UK Sponsor Licence: How Businesses Can Hire Overseas Workers

If your business in Bolton or Greater Manchester wants to employ workers from outside the UK, you need a Sponsor Licence. Our sponsor licence solicitors in Bolton explain everything employers need to know.

Why You Need a Sponsor Licence

Since the UK’s Points-Based Immigration System came into effect in December 2020, employers who wish to recruit workers from outside the UK (and outside the Ireland) must first obtain a Sponsor Licence from UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI). Without one, you cannot legally employ overseas nationals on the Skilled Worker route.

Eligibility Criteria

To be eligible for a sponsor licence, your organisation must:

• Be a genuine business operating lawfully in the UK
• Have HR systems capable of monitoring sponsored workers
• Have no history of licence revocation or serious compliance failures
• Have appropriate personnel to manage the licence (Authorising Officer, Key Contact, Level 1 User)
• Offer genuinely eligible roles at the required skill and salary level

Application Process

Applications are submitted via the UKVI Sponsorship Management System (SMS). You must provide supporting documents including business registration, bank statements, HMRC registration evidence, and evidence of trading premises. The Home Office may conduct an unannounced compliance visit before or after granting the licence.

Application Fees (2026)

• Small/charitable sponsors: £536
• Medium/large sponsors: £1,476

Compliance Obligations

Once licensed, you have ongoing duties: right-to-work checks, record-keeping (salary, job title, contact details), reporting changes to sponsored workers’ circumstances within 10 working days, and retaining copies of relevant documents. Failure to comply can result in licence downgrade, suspension or revocation.

Assigning a Certificate of Sponsorship

To hire a specific overseas worker, you must assign them a Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) via the SMS. For Skilled Worker applications, this will be an “Undefined CoS” (for workers already in the UK) or a “Defined CoS” (for workers applying from outside the UK).