Sponsor licence checker
Search the Home Office register of licensed sponsors by employer name, and see each route it can sponsor on and whether the licence is A or B rated. A licence is where a check starts, not where it ends: the five checks before you apply.
Search the official UK register
Use the legal name if you know it, such as the one on a contract or payslip. Brand names often differ.
How to read a register entry
- A-rated
- The employer can assign certificates of sponsorship on that route. A (SME+) and A (Premium) on the register are also A ratings: they mark sponsors that joined the Home Office’s paid premium customer service.
- B-rated
- The licence was downgraded because the employer did not meet its sponsor duties. It cannot issue new certificates of sponsorship until it improves and is back to an A rating.
- Provisional
- A UK Expansion Worker licence whose authorising officer is outside the UK. It allows one certificate, for that officer.
- Route
- What the licence covers. A Skilled Worker job needs Skilled Worker in the list; Global Business Mobility, Scale-up and Creative Worker are separate routes with their own rules.
- t/a
- Trading as. The name before it is the legal entity that holds the licence, and the name after it is the brand you see on job ads.
GOV.UK updates the register most working days. The copy searched here is taken each time the site is built, and the source line above gives its file date.
What the register cannot tell you
Whether this job qualifies. The role still needs an eligible occupation code and a salary at or above the threshold that applies to you, which may be the lower new-entrant rate, and the employer has to be willing to sponsor it. Paste the vacancy and those gates are checked against your own situation, with the employer looked up on this same register.
It also holds no vacancies. To find those you need a job board, and the ones aimed at sponsorship differ in what they verify: seven of them compared, with what each costs and where its idea of sponsored stops.
If the employer has no licence yet
Not being on the register is not the same as refusing to sponsor. Any eligible UK employer can apply for a licence, and plenty of smaller ones have simply never had a reason to. It is a decision with a price and a wait attached, so raise it early rather than after a final interview.
- What it costs the employer
- £611 for a small or charitable sponsor, £1,682 for a medium or large one. A further £750 buys a decision in 10 working days, on a limited number of slots released each day. None of it can be charged to you.
- How long it takes
- GOV.UK says most applications are decided in less than 8 weeks, and that UK Visas and Immigration may visit the business first. Add the time to assign a certificate of sponsorship after that, then your own visa processing.
- What stops an employer getting one
- Unspent convictions for immigration offences or crimes such as fraud or money laundering, a licence revoked in the last 12 months (24 months if revoked more than once), or an unsuccessful application in the last 6 months. The employer also has to have people and systems in place to meet its sponsor duties.
- What to ask
- Whether the company has considered a licence, who would act as authorising officer, and whether the role could start on a timeline that allows for it. A hiring manager often does not know; the answer usually sits with HR or a director.
Figures from UK visa sponsorship for employers: apply for your licence , checked 22 September 2026.
Be careful with paid sponsorship and self-sponsorship offers
There is no self-sponsorship visa. Services that sell one are selling a company formation and a licence application, and the Home Office still has to be satisfied that the job is real.
The offer usually runs: set up a UK company, get it a sponsor licence, then have it sponsor you. Nothing in the Rules creates that route. Two requirements have to hold whoever the sponsor is. Appendix Skilled Worker, SW 6.3, lets the decision maker consider whether the sponsor has shown a genuine need for the job as described, and whether you have the skills, qualifications and experience to do it. SW 14A.1 requires you to genuinely intend, and be able, to do that role and not to work outside it. A company that exists so one person can sponsor themselves has to satisfy both, and may get a visit.
Paying an employer for sponsorship is a separate thing and a worse one: a sponsor that recoups the immigration skills charge from the worker is breaking its duties, and a licence that is revoked takes the visas assigned under it with it. If money is being asked for in exchange for a certificate of sponsorship, treat the offer as a reason to stop.
Before you commit money to any of this, take advice from someone regulated by the Immigration Advice Authority, or a solicitor. JLocate is not either of those, and nothing here is advice on your own case.
Questions people ask
How do I check if a company is a licensed sponsor in the UK?
Search the Home Office register of licensed sponsors for the employer’s legal name, the one on a contract or payslip. This page searches a copy of that register. An entry that lists Skilled Worker with an A rating means the employer can assign certificates of sponsorship for Skilled Worker jobs.
Does a sponsor licence mean a job will sponsor me?
No. A licence shows the employer can sponsor. The job still needs an eligible occupation code, a salary at or above the threshold that applies to you, and an employer willing to sponsor that role. Paste the job to check those, or read the five checks before you apply.
What does B-rated mean on the sponsor register?
The employer’s licence was downgraded because it did not meet its sponsor duties. GOV.UK says a B-rated sponsor cannot issue new certificates of sponsorship until it has made improvements and is back to an A rating.
Why can’t I find a company I know sponsors visas?
The register lists legal entities, and they often differ from brand names. Search the legal name, use fewer words, or look for the brand after “t/a”, which means trading as. A company that is not listed cannot sponsor until it gets a licence.
What if the company is not a licensed sponsor?
It can apply for one. GOV.UK charges £611 for a small or charitable sponsor and £1,682 for a medium or large one, and says most applications are decided in under 8 weeks. None of it can be charged to you. Ask early whether the company has considered a licence and who would act as its authorising officer, because a hiring manager often will not know.
Can I sponsor myself for a Skilled Worker visa?
There is no self-sponsorship visa route. Services selling one are selling a company formation and a licence application. The Rules still apply: a decision maker may consider whether the sponsor has shown a genuine need for the job as described (SW 6.3), and you must genuinely intend and be able to do that role (SW 14A.1). Take advice from someone regulated by the Immigration Advice Authority before paying for any of it.