Certificate of Sponsorship: Complete Guide 2026

Certificates of sponsorship will generally always be required when a UK company is planning to hire an overseas worker who is not exempt from requiring sponsorship.

If you are sponsoring a worker for one of the following visas or applying for one of these visas yourself, it is likely that a certificate of sponsorship will be necessary:

• Skilled Worker visa
• One of the Global Business Mobility visas:
  • Senior or Specialist visa
  • Graduate Trainee visa
  • Secondment Worker visa
  • UK Expansion Worker visa
  • Service Supplier visa
• Scale-Up Worker visa
• Seasonal Work visa
• International Sportsperson visa
• International Agreement (Temporary Work) visa
• Creative Worker visa
• Charity Worker visa
• Minister of Religion or Religious Worker visa

Companies must have the right sponsor licence for the type of worker which they plan to hire – long-stay, temporary, or both.

UK companies planning on sponsoring non-UK workers, including South African workers, will generally need to obtain a certificate of sponsorship for those workers unless they fit into one of the following categories:

• British or Irish citizen
• Individuals with settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme
• Individuals with indefinite leave to remain in the UK

Additionally, the job role in question must comply with UK employment law (regarding working hours and minimum pay, for example) and must meet the minimum skill level for visa sponsorship.

Companies themselves will also need to satisfy certain eligibility requirements in order to be eligible for sponsor licence status. Specifically, the employer cannot have any unspent criminal convictions involving immigration offences or certain other crimes such as money laundering and fraud. The company will also need to have appropriate systems in place to fulfil its sponsor obligations.

When applying for a certificate of sponsorship, the UK employer will need to provide a range of documents, including the following:

• Completed application form
• Passport details of the prospective international worker
• National insurance number of the prospective international worker, if applicable
• CV of the prospective international worker (demonstrating that they have the relevant qualifications and/or professional experience for the role in question
• Copies of the relevant accreditations and/or qualifications (and translations into English, if applicable)
• Details of the job role
• Employment contract details
• Employer contact details
• Proof of application fee payment
• Employee criminal record certificate, if applicable (e.g. for certain roles in healthcare and education)

When submitting the documentation for a certificate of sponsorship, it is important to make sure that all the information is consistent and that all included documents are up to date.

The hiring UK company is responsible for applying for the certificate of sponsorship, rather than the prospective international worker.

In order to apply for a certificate of sponsorship for a prospective international worker, a UK company must first apply for a UK sponsor licence. Once they have successfully obtained a sponsor licence, they will then be able to apply for a certificate of sponsorship.

The application for a certificate of sponsorship should be submitted online, via the Sponsor Management System. The company will need to provide the required documentation as part of this process, listed above.

Once the application has been submitted, the Home Office will generally provide a response within 1-2 business days, unless additional information is required. Once the certificate has been granted, it can then be assigned to the prospective employee in question.

Certificates of sponsorship can be assigned by licensed UK sponsors using the online Sponsor Management System (SMS).

The company will first need to apply for a certificate of sponsorship, and can then assign it to the prospective employee in question once the certificate has been granted. The certificate of sponsorship contains a unique reference number, which should be provided to the prospective employee, and which they can then use in their visa application as proof of an eligible UK job offer.

Once a UK company has successfully obtained a sponsor licence, there are a number of rules which they will need to follow in order to maintain their sponsor status. Failure to follow these rules could lead to the licence being downgraded or withdrawn.

The rules and regulations are as follows:

• The company must verify that prospective international employees have the relevant qualifications and/or experience for the role in question
• The company must only assign certificates in cases where the role in question is eligible
• The company must inform UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) if they become aware that their sponsored workers are not adhering to their visa conditions
• The company must make sure that all sponsored roles adhere to UK employment law (e.g. in terms of work hours and minimum pay)
• The company must set up sufficient processes for monitoring sponsored workers and maintaining sponsor status, such as:
  • Making sure to monitor worker immigration status
  • Making sure to monitor the attendance of international workers
  • Making sure to maintain up-to-date contact details for international workers
• The company must report any relevant changes to their business to UKVI, such as:
• • If the business stops trading
  • If the business becomes insolvent
  • If the nature of the business changes substantially
  • If the business is involved in a merger or takeover

When applying for a UK sponsor licence, UK companies can either apply for a Worker Licence or a Temporary Worker Licence.

The Worker Licence allows the sponsoring of the following international employees:

• Skilled Worker
• Senior or Specialist Worker
• Minister of Religion
• International Sportsperson (over 12 months)

The Temporary Worker Licence, on the other hand, allows the sponsoring of the following employee types:

• Scale-Up Worker
• Creative Worker
• Charity Worker
• Religious Worker
• Government Authorised Exchange
• International Agreement
• Graduate Trainee
• Service Supplier
• UK Expansion Worker
• Secondment Worker
• Seasonal Worker

If you successfully obtain a UK sponsor licence, you will generally receive an A-rated licence. This licence will allow you to assign certificates of sponsorship and means that your business will be included in the register of sponsors.

Note that, if you are applying in order to sponsor a UK Expansion Worker, you will instead receive a provisional rating if the authorising officer for your company is not based in the UK. The company will only be able to assign one certificate of sponsorship, which should be assigned to the authorising officer so that they are able to enter the UK. Once they have successfully obtained their own visa, your company can now upgrade to an A-rating and will be able to assign additional certificates of sponsorship.

In cases where the sponsor responsibilities are not met, the A-rated licence may be downgraded to a B-rating. At this point, the company will not be able to issue new certificates of sponsorship until it successfully regains A-rating status. However, it will still be possible to extend the certificates of existing employees, provided that they continue to be eligible.

In order to return to an A rating, it will be necessary to follow an action plan, which costs £1,579 to obtain. This needs to be paid within 10 days or your licence will be revoked.

Failure to make sufficient improvements will result in a second action plan and a second action plan fee. If sufficient improvements still have not been made after the second action plan, your sponsor licence will now be revoked and you will not be able to reapply for sponsor status for at least a year.

Generally, if an application for a certificate of sponsorship is rejected, it will be because of errors with the initial application or because the role or prospective employee in question is not eligible for a certificate of sponsorship.

In the case of a rejected certificate of sponsorship, it is possible to re-apply, although the UK sponsor must make sure to correct the problems with the original application. If the role in question is ineligible for a certificate of sponsorship, for example, or if the prospective employee does not have the required qualifications or experience, resubmitting a certificate of sponsorship application is likely to lead to another unsuccessful outcome.

When applying for a certificate of sponsorship on behalf of a prospective employee, employers will need to pay a processing cost. The cost will depend on the specific type of application and will generally be as follows:

When assigning a certificate to either a Skilled worker or Senior or Specialist worker, it may also be necessary to pay an additional ‘immigration skills charge’. This will apply when the prospective employee is either applying from outside of the UK for a role of 6 months or more or from inside of the UK for any period of time, except where the job role in question is one of the following:

• chemical scientists (2111)
• biological scientists (2112)
• biochemists and biomedical scientists (2113)
• physical scientists (2114)
• social and humanities scientists (2115)
• natural and social science professionals not elsewhere classified (2119)
• research and development managers (2161)
• other researchers, unspecified discipline (2162)
• higher education teaching professionals (2311)

In the event that paying the immigration skills charge is necessary, the costs will be as follows:

In this context, a business will generally be considered small if at least 2 of the following criteria apply:

• The annual turnover is £15 million or less
• The total assets of the business are worth £7.5 million or less
• The business has up to 50 employees

In general, the application for a certificate of sponsorship should be processed within 1 business day, although this may be longer if additional information is requested or if there are issues with the original application. As such, it is important that all documentation is submitted thoroughly and correctly at the time of application.

There are a number of common mistakes when applying for a certificate of sponsorship on behalf of a prospective international worker.

One major mistake is submitting documentation which contains inconsistencies in the details provided, such as discrepancies within the personal details of the employee.

Another common mistake is submitting out of date documents or failing to submit required documents or information.

It is important to make sure that all submitted information is correct and inconsistent; failure to do so can lead to unsuccessful certificate of sponsorship applications.