Key Takeaways
- Any UK company on the Home Office register of licensed sponsors can sponsor a work visa. Over 125,000 organisations are on it, from FTSE 100 firms and NHS trusts to small businesses.
- The register is public and free to check on GOV.UK, though the official version is a large spreadsheet rather than an easily searchable list.
- Sponsorship is not just for big employers. Any genuine, trading UK business that needs to recruit an eligible worker can apply for a licence.
- The rules tightened sharply in 2025 and 2026, with a higher skill level, a higher salary threshold and tougher compliance, so the pool of sponsored roles has narrowed.
If you need a UK work visa, one question quickly becomes the whole ballgame: which companies can actually sponsor you? It is a frustrating thing to pin down. Job adverts rarely say, recruiters give vague answers, and it is easy to waste weeks applying to employers who were never able to sponsor in the first place. If you are an employer, the question runs the other way: can a business like yours sponsor the worker you want to hire?
The good news is that there is a single, official answer to who can sponsor, and it is public. The bad news is that the list is enormous and not especially easy to use, and the rules around who gets sponsored have become much stricter over the past year.
This guide explains where to find companies that sponsor visas, what sponsorship really involves, and what recent changes mean for both workers and employers. If you are a business thinking about sponsoring staff, Osbourne Pinner offers a free 30-minute consultation with an immigration solicitor.
The official answer: the register of licensed sponsors
Every organisation allowed to sponsor a worker appears on the Home Office’s register of licensed sponsors. This is the definitive list. In 2026 it runs to more than 125,000 organisations, covering everything from multinationals and NHS trusts to universities, care providers, small firms and even sole traders. It is published free on GOV.UK and updated roughly every fortnight, so it is always the most reliable place to start.
How to check whether a company sponsors
There is a catch. The official register is a downloadable spreadsheet with well over 100,000 rows, and it lists organisations by their registered name, not always the trading name you would recognise, which makes it fiddly to search. You can still find an employer by opening the file and searching within it, and the entry will show the visa routes they are licensed for and their rating. A number of third-party websites repackage the same data into something more searchable, though the GOV.UK file remains the source of truth. We walk through the steps in our guide on how to check if a company has a sponsorship licence.
What kinds of companies sponsor visas?
Sponsorship is not the preserve of household names. Healthcare and social care, technology, engineering, education and finance all feature heavily, but so do thousands of ordinary small and medium-sized businesses that simply cannot fill a role locally. Being small is no barrier. What matters is that the business is genuine, trading, and recruiting for a role that qualifies, not how many employees it has.
What sponsorship actually means
Appearing on the register means a company holds a sponsor licence, but that is only the first piece. To bring in a specific worker, the sponsor also has to assign that person a Certificate of Sponsorship for a role that meets the skill and salary rules, and the worker then applies for their visa. In other words, sponsorship ties together the employer’s licence, a genuine eligible job, and the individual’s application. A licence on its own does not put anyone in a role.
The rules got much tougher in 2025 and 2026
This is the part that has changed the picture most. Since 22 July 2025, the skill level for the Skilled Worker route rose from A-level equivalent to graduate level, which removed around 180 occupations from the route. From 8 January 2026 the general salary threshold climbed to £41,700, and first-time applicants now have to show English at B2 level. From 8 April 2026, sponsors must show the salary is met in each pay period, not just averaged across the year. The Home Office also revoked more than 3,000 sponsor licences in 2025 and stepped up compliance visits. The practical effect is that fewer roles qualify and sponsors are under far more scrutiny than before.
Being on the register is not a guarantee
It is worth a note of caution for jobseekers. A company appearing on the register can sponsor, but it does not mean it currently has vacancies, or that it is willing to sponsor for the role you want. Some sponsors hold a B-rating, meaning they are on an improvement plan, and licences are revoked regularly, so a name on last month’s list may not be there now. Always check the current register and confirm directly with the employer. Our guide to the revoked sponsor licence list explains why this matters.
What if you cannot find a sponsor?
If sponsored roles are thin on the ground in your field, there is another route worth knowing about. The self-sponsorship visa involves setting up a genuine UK business that itself holds a sponsor licence and sponsors you. It is more involved than an ordinary job application and is not right for everyone, but for the right person it removes the need to rely on an existing employer.
If you are a business that wants to sponsor
For employers, getting onto the register means applying for a sponsor licence. Any genuine UK business can apply if it can show it is legally operating, has the systems to meet its sponsor duties, and has a real vacancy for an eligible role. The Home Office checks your documents, your premises and your recruitment, and once approved you can start assigning Certificates of Sponsorship. Given how closely compliance is now policed, getting the application and your internal systems right from the outset is well worth doing properly. You can read more on our skilled worker sponsor licence page.
What it costs a business to sponsor
Sponsoring is not free, and the costs fall on the employer, not the worker. There is a fee to apply for the licence, which depends on whether you count as a small or a larger business, a fee for each Certificate of Sponsorship you assign, and the Immigration Skills Charge, an annual charge payable for most sponsored workers. Several of these fees rose during 2025, so it is worth checking the current figures on GOV.UK before you budget. For a small business bringing in one or two people the cost is manageable, but it is a real one, and it is far better factored in at the planning stage than discovered halfway through.
Speak to an Immigration Solicitor About Sponsoring Workers
With the skill and salary bar raised and compliance visits at record levels, sponsoring a worker is more demanding than it used to be, and mistakes can cost a business its licence. Getting set up correctly protects both your recruitment and your standing with the Home Office.
At Osbourne Pinner, our skilled worker sponsor licence solicitors can guide your business through applying for a licence, assigning Certificates of Sponsorship, and staying compliant once you are on the register.
Please note that this article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. We always recommend speaking to a qualified solicitor for advice tailored to your specific circumstances.
We offer a free 30-minute consultation to discuss your situation. You can speak with us via video call or visit our offices in Harrow, Canary Wharf, Piccadilly Circus or Manchester. To arrange your consultation, call 0203 983 5080, email [email protected] or complete the form below.
