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Sponsoring a worker from abroad: what a UK employer needs, what it costs, what it risks

9 minute read · Updated 2026-10-07

Checked on GOV.UK on 7 October 2026. Immigration rules and fees change several times a year. Before you spend money, check each figure on the GOV.UK page named beside it. This guide is general information, not advice on your case: for that, use a solicitor or an adviser regulated by the Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner (OISC).

Most employers who ask about sponsorship have a vacancy they cannot fill locally and have heard there are people abroad who would take it. That can be true. But a sponsor licence is a long-term legal commitment, the jobs that qualify have narrowed sharply, and the costs fall on the employer, by law. Here is the whole picture before you start.

First question: does the job qualify at all?

This is where most plans stop. Since 22 July 2025 a new Skilled Worker visa from abroad generally needs a job at degree level (RQF 6, called "higher skilled" in the government's tables) and a salary of at least £41,700 a year or the "going rate" for that job, whichever is higher. Some "medium skilled" jobs still qualify, but only if they are on the Immigration Salary List or the Temporary Shortage List. Source: Skilled Worker visa: your job.

  • Every job has a 4-digit occupation code. Find yours with the CASCOT coding tool, then look it up in the government's table of eligible occupations.
  • Similar jobs can sit under different codes. GOV.UK's own example: bricklayers, roofers and carpenters are eligible, construction labourers are not.
  • Care workers and senior care workers (codes 6135 and 6136) can no longer be recruited from abroad. Those codes now only cover people already in the UK who are extending, updating or switching their visa. Source: Health and Care Worker visa: your job.
  • Most driving, warehouse, cleaning, hospitality and labouring jobs do not meet the skill level. If your vacancy is one of these, sponsorship is very unlikely to be the answer, and anybody who tells you otherwise for a fee should worry you.

Can your business get a licence?

You apply to UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) online. You cannot have unspent convictions for immigration offences or for crimes such as fraud or money laundering, and you need proper systems to monitor sponsored workers and named people to run the sponsorship. UKVI may visit to check you are trustworthy and capable. A licence revoked in the last 12 months (24 months if it has happened more than once) means no new licence. Source: UK visa sponsorship for employers: eligibility.

Processing usually takes around 8 weeks.

What it costs the employer

  • Sponsor licence (Worker licence): £611 for small or charitable sponsors, £1,682 for medium or large. You are usually small if at least two of these apply: turnover £15 million or less, assets £7.5 million or less, 50 employees or fewer. Source: apply for your licence.
  • Certificate of sponsorship: £525 for each worker. Source: certificates of sponsorship.
  • Immigration Skills Charge: for the first 12 months, £480 (small or charitable) or £1,320 (medium or large), then £240 or £660 for each further 6 months. A 5 year certificate for a small sponsor is £2,400. Source: immigration skills charge.
  • The salary at or above the threshold for the whole sponsorship, at the minimum wage at the very least and within working time law.

You cannot pass these costs to the worker. GOV.UK is explicit: your licence may be revoked if you ask the sponsored worker to pay the fee or any costs linked to your application. The worker pays their own visa application fee and the healthcare surcharge, not yours.

Your duties once you hold a licence

  • Keep copies of the worker's documents and an up to date record of their contact details.
  • Report changes within the deadlines: if they stop turning up, their job or pay changes, or they leave.
  • Pay what you said you would pay, for the job you said they would do.
  • Expect compliance visits, announced or not.

Breaking these can downgrade your licence, suspend it or revoke it. If it is revoked, the workers you sponsor can lose their permission to stay in the UK.

Right to work checks: for every employee, not only sponsored ones

Whoever you hire, you must check they have the right to work in the UK before they start, and keep a copy of the check. If you employ someone who does not have the right to work and you did not do the correct checks, the civil penalty is up to £60,000 for each illegal worker, and your business may be named publicly as a warning to others. Knowingly employing someone without the right to work is a crime that can mean prison. Source: penalties for employing illegal workers and the employer's guide to right to work checks.

Advertising a sponsored job on HIRING UK

You can say a job offers visa sponsorship only if your business holds a current licence on the register of licensed sponsors, and only if the job itself qualifies. We will refuse any advert that asks a candidate to pay for a visa, a certificate of sponsorship or "processing", because that is both against the sponsorship rules and the oldest scam aimed at people abroad.