- How to apply for a sponsor licence
The Home Office sponsor licence application step by step, from choosing routes and key personnel to sending documents and getting a decision.
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- Sponsor licence eligibility requirements
The tests the Home Office applies before granting a sponsor licence, from a genuine UK trading presence to suitability checks and eligible roles.
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- Sponsor licence supporting documents
What Appendix A asks sponsor licence applicants to send, how many documents, the 5 working day deadline and the format UKVI accepts.
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- Sponsor licence processing times
How long the Home Office takes to decide a sponsor licence, the priority service, what can delay a decision, and timings for certificates after a grant.
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- Why sponsor licence applications are refused
The grounds in Annexes L1 to L3 of the sponsor guidance on which the Home Office will, normally will, or may refuse a licence, and what follows.
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- Sponsor licence key personnel roles
The Authorising Officer, Key Contact and Level 1 User explained, who can fill each role, the checks UKVI makes and the September 2026 changes.
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- Authorising Officer duties on a sponsor licence
What the sponsor guidance expects of an Authorising Officer, who can take the role, what they sign and approve, and what happens if the role is vacant.
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- The sponsorship management system (SMS) explained
What the Home Office sponsorship management system is for, who can use it, how access works after a licence is granted, and the user manuals.
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- Certificates of Sponsorship for employers
What a Certificate of Sponsorship is, what a sponsor must put on it, the fee, the 3-month window and the start-date rules, from the sponsor guidance.
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- Defined and undefined Certificates of Sponsorship
The difference between defined and undefined Certificates of Sponsorship, when each is used, how a defined CoS is applied for and the 90-day rule.
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- Certificate of Sponsorship allocation requests
How sponsors get, increase and renew their annual allocation of undefined Certificates of Sponsorship, what UKVI weighs and the priority option.
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- The Immigration Skills Charge explained
Who pays the Immigration Skills Charge, how much it costs by sponsor size and length of stay, the exemptions, and when it is refunded.
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- Sponsor compliance duties
The five groups of duties a licensed sponsor keeps, from reporting and records to wider UK law, with Home Office guidance references.
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- Right to work checks for sponsors
How right to work checks fit a sponsor's duties: the three check types, timing, follow-up checks, record keeping and the sanctions.
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- Sponsor reporting duties and deadlines
What a licensed sponsor must report to the Home Office, how to report it, and the 10 and 20 working day deadlines in the sponsor guidance.
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- Record keeping for sponsors
The documents Appendix D says a sponsor must keep for each sponsored worker, how long to keep them, and what the Home Office can ask to see.
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- Home Office compliance visits and checks
How Home Office compliance checks on sponsors work: when they happen, what officers look at, how to co-operate and what can follow.
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- Sponsor licence suspension
What sponsor licence suspension means, when the Home Office uses it, the 20 working day response window and the possible outcomes.
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- Sponsor licence revocation
How sponsor licence revocation works: the three annexes of grounds, effects on sponsored workers, the cooling-off period and reapplying.
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- B-ratings and sponsorship action plans
What a B-rating means for a sponsor, how a downgrade happens, the action plan and its fee, the three-month limit and the possible outcomes.
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- Sponsor licence renewal and validity
How long a sponsor licence lasts now that renewal has ended, the four-year exceptions, and what keeps a licence active.
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- Adding a route to a sponsor licence
How a licensed sponsor adds a route, when a fee applies, who must approve it, and when adding a route is blocked.
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- Care worker sponsorship after July 2025
What changed on 22 July 2025 for sponsoring care workers and senior care workers (codes 6135 and 6136), and the transition rules to 2028.
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- Changes of circumstances for sponsors
Which organisation changes a sponsor must report, the 20 working day deadline, how to report them, and what happens in insolvency or a takeover.
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