cost of the strategy is £1,476.

Certificates of sponsorship will not be issued until your organisation has made adjustments and regained its A-rating.

Call or Submit Form to speak with one of our Solicitors to have an assessment for a Sponsorship License.