Any UK employer who wants to bring in workers from outside the UK requires to have a Sponsor Licence. Sponsor Licence application process can be challenging, and many applications are refused each year owing to mistakes, such as failing to submit the proper paperwork and information or failing to adequately address Home Office inquiries. If you urgently require the hiring of a new employee, delays can be highly inconvenient. It costs a lot to hire someone with a UK work visa because there are numerous government fees that must be paid by the employer as well. Therefore, errors may prove to be highly expensive.

What are the documents required for a Sponsor Licence application?

Details of common paperwork needed for a Sponsor Licence application are provided below:

• A lease or leasing agreement for office space may be submitted. This document should bear the signatures of all parties (if applicable)
• Bank records for the company, possibly for three months. As an alternative, you can present a letter from a UK bank outlining its interactions with you, including the details of their nature and length
• Certificate for VAT from HMRC
• PAYE from HMRC. Both the PAYE Reference Number and the Accounts Office Reference Number must be on the paper. This ought to be accessible by logging into the HMRC account for your company
• The most recent audited annual accounts
• Certificate of employers liability insurance (coverage of at least £5 million)
• The most recent acknowledgement of a CT620 Company Tax Return, or alternatively, the CT600 tax return that has been completed and the CT603 notification

From the list of papers in the online Sponsor Licence form, you must provide a minimum of four. In rare circumstances, it can be possible to present substitute documents.

How to determine whether you are a small or charitable sponsor?

If at least two of the following apply, you are typically a small sponsor:

• Your annual revenue is £10.2 million or less
• The value of your total assets is £5.1 million or less
• You employ 50 people or less

A charitable sponsor is someone who is:

• Registered as a charity in England or Wales
• Registered as a charity in Scotland
• Registered as a charity in Northern Ireland; if not, you must submit proof of your charitable status for tax reasons FROM HMRC
• An ecclesiastical corporation created for charitable reasons
• An excluded charity
• An exempt charity

• The majority of applications are processed in under 8 weeks
• To receive a judgement in less than 10 working days, you could be able to pay an additional £500
• Every working day, only a few applications can use this service
• First-come, first-serve scheduling determines which requests receive quicker decisions