We help businesses and corporates with Certificate of Sponsorship applications and also the whole Sponsor Licensing process from start to finish.

When applying for an Undefined or Defined Certificate of Sponsorship, please have all the below information and documents available to help the UK Home Office to make a fully informed decision. If you need advice, please book our most popular advice service detailed at the end of this list. You can download this list at the bottom of this page.

1. A full explanation and evidence that your company requires your current level of recruitment, specifically workers for this role(s).

2. A full description of the nature of your business and hours of operation.

3. A detailed description of the post(s) you intend to assign the CoS for. If there are multiple SOC codes, you must provide separate responses for each and state how many of each occupation you require the CoS for.

a.    SOC code

b.    Job title

c.    A specific job description (this should be tailored to your business and not generic)

d.    Salary (per annum) and Hours (per week)

e.    Address of the role(s). (If there are multiple addresses, please state how many CoS will be required at each address).

f.     Details of the skills, experience and qualifications required for the job role(s) and how the migrant fits the skill level/qualifications required.

4. Details of the company’s hierarchy/organisation chart detailing all positions from and including owners/directors downwards and with vacant positions you intend to assign to migrant workers.

For current sponsored workers, you must include their full name and the start date of their employment with you.

5. The details of any candidate(s) you have already identified:

a.    Migrant name(s)

b.    Date of Birth.

c.    Nationality.

d.    Current immigration status:

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6. If you are yet to identify any migrants that you wish to hire, please highlight one of the following which applies to the migrant pool of your intended hires:

1. Intended hires will be migrants from within the UK who have valid leave to enter or remain and are wishing to switch immigration categories to Skilled Worker.

2. Intended hires will be migrants from outside of the UK who do not have valid leave to enter or remain and are wishing to apply for entry clearance to the UK.

7. Your company website address.

1. If there isn’t one – an explanation as to why.

2. How do you advertise your business?

3. How do your customers find you/contact you?

8. How will you fund the salary(s) of the proposed worker(s)?

9. Last 6 months corporate/business bank statement(s) for ALL business accounts used by your organisation. These must include the bank logo, statement date, the holder’s name/address, sort code, account number and balances.

10. Confirmation of ALL salary/wage payment methods used to pay your migrant workers and confirmation of how any new migrant workers will be paid.

11. Full Pay Run Report/Payroll Summary or Real Time Information (RTI), confirming Gross & Net pay and NI & Tax deductions for the last 6 months.

12. Copies of existing migrant workers employment contracts, that are employed under this same SoC code. These should be signed and dated.

If your organisation has not previously sponsored any workers under this specific SOC code, please provide a draft employment contract for this role.

13. Evidence of the genuine need for this vacancy and an explanation of how this specific role has arisen. This could include, but is not limited to;

• Evidence of an expansion requiring increased staffing.

• Evidence of opening a new branch/premises requiring new/additional staffing.

• Evidence that employees within that specific role, SoC and location have left your employment.

• Where evidencing employees have left your employment, please provide evidence of the need to replace them.

While the evidence below is specifically required for high-risk sectors—such as Care, Retail, Hospitality, and Construction—sponsors across all sectors should proactively prepare these documents. Doing so not only prepares you in case the Home Office requests them, but also helps build a robust case to fully justify the number of CoS allocations requested for your business.

14. Workforce Capability Justification: Evidence and explanation showing why these vacant roles cannot be fulfilled by your existing internal workforce.

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15. Service Allocation Evidence: Specific evidence detailing what the role will involve for each individual, such as which service user(s) they will be assigned to. 

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16.  Existing Employee Payslips: Last 3 months' payslips for any identified candidate(s) who are currently working for your organisation (as an alternative or supplement to their employment contract). 

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17.  Mandatory Contract Highlighting Requirement: Explicit instruction that if service contracts or client agreements are provided, you MUST highlight all relevant sections confirming guaranteed working hours, number of service users, scope/start/end dates of service, and work locations. (We suggest preparing a Capacity Working Spreadsheet showing the total number of hours(including all employees) required, available, proposed, etc. to justify why you required the specific number of CoS that you have requested, making sure to incorporate the hours in the proposed capacity working)

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