Sponsor licences
A sponsor licence lets you hire the best person for the job from anywhere in the world, and keep them. The Home Office checks every document and refuses on technicalities, and a refusal means a cooling-off period before you can try again. We prepare the application so it would pass a compliance visit before it is even sent.
Is this you?
UK businesses and charities hiring from overseas for the first time, adding routes, or renewing an existing licence.
What we do for you
- Confirm eligibility and the right licence type and size
- Appoint and brief key personnel (Authorising Officer, Key Contact, Level 1 User)
- Review your HR systems against sponsor duties
- Assemble the specified documents
- Submit and handle the Home Office’s questions and any pre-licence visit
- Request your first certificates
- Train your team on reporting duties, so it stays right after grant
What we check before anything is submitted
- Company registration, trading and premises
- Specified documents, exactly as the guidance lists them
- Key personnel’s backgrounds
- Right-to-work and record-keeping processes
- The genuineness of the roles you plan to fill and their codes and salaries
The fee, the timescale and who does the work
Small or charitable sponsor £2,200 to £2,800 plus VAT; medium or large £2,800 to £3,500 plus VAT; licence, first certificate and first Skilled Worker visa as one package £2,700 to £4,200 plus VAT. Renewal £1,400 to £1,800 plus VAT.
Your exact fixed fee is confirmed on the free call and agreed in writing before any chargeable work starts. Home Office fees and the health surcharge are paid separately; see the Fees page for the full list.
Our fee covers taking your instructions, assessing eligibility, telling you what evidence is needed and reviewing it, preparing and drafting the application and any representations, submitting it, dealing with Home Office requests for information, and advising you on the decision.
Typical timescale. Usually 8 weeks, faster with priority.
Who handles it. A named, Law Society accredited caseworker runs your matter from the first call to the decision, supervised by a solicitor who signs off the application.
Questions we hear every week
How long does a licence last?
Until it expires or is revoked; we diarise renewal and reporting.
Can a start-up apply?
Yes, with the right evidence of trading.
What does the Home Office check on a visit?
Your records, your people and whether the jobs are real; we rehearse it with you.
Hire from anywhere. Keep your licence.
Start with a free call.
Twenty minutes, booked online, nothing charged. The route, the cost and whether you meet the rules today.