Applying For A UK Immigration Sponsor Licence - An Overview

The first step for any company looking to sponsor an individual for a work visa is obtaining a sponsor licence. Once obtained a sponsor licence is then valid for four years and allows a company to sponsor as many individuals as is necessary by issuing Certificates of Sponsorship (although sponsorship requests must be justified).

Generally speaking a well established company should have the requisite documentation available to apply for a licence, however the correct procedures and processes must be followed and there are certain pitfalls to avoid to ensure the licence is successfully granted.

Obtaining a licence:

Basic considerations

A company needs to be established in the UK with a sufficient UK footprint, which must be at least one UK based settled person who can assume the role of authorising officer and initial level 1 user.