Sponsor Licence Applications: A Comprehensive Guide

If you are an employer looking to hire an overseas national who is not a settled worker and does not have existing immigration permission to work in the UK, you must apply for a sponsor licence from the Home Office.

The type of sponsor licence you need will depend on the specific immigration route the worker is applying under. Each licence type comes with its own set of requirements. Since 31 December 2020, most EU, EEA, and Swiss nationals arriving in the UK need to be sponsored to work in the country.

What Is a Sponsor Licence?

A sponsor licence authorizes a UK business to employ workers from outside the UK. This includes non-EU nationals and most citizens of the EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland who arrived after 31 December 2020. You do not need a sponsor licence to employ Irish citizens, individuals with settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme, people with indefinite leave to remain in the UK, or those with other valid work permissions.

To obtain a sponsor licence, you must submit an application to the Home Office and pay the associated fee. Businesses of all sizes and sectors can apply, provided they meet the necessary eligibility and job suitability criteria for the licence category they seek.

Requirements for a Sponsor Licence

To successfully apply for a sponsor licence, your business must meet various general and route-specific requirements.

General Requirements for a Sponsor Licence

When applying for a sponsor licence, you must demonstrate to the Home Office that:

• Genuine Operation:
  Your organisation is legitimately operating in the UK.

• Integrity:
  Your business is honest, dependable, and has not engaged in any activities that are against the public good.

• Compliance Capability:
  You are equipped to carry out sponsor duties and can provide evidence of compliance as required by the sponsor guidance.

To prove your organisation is genuine and lawfully operating in the UK, you will need to submit various company-related documents. The specific documents required will depend on your organisation type and the immigration route(s) you intend to sponsor workers on.

The Home Office will also examine the history and background of your business, the key personnel named in your application, and anyone involved in the day-to-day operations to assess your integrity and reliability.

To ensure you can fulfill your sponsor duties, the Home Office will review your current human resources and recruitment procedures.

Route-specific Requirements for a Sponsor Licence

In addition to general requirements, you must meet specific criteria based on the immigration route under which the worker is being sponsored.

For example, if you are applying for a Skilled Worker sponsor licence, you must demonstrate that:

• Skill Level:
  The job meets the skill level requirement of the Skilled Worker route.

• Salary Level:
  The offered position meets the salary threshold for the Skilled Worker route.

• Genuine Role:
  The job is genuine, with a direct employer-employee relationship, and does not involve hiring the worker out to a third party for routine or ongoing work.

Alternatively, if you are applying for a UK Expansion Worker sponsor licence, you must show that:

• Skill and Salary Levels:
  The employment offered meets both the skill and salary requirements for the UK Expansion Worker route.

• Genuine Role:
  The job is genuine, and there is a qualifying link between your UK entity and the overseas business.

• UK Trading Status:
  Your business is not yet actively trading in the UK but has established a UK 'footprint.'

• Overseas Business Activity:
  The overseas business is active, trading, and typically has been operational for at least three years.

• Expansion Intent:
  You intend to establish a UK trading presence within two years in the same business sector as your overseas operations.

• Ownership Structure:
  The UK business is either wholly owned by the overseas parent company or part of the same legal entity.

Other Immigration Routes

The UK offers a range of other Worker and Temporary Worker routes, such as the Global Business Mobility – Senior or Specialist Worker, Scale-up, International Sportsperson, Minister of Religion, and Creative Worker routes. Each of these routes has specific requirements that must be met when applying for a sponsor licence.

If your application does not meet the necessary criteria, your sponsor licence application will be refused. It's crucial to ensure that all requirements are thoroughly met to avoid rejection.