How Do You Become a Licensed Sponsor in the UK – 2024 Guide

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According to the recent UK government immigration laws, companies should retain a sponsor licence for hiring migrant or non-settled employees. However, not many people are aware of this aspect, and several folks have a common question: how to get sponsorship licence in UK? In this guide, we will talk about the essential details of how you can register as a licensed sponsor.

Applying To Become A Licensed Sponsor

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It is necessary to send an online application to the UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) Home Office. After that, you have to prove that your firm is real and working lawfully in the UK.

In case if your company has several branches in the UK, it is up to you to obtain a single licence for all your UK possessions. However, based on the situation, you can also take individual licenses for every branch.

You have to be recognised as an honest, dependable, and credible corporation. You also have to be skilled to handle the sponsorship duties and reveal the proof of your ongoing observation. In addition to that, it is necessary for you to provide real jobs which fulfil the related skill levels and payments.

You are not recommended to apply for the licensed sponsor if:
• You retain a sponsor licence cancelled in the previous year.
• You have not fulfilled the criminal sentences for immigration fraud or specific scandals such as money laundering and others.

Required Documentation

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In general, you need to submit four critical documents alongside the application. The mandatory documents may change as they rely on specific aspects, for example, licence category, type and volume of the corporation. The document copies you will generally need are:

• New audit accounts of the firm
• Liability protection certificate for a minimum of £5,000,000
• Proof of HMRC registration
• Evidence of possession
VAT certificate and registration number
• Proof of bank regulations by the Financial Conduct Authority.

Application Fee

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In order to become a licensed sponsor, you have to pay some money which varies based on the licence you have applied for and the category of your company. There are two types: medium or large sponsors and small or charitable sponsors.

You will come under a small sponsor if your company has 50 or fewer workers, annual revenue is £10.2 million or less, and entire assets value is £5.1 million or less. The total expense for medium or large sponsors is between £536 to £1476. As for the small licensed sponsors, the fee is £536.

Duration

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The duration for the processing of the sponsor licence application can be done in about eight weeks. For sponsor licence priority service, you may have to pay an extra £500 to attain a decision in around ten working days.

Bottom Line

After going through the details of every aspect, we put together the vital components which will make it easy for you to become a licensed sponsor. Hence, we can say that contrary to popular belief, the entire procedure is not that difficult.