UK visa sponsorship for employers
Your licence rating
You’ll get an A-rated licence if your application is approved.
A-rating - full sponsor licence
An A-rated licence lets you start assigning certificates of sponsorship.
Your business will be listed in the register of sponsors.
If you’re applying to sponsor a UK Expansion Worker
You’ll get a ‘provisional’ rating instead of an A-rating if your authorising officer is based outside the UK.
You’ll only be able to assign one certificate of sponsorship, which must be assigned to the authorising officer so they can enter the UK.
Once they’ve got their visa, you can upgrade your licence to an A-rating and request additional certificates of sponsorship using the sponsorship management system (SMS).
Downgrading to B-rating
Your A-rated licence may be downgraded to a B-rating at a later stage if you do not continue to meet your sponsor responsibilities.
If this happens, you will not be able to issue new certificates of sponsorship until you’ve made improvements and upgraded back to an A-rating.
You’ll still be able to issue certificates to workers you already employ who want to extend their permission to stay.
Upgrade to an A-rating
You need to follow an ‘action plan’ provided by UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) to upgrade your licence.
You have to pay £1,476 for an action plan.
You must pay the fee within 10 working days of the date UKVI tells you about the downgrade. If you do not, you’ll lose your licence.
At the end of the action plan
You’ll be upgraded to an A-rating if you complete all the steps and there’s nothing else you need to improve.
You’ll lose your licence if you do not complete all the steps.
If you need to make other improvements, you’ll be given another B-rating and will have to follow a new action plan. You’ll have to pay the fee again.
If you get a second B-rating
You can only have 2 B-ratings in the 4 years that your licence is valid.
You’ll lose your licence if you still need to make improvements after your second action plan.
How to reapply
You cannot appeal if your licence is revoked, but you can reapply. You have to wait at least 12 months before reapplying.
You need to start a new application when you reapply.