Obtaining a Certificate of Sponsorship For a Visa

Your company will need to apply for a certificate of sponsorship after your sponsor license has been approved.

If you set up a new business in the U.K. or already own one, you may be eligible for a Skilled Worker visa through your own U.K. company via self-sponsorship. Once your U.K. business has obtained a Skilled Worker sponsor licence, you will then need to apply for a Certificate of Sponsorship.

Assign a Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS)

Once your company’s sponsor licence application has been approved, your business will be able to apply for and then assign a Defined Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS).

Certificates of Sponsorship are electronic records which must be assigned for each migrant worker you wish to employ. Each CoS will have a unique reference number which enables an applicant worker to apply for a self-sponsorship Skilled Worker visa.

Your Certificate of Sponsorship must have been issued not more than 3 months before the date of your Skilled Worker application.

Your Certificate of Sponsorship must include certain mandatory information, including:

• Details of your name, job and salary;
• A start date which is no more than 3 months after the date your Skilled Worker visa application;
• Confirmation that the Certificate of Sponsorship has not been used in a previous application which was either granted or refused and has not been withdrawn by the sponsor or cancelled by the Home Office.

Apply for a Self-Sponsored Skilled Worker Visa

Once a Certificate of Sponsorship has been assigned, you can apply for a Skilled Worker visa via self-sponsorship.

To sponsor yourself for a Skilled Worker visa, your visa application will need to demonstrate that:

• Your Certificate of Sponsorship is valid;
• Your job offer is a genuine vacancy;
• Your job is at an appropriate skill level;
• You will be paid a salary which equals or exceeds a general salary threshold, the ‘going rate’ for the occupation and a minimum hourly rate (if applicable);
• Your sponsor has paid any required Immigration Skills Charge;
• You are competent in the English language to at least CEFR Level B1 (equivalent to IELTS 4.0);
• You have enough money to support yourself without relying on public funds;
• You have provided a criminal record certificate, if required; and
• You have provided a valid TB certificate, if required.

You can apply for a Skilled Worker visa up to 3 months before the day you are due to start work in the U.K.

If applying from overseas, you should normally receive a decision on your self-sponsored Skilled Worker visa application within 3 weeks. The standard processing time for an application to switch into or extend a stay in the U.K. as a Skilled Worker is 8 weeks. Priority services may also be available.

This is the third of four articles on obtaining a self-sponsored Skilled Worker visa.