Sponsor Licence

A UK Sponsor Licence is a legal requirement for any business wishing to employ workers from outside the UK and Ireland under the Skilled Worker, Senior or Specialist Worker, or other sponsored routes. At Kings Court Law, we guide businesses through every stage of the sponsor licence process — from initial application through to ongoing compliance, renewals, and responding to Home Office investigations.

Types of Sponsor Licence

Eligibility & Requirements

To be eligible for a sponsor licence, your organisation must be a genuine business operating lawfully in the UK. The Home Office will assess your organisation against several criteria:

• You are a genuine organisation operating lawfully in the UK
• You have appropriate HR systems to monitor sponsored workers
• Key personnel (Authorising Officer, Key Contact, Level 1 User) are appointed
• No history of immigration non-compliance or serious criminal convictions
• Supporting documents to verify your business and HR systems

Sponsor Licence Compliance

Holding a sponsor licence comes with significant ongoing compliance obligations. Failure to meet these can result in licence downgrade, suspension, or revocation — with serious consequences for your business and sponsored workers.

How We Can Help

• Initial eligibility assessment and pre-application advice
• Preparing and submitting the sponsor licence application
• HR systems review and compliance training for staff
• Responding to Home Office compliance visits
• Challenging licence suspensions, downgrades, and revocations
• Ongoing compliance retainer services