List of documents and information required to file Sponsor Licence Application for a UK Employer to apply for Skilled Worker Visa - Sponsor Licence  

We help businesses and corporates with the whole Sponsor Licensing process from start to finish. We always come up in the search for a Sponsor Licence Solicitor in London.

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For applying for the Sponsor Licence for the UK Employer, please provide at least four documents from the below list and all the information below:

Documents required

1. Employers Liability Insurance Certificate

2. Evidence of Registration with HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) as an employer to pay PAYE & National Insurance. Provide proof of PAYE Reference Number & Accounts Office Reference Number. (Evidence of registration must be original or certified copies of documentation issued by HMRC only)

3. Certificate of VAT registration; and/or latest VAT return confirming VAT registration number if turnover in excess of £85,000.

4. Latest Notice to file a Company Tax Return - CT603 & Company Tax Return - CT600 (Both parts must be supplied).

5. HMRC - Self Assessment either SA300 or SA302

6. Proof of ownership or lease of your business premises. If you send a copy of your lease agreement it must be signed by all parties concerned.

7. Latest Corporate/Business Bank Statement and/or a letter from your Bank setting out the dealings it has had with you, including the nature and duration of its dealings. Please note that if both documents are submitted, this will only count as one document 

8. Current Financial Report or Audited Annual Report with the name of the Accountant clearly shown. The Accountant should be a member of an Accredited Accounting Body (CIMA, CIPFA, ACCA, ACA etc).

9. If you are required to be registered with and/or inspected/monitored by a regulatory body to operate lawfully in the UK, UKVI will need to check that you are registered and to see your last inspection report where appropriate.

Information required

you must provide the information below (as well as the documents from the following tables) or your application will be rejected. Tell us: 

• why are you applying for a sponsor licence 

• what sector you operate in 

• what are your opening/operating hours 

You must 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. 

Tell us about the jobs you wish to fill and for which you intend to assign a certificate of sponsorship (CoS). 

Include 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 

You must indicate which jobs are currently vacant and for which you intend to assign a CoS. 

If you have already identified someone that you wish to employ via the sponsorship system, you should provide evidence of how you identified this person. 

If you identified this person as a result of a recruitment process, you should include copies of advertisements placed to recruit for the job, details of any applicants and why they were not suitable for the job. 

You should confirm whether the person is already working for you. 

If you have not advertised the job and the migrant is not currently working for you, you should confirm how you identified that this person was the most suitable for the job. 

If you have already identified a person, including if they are a migrant already working for you, and intend to assign a CoS to them, you should provide the following details of the person: 

• full name 

• date of birth 

• nationality 

• current immigration status 

• current job title and duties 

• 3 monthly payslips, if applicable

For Small employers(less than 50 employees) or for new Businesses the following Information is required:

• What is the employee’s role in the business (include job title and details of the duties their role entails) and the SOC Code for the position you are wanting to fill?

• What is the salary for this position?

• Please provide evidence to show how you can sustain this salary such as accounts (if not already provided), and any available sales forecasts and business development plans.

• Please could you state the number of employees you currently employ and provide a current up to date hierarchy/organisation chart for your current staff employed along with their National Insurance number/s which also includes all Directors of the company?

• Please state which method you use to advertise any vacancies and provide documentation to demonstrate this? 

• Please note we will only grant a Tier 2 Licence where a role is highly specialised and therefore the position could not be easily filled from the local labour market, or when a business has been unable to find a suitable candidate following a thorough and appropriate recruitment search. Please provide evidence and state why this role is a specialised role and please state which skills/experience/educational qualifications the potential candidate would require?

• What other previous employment or business experience does the applicant need to have? If no experience is necessary then can you state why a person from the resident labour market cannot do the job?

• Please provide evidence such as job adverts to show that you have made genuine efforts to fill these positions or to recruit from the local labour market before recruiting candidates from outside the UK and EEA and can you details the number of people that applied and reasons for refusal on each resident worker who applied.

• Can you details the number of people that applied and reasons for refusal on each resident worker 

• Please provide any current and proposed contracts for migrant workers.

​For a newly established business, please provide the following information:

• How you will conduct Right to Work checks.

• How you will store passport, biometric residence permit, and visa copies.

• How you will monitor visa expiry dates.

• Which contact details you keep for your employees.

• How often you check that the contact details for your employees are correct and up to date.

• How you record the previous contact details for your employees.

• How you intend to inform the Home Office if there are any significant changes in the sponsored migrant’s circumstance, and in what time frame.

• How you record absence history for your employees.

• What conditions a sponsored migrant would be entitled to, such as holidays, sick pay, accommodation, allowances etc.

Rules for Certifying documents:

Certifying a document 

8.4 The person certifying the documents must be:  

the issuing authority,  a practicing barrister, a solicitor,  a notary, a chartered accountant for certification of financial documents only

The person must not be:  

related to you

  living at the same address

  in a personal relationship with you 

The certifier must confirm the copy of the document by:

 writing ‘Certified to be a true copy of the original seen by me’ on the document

  signing and dating it  

printing their name under the signature 

 adding their occupation, address and telephone number

If a document has more than one page we will accept the document if the pages are bound together and the certification statement must include the number of pages the document contains. If a certifier’s details cannot be verified, the document will be rejected.

Printouts of PDF files are copies of an original document and must be certified in line with guidelines above. The certifier must confirm that they have seen the original email containing the file.

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Information required to prepare the Sponsor Licence application:

Provide your organization details

Name of the organization: 

Address:

Telephone number:

Provide your head office details if applicable, or registered/trading name if different from the above: (in the following format)

Name of the organisation: 

Address:

Telephone number:

If your organisation has traded under any other name in the last four years, please provide details (in the following format), starting with the most recent name

Previous Names:

Previous Addresses:

Previous Telephone numbers:

In which of the following UK regions does your organisation operate: (bold or underline all that apply)

England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales

How many employees do you currently employ in the UK? (only employees on PAYE Payroll)

Is your organisation currently employing migrant workers(non-settled workers) or sponsoring overseas students?

If yes, how many?

Select the sector in which your organisation operates? (only select one category - bold or underline that applies)

Accommodation and Food Service Activities

Activities of extraterritorial organisations and bodies

Activities of households as employers; production activities of household for own use

Administrative and Support Service Activities

Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing

Arts, Entertainment and Recreation

Construction

Education

Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply

Financial and Insurance Activities

Human Health and Social Work Activities

Information and Communications

Manufacturing

Mining and Quarrying

Other Service Activities

Public Admin and defence; compulsory social security

Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities

Real Estate Activities

Transportation and Storage

Water supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation activities

Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles

Is your organisation registering as a head office, a UK branch, a single body or another type of body?

Head Office

United Kingdom Branch

Head Office and all United Kingdom Branches

Group of Branches

Single Body

Franchise

Subsidiary of a Parent Company

Parent Company with Subsidiaries

Other

(If you have answered 'Head office and all UK branches' or 'Group of Branches' you should provide the branch name, first line of address and postcode, for each branch you wish to register)

(If you have selected 'Other', please provide details)

Is your organisation a charity, or does it hold charitable status?

Select the option that best describes your type of organisation: (only select one category - bold or underline that applies)

Branch Office of an Overseas Company

Central/local Government Department; Body; Quango, Agency Public Body

Charity

Company limited by Guarantee

Company incorporated under the Industrial & Provident Societies Act 1968

Hotel and/or Catering Establishment

Incorporated by Royal Charter

Limited Liability Partnership

Limited Partnership

Overseas Government International Organisation, Diplomatic Mission

Partnership

Private Individual

Private Limited Company/Limited Liability Company

Public Limited Company

Religious and/or Faith Body

Representative Office of an Overseas Company

Sole Trader

Unlimited Company

Select the period for which your organisation has been trading: (only select one category)

0 to 6 months

Over 6 to 12 months

Over 12 to 18 months

Over 18 to 36 months

Over 36 months

Is your organisation registered with Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to pay PAYE, National Insurance or VAT?

If yes, please provide the below information:

PAYE reference number: 

Accounts office reference number:

VAT registration number

Are you registered on the London Stock Exchange or one or more Financial Conduct Authority/Prudential Regulation Authority-approved stock exchanges?

If yes provide the name of the stock exchange

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Is your organisation required to be registered with or accredited by a governing body to operate legally in the UK?

If yes, please provide your accreditation or registration details(Name, Number, Expiry Date, etc.)

If your organisation is registered with or accredited by a governing body, even if this is not required to operate legally in the UK, please provide your accreditation or registration details(Name, Number, Expiry Date, etc.)

Enter the estimated number of migrants that you wish to sponsor during your first year as a Sponsor

Number of migrants:

Reason required

(please provide as much details as possible about why you need the estimated number of migrants. For example: business expansion; specialist skills required, extension of leave for existing migrant worker)
 

Details of Authorising Officer:

Title(Miss/Mr/Mrs/Ms/Mx/Dr/Other):

If 'Other', provide the title:

First name(s):

Last name:

Previously known as if applicable(optional):

Address where employed:

Telephone number:

Email address:

Date of birth: 

Country of nationality:

National Insurance number:

Position within the organisation:

Has the Authorising Officer been:

Convicted of a criminal offence or

Issued with a fixed or civil penalty for any offence listed in Appendix C in the last 5 years(link to Appendix C: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/514079/Appendix_C_v1.0.pdf)