The application is short. The five-working-day document deadline afterwards is what catches employers out.
A sponsor licence is what allows a UK employer to hire someone who needs permission to work. Without one you cannot issue a Certificate of Sponsorship, and without a CoS your candidate cannot apply.
You need to be a genuine organisation operating lawfully in the UK, with no unspent relevant convictions among your key personnel, and adequate HR and recruitment systems capable of meeting sponsor duties.
That last requirement is not a formality. UKVI may visit before granting the licence, and "we will put systems in place once approved" is not an answer that survives a pre-licence visit.
Decide which licence you need: Worker, Temporary Worker, or both.
Effective 8 April 2026, and confirmed unchanged in the 8 October 2026 fee table:
| Licence | Small or charitable sponsor | Medium or large sponsor |
|---|---|---|
| Worker | £611 | £1,682 |
| Temporary Worker | £611 | £611 |
| Worker + Temporary Worker | £611 | £1,682 |
You are a small sponsor if at least two of these apply:
A charitable sponsor is a registered charity in England and Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland, an excepted or exempt charity, or an ecclesiastical corporation established for charitable purposes.
The gap between £611 and £1,682 is worth checking carefully against the two-of-three test.
Supporting documents must be emailed no later than five working days after the online application is submitted.
That is the single most common reason applications fail before they are considered. Have the documents assembled before you submit online, not after.
Minimum of four documents for most organisations, more in some circumstances. The current Appendix A is dated 8 April 2026 and is organised by section:
Format rules that matter: PDF preferred, JPEG or PNG accepted. High-quality scans or phone photographs are fine. File titles must be descriptive and 25 characters or fewer. Certified translations for anything not in English or Welsh. Originals or certified copies only where specifically requested.
Route-specific examples: a UK Expansion Worker application needs proof of UK footprint, a qualifying overseas link, three years' overseas trading presence and expansion plans. An International Sportsperson application needs a governing-body endorsement.
| Service | Time | Fee |
|---|---|---|
| Standard | typically under 8 weeks | included |
| Pre-licence priority service | 10 working days | £750 |
The priority service has limited daily slots allocated first come, first served, and covers straightforward applications only. It rose from £500 to £750 on 21 October 2025.
The Premium Customer Service scheme was discontinued at the same time.
The licence fee is the smallest number in this process. Budget also for:
A medium-sized employer sponsoring one worker for five years is looking at £1,682 + £525 + £6,600 = £8,807 before any legal fees, and none of it can lawfully be recovered from the worker.
You must pay the sponsor licence fee, the CoS fee and the Immigration Skills Charge yourself. Recouping any of them from the worker risks licence revocation.
This is not a technicality UKVI overlooks. It is one of the most frequently cited grounds for action against sponsors.