How to get a Skilled Worker Sponsor Licence to employ migrants and skilled worker licence costs
Skilled Worker Licence UK
If you are a UK business and wish to employ a person who is not a settled worker, or who does not otherwise have immigration permission to work for you in the UK, you will need to be authorised by the Home Office. This authorisation is known as a ‘sponsor licence’, and employers who hold a sponsor licence are known as ‘sponsors’. This licence grants businesses the power to access the global labour market, allowing you to hire migrant workers from all over the world or from within the UK.
Recently the Government announced a new visa route that will rival the sponsored Skilled Worker route. With your sponsorship licence, you will be able to hire migrants via the ‘Scale Up’ visa route. See our blog Scale Up Visa UK 2022 for more details.
Obtaining a Sponsorship Licence
The process itself is fairly straightforward, you must apply for one by completing the online application form, paying the relevant application fee (£536 for small sponsor or £1,476 for a large sponsor) and submitting the supporting evidence. However, what is not so straight forward are the loops you have to jump through to get to the application stage.
Immigration Joss can ensure you meet all of the following criteria and enable you to hire migrant workers on a no win no fee basis.
Eligibility Criteria
For the skilled worker sponsor licence, you will have to tell the Home Office why you are applying for a sponsor licence, what sector you operate in and what your opening/operating hours are. In addition, you will need to provide an up to date hierarchy chart detailing any owner, director, and board members. If your business has 50 employees or fewer, you must list all employees and set out the names and titles of all staff.
Once the licence is obtained, you must assign a Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) to the migrant worker and notify the Home Office about the job(s) you wish to fill. You will have to detail the following information for each job:
- job title and occupation code
- duties
- where the job sits on the hierarchy chart referred to above
- minimum salary you would guarantee if the job were vacant today
- skill, experience and qualifications required
In addition to the above, to be eligible for a sponsor licence you must provide specific evidence for the skilled worker route. The Home Office state you must provide at least 4 documents to satisfy the eligibility criteria. These will be specific to the type and size of your business, however, a few examples of the types of documents you can submit are:
- a certificate of VAT registration
- a letter from your corporate banking provider, setting out the dealings it has had with you, including the nature and duration of those dealings
- Evidence that you have employer’s liability insurance cover for at least £5m from an authorised insurer.
- Current financial report or audited annual report with the name of the accountant clearly shown
- Evidence of registration with HMRC
- Proof of ownership or lease of your business premises
When you submit your application for a licence, all supporting documents must be sent within 5 days, so it is important to have the documents ready before you submit the online application.
Suitability Criteria – Sponsor Duties and Compliance
When it comes to suitability, the Home Office look at many aspects within your business. The test is to assess whether your business has the HR or recruitment systems in place to meet the myriad of sponsorship duties that you must comply with when you become a sponsor. When assessing suitability the Home Office will look at whether:
- you have human resource and recruitment systems in place to meet, or continue to meet, your sponsor duties – the Home Office may visit you anytime unannounced, either before deciding your application or after your licence is granted.
- you meet the specific requirements of the skilled worker route
- you have any criminal convictions or civil penalties
- the Home Office have any evidence of previous non-compliance by you
Sponsor duties and compliance
Part of the suitability criteria is your duties as a sponsor and your compliance to the rules. Your main duties include reporting certain events or information to the Home Office in relation to the migrant. Record-keeping duties, you must keep detailed records on any sponsored workers, such as their passports, contract of employment, salary details and evidence that the vacancy is genuine. Lastly, you must comply with the immigration laws.
Sponsorship licence obtained – what next?
Once you have obtained a sponsorship licence the migrant will need a ‘certificate of sponsorship’ commonly known as a ‘CoS’. Depending on whether the migrant is in the UK or outside the UK, you will need a ‘Defined CoS’ or an ‘Undefined CoS’.
The ‘Defined CoS’ is for employees that are outside the UK and are applying to enter the UK as a sponsored worker. An Undefined CoS is for an employee who is already in the UK and wishes to switch from the visa they are on, to become a skilled worker.
The difference between the Defined CoS and the Undefined CoS is that for a defined CoS you need to have a specific skilled worker in mind and a role you expect them to undertake. You then need to apply to the Home Office for the defined CoS and it will need to be granted by the Home Office. For an undefined CoS you as the employer can hold them and issue them when an appropriate worker is to be employed.
Visa Application
Once the sponsor licence has been obtained and the CoS assigned, the employee can then apply for the skilled worker visa and the process will be complete.
Immigration Joss can assist your business to obtain a sponsor licence, apply the CoS and ensure a successful visa application. We have a track record of successful applications at every stage of the process. If you would like to reach a wider labour market or have a particular individual you’d like to hire in mind, please do not hesitate to contact us and we will provide you with expert advice and assistance throughout the process.
UK Sponsor licence costs
For one applicant the fees are approximately £7,000 in Home Office fees and our fees are around £4,000. That covers the obtaining of the Sponsorship licence applying and assigning CoS and applying for the visa for one applicant. Additional workers are around £4,000 per worker incluing our fees and Home Office fees.