Hiring skilled workers from abroad is an essential way for many UK businesses to address skills shortages and get the best international talent. However, to employ foreign workers legally, companies must apply for a sponsor licence from the Home Office first. This process can be complex, but with the right guidance, it can be navigated effectively. Here’s an in-depth guide on everything you need to know to apply for a sponsor licence, ensure eligibility, and avoid common pitfalls.
A sponsor licence is formal permission granted by the Home Office to UK businesses, allowing them to hire foreign skilled workers via sponsorship under certain conditions. It is granted for the duration of 10 years, and a company can sponsor as many individuals as required – under the assumption that the organisation remains compliant and has a necessary number of Certificates of Sponsorship (CoS).
Step 1: Ensure Your Business Meets the Eligibility and Suitability Criteria
Before you can apply for a sponsor licence, your business must meet specific eligibility and suitability criteria that the Home Office will assess.
Eligibility Criteria:
- Operating a legitimate business in the UK: your business must be a genuine, lawful entity with a trading presence in the UK. This applies to UK-based companies as well as UK branches of international firms. Even if your business was established recently, it will not be an issue – however, it must be genuinely operational and be a “going concern”.
- Public good: your organisation and key personnel must not have a history of activities deemed against the public good, such as previous convictions or any other troubles with the law.
- Compliance capability: your company must prove that it has robust HR and recruitment processes and systems in place to manage sponsored workers. Those don’t have to be “fancy” systems – a simple Excel file will suffice, as long as it is an effective way to track attendance, visa expiration dates, etc., ensuring that the company is capable of fulfilling the sponsor duties in line with the Home Office guidelines and regulatory requirements.
- Genuine job vacancy: the role must be a genuine position that meets the requirements for the Skilled Worker visa or other relevant visa routes. You need to demonstrate that the position wasn’t created solely for immigration purposes.
- Minimum salary threshold: depending on the role, you have to offer the minimum annual salary. The most common salary threshold as of September 2024 is £38,700. However, if the candidate is younger than 26 y.o. or is switching from Student/Graduate visa, the minimum annual salary will be £30,960 (but again, it all depends on the role). Keep in mind that the Home Office has access to the HMRC records and can check payments via PAYE, therefore you have make sure that you are able to sustain the guaranteed offered level of salary.
Suitability Criteria:
- HR systems: you must have effective HR systems and processes to manage sponsored workers and remain compliant with immigration rules.
- Key personnel: you must appoint individuals to key roles (see Step 3) to manage the sponsorship process. These individuals must have no history of non-compliance with UK immigration or employment laws.
- Workplace systems: your company should have proper processes to meet sponsorship obligations, including keeping accurate records and monitoring sponsored employees.
