Sponsorship Visa UK

The first third of this article explores how you can obtain a British-sponsored visa. These visa types allow you to live and work in the UK, but you will need a job offer and sponsorship from a suitable UK-based company. Examples of sponsored visas include the Skilled Worker visa, Health and Care Worker visa, and the Temporary Worker visa.

Next, this article deals with sponsorships and the sponsor licence. It shows you how you can establish a UK-based business and obtain a sponsor licence to bring foreign workers to the UK.

Finally, there are some self-sponsorship visa options available. An example is the Self-Sponsored Skilled Worker visa. The last section of this article explores how you may be able to use self-sponsorship routes to come to the country.

Page Content

• Overview of UK Visa Sponsorship
• Applying for a Sponsorship Visa
• Processing Time and Application Fees
• Reasons for Sponsor Visa Refusals
• Establishing a UK Company
• Obtaining a Sponsor Licence
• Sponsor Licence Eligibility Criteria
• Apply for a Sponsor Licence
• Self-Sponsorship Skilled Worker Visa Overview
• Requirements for a Self-Sponsorship Skilled Worker Visa
• Self-Sponsorship Innovator Founder Visa
• Self-Sponsored Innovator Founder Visa Requirements
• Applying for Indefinite Leave to Remain and Citizenship After My Sponsorship Visa
• How Can Manchester Immigration Lawyers Help?
• FAQs

Each type of Sponsorship visa has a slightly different application process, and different restrictions on when you can submit your application. However, you will generally have to follow the process detailed below:

1. Get a job offer in the UK from a business that has a sponsor licence.
2. Accept a certificate of sponsorship.
3. Confirm which visa type is most suited to your personal circumstances.
4. Head to the UK Visas and Immigration website to download and complete the relevant application form for the visa you require.
5. Upload the completed application form alongside your supporting documents. You will need to provide your certificate of sponsorship number.
6. Pay the relevant application fee.
7. Book and attend an appointment with your nearest visa application centre. Officials will take your biometric photograph and fingerprints.
8. Await visa processing.

In some circumstances, you may be asked to attend a visa interview. This may be because UK Visas and Immigration wants to verify your intentions, supporting documents, and personal circumstances. It may arise due to discrepancies in your paperwork or if additional validation is required, such as of your English language capabilities.

Each of the sponsored visa examples listed at the start of this article -Skilled Worker visa, Temporary Worker visa, and Health and Care Worker visa – usually takes three weeks to process when the application is made outside of the UK.

There are several factors that could lead your application to be delayed beyond this expectation. Examples are listed below:

• Your application needs further consideration, particularly if your case is complex.
• Your documentation requires verification.
• You have been asked to provide additional information or documentation.
• UK Visas and Immigration is experiencing an unusually high visa demand, and technical outages have impacted civil servants.

As with processing times, there are differences in visa fees that you will need to pay, which are detailed below. Please note that your visa application fee will not be refunded if your application is unsuccessful:

• Skilled Worker visa: £819 (three years or less of validity), £1,618 (over three years of validity), or £1,235 (over three years of validity for a role on the immigration skill list).
• Health and Care Worker visa: £324 (three years or less of validity), or £628 (over three years of validity). Different fees apply if the role is on the Immigration Salary List.
• Temporary Worker visa: £340.

In some circumstances, sponsored visa applicants can pay for faster visa processing. Use priority services for £500 or super priority services for £1000 to bring processing down to a matter of days. This fee is on top of the original visa fee and is also not refunded if your application is refused.

Only UK-registered companies are allowed to sponsor foreign workers to come to the UK. This also applies if you want a Self-Sponsored Skilled Worker visa. You can register a UK company in three steps.

Firstly, search on Companies House to make sure that your desired business name is available. Then register on the Companies House website. You will need to answer a few questions about yourself and the company. Finally, pay the £100 registration fee. The whole process takes around 90 minutes to complete, and your business should be ready to go within a working day.

When registering on the Companies House website, you’ll need to answer a range of questions. This includes the business’s name, your name and address, what the company does, the company’s address, and information on any other individuals who are involved.

For a business to sponsor foreign workers to come to the UK, it will need to assign certificates of sponsorship, which requires a sponsor licence. The business will need either the Worker and/or Temporary Worker sponsor licence depending on the visa types it wants to sponsor foreign workers for.

An accepted application will lead the business to receive an A-rated licence, meaning that it will be listed on the register of sponsors. Violations will lead to a downgrade to a B-licence, which can lead to action plans, fines, and a revocation of the ability to assign further certificates of sponsorship

Only certain businesses can get a sponsor licence. The business will need to fulfill the requirements detailed below:

• Be UK-based and registered.
• Be lawfully operating.
• Have functional HR systems managed by ‘dependable’ and senior staff members.
• Have no history among the business or key personnel of failing to carry out sponsor licence duties, having a sponsor licence revoked, or having unspent financial crime convictions.
• Have no history of immigration violations. The same is the case for any staff members who may be considered a threat to immigration controls.

Requirements continue once the business has obtained a sponsor licence. They will need to remain consistent with the responsibilities detailed below:

• Record keeping: maintain relevant and up-to-date records of each sponsored employee’s immigration status, national insurance numbers, right to work in the UK documentation, and more.
• Monitoring and reporting: establish systems and processes to track all sponsored employees, reported breaches of working conditions, such as extended periods of unauthorised absence.
• Updating the Home Office: notify the government of any changes that impact sponsored employees, such as changes to business premises and key personnel.
• Absence monitoring: recording all of your sponsored employee’s absences, and maintaining procedures for authorising their sick leave, annual leave, and more.

Businesses that match the sponsor licence requirements and are prepared to take on the responsibility do not automatically receive sponsor licences. Your UK company will need to closely follow the application steps detailed below:

1. Confirm that your business meets the eligibility requirements.
2. Choose a temporary worker or worker sponsor licence.
3. Nominate your employees who will deal with your business’s sponsorship processes. You will need at least two senior members of your team to use the sponsorship management system.
4. Apply online and pay the relevant application fee.

The application fee will vary depending on the type of licence you are applying for and your business’s circumstances. For a worker sponsor licence application, large businesses must pay £1,682, while small sponsors pay £611. A temporary worker sponsor licence application costs £611. You can also receive a faster answer to your application by paying the £500 expedited processing fee.

Your business’s ability to assign a certificate of sponsorship and make use of the international workforce hinges on your ability to successfully apply for a sponsor licence. You can boost your chances by working with a leading immigration lawyer, such as Manchester Immigration Lawyers. Call us at 0161 826 9783 to get started.

Holding a Skilled Worker visa allows you to come to the UK to work for a business approved by the Home Office on an eligible job that meets the required salary. The visa requires you to receive a certificate of sponsorship from a UK-based company. However, you may self-sponsor for this visa by having a UK-registered business.

You will need to get someone you know in the UK to register the business on your behalf, get a sponsor licence and assign you a certificate of sponsorship. Please note that your spouse or family member cannot sponsor you. If they registered the business, they will need a business partner not related to you to be an SMS user and deal with your sponsorship.

Holding the Self-Sponsorship Skilled Worker visa allows you to remain in the country for up to five years. After this time, you can renew the visa, so long as you still meet the requirements, or apply to settle permanently in the country.

Before you begin the challenging self-sponsorship programme, you should ensure that you meet the eligibility requirements. These are detailed below:

• You will join a genuine and active UK company.
• You are at least 18 years old.
• The company has an appropriate sponsor licence and has issued you with a certificate of sponsorship.
• The job offer is for a genuine vacancy at the right skill level and salary (the ‘going rate’ or minimum salary threshold, whichever is higher.
• The business has paid any required immigration skills charges.
• You have English language capabilities of at least Level B1 according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.
• You can support yourself in the UK without needing public funds.
• You have a clear criminal record certificate.

You may also be required to provide a valid tuberculosis certificate, usually if you are coming from a high-risk nation.

You can find an easier route to a self-sponsorship visa through the Innovator Founder visa. This visa route doesn’t require a certificate of sponsorship, so you won’t need to have someone establish a business in the UK on your behalf and sponsor you to come to the country.

The Innovator Founder visa was created in April 2019, replacing the Tier 1 Entrepreneur visa, designed as a way to attract promising businesspeople to the UK. All you’ll need to do is show you have a viable and scalable business idea, as there is no longer a set minimum investment amount. The visa typically has three years’ validity, after which time you may renew your visa or apply for indefinite leave to remain.

Before you begin the Innovator Founder visa application process through self-sponsorship, check that you meet the requirements set out below:

• Be a minimum of 18 years old.
• Have an endorsement for your business idea from an approved body.
• Meet English language and personal finance requirements.
• Be proposing a business that is innovative, viable, and scalable.

Both these types of self-sponsored visa and many permanent sponsored visas offer pathways to indefinite leave to remain. This status means that you can remain in the UK without needing to maintain your sponsored status, giving you a greater degree of security in the country.

You can begin the application process after you have achieved the necessary amount of continuous residence in the UK. The exact time required will depend on the exact Sponsorship visa that you have been using.

Indefinite leave to remain is a pathway to citizenship by naturalisation. You can usually apply after you have been living in the UK for at least 12 months. Citizenship will allow you to hold a British passport and enjoy full personal and political rights in the country, such as the ability to vote.