UK Visa Sponsorship Jobs: How to Check a Licensed Sponsor and a Job Offer
A UK Skilled Worker visa requires a confirmed job offer from an employer the Home Office has approved. The offer is the start of the employer’s part of the process. It is not the visa. GOV.UK also requires a certificate of sponsorship for that role, a job on the list of eligible occupations, and a salary that meets the minimum for the type of work and for the date on the certificate.
On the current Skilled Worker job page, the usual test is the higher of £41,700 a year or the going rate for the occupation. That is an immigration requirement, not a typical UK salary. Different or lower rules can apply in specified cases. Some healthcare and education jobs use national pay scales instead. Extensions and switches can also use a different minimum. The amount can change, so the rule that applies is the one on the current GOV.UK page for that certificate.
The wider difference between a licence, a vacancy, and a visa decision is in how to find employers that can sponsor foreign workers. Checking a suspicious message before you pay is in how to verify a visa sponsorship job.
What the employer must already be
Approved employers are sponsors. The public list is the register of licensed sponsors for Worker and Temporary Worker routes. Each row shows the organisation, the route it may sponsor, and a rating. A Skilled Worker offer has to match a sponsor licensed for that route, not merely a company with a familiar name.
The register changes. Use the file on the GOV.UK publication page on the day you search, and search the employer’s legal name. A listing means the organisation is licensed for the route shown. It does not mean the organisation is advertising a job, and it does not mean you will be hired.
If the employer is not on the register, GOV.UK says it can apply for a sponsor licence if it is eligible. That application is the employer’s, and the page gives licence fees for the employer: £611 for small businesses and charities, or £1,682 for medium and large organisations, with a usual processing time of around eight weeks. Those are fees for a sponsor licence, checked on 25 September 2026. They are not your visa fee, and they are not a recruitment charge you should send to an agent because an email asked for them.
What the offer still has to include
When the employer is already approved, it checks that you meet the role and assigns a certificate of sponsorship. GOV.UK describes that certificate as an electronic record with a reference number, not a physical document. You need the number for the visa application, and you must apply within three months of the certificate being issued. You can apply up to three months before the start date on the certificate.
You also need to meet the English-language requirement, pay the application fee and the immigration health surcharge unless a specific exemption applies, and show the required personal savings. The amounts are on the visa application pages. A decision usually takes about three weeks from outside the UK and about eight weeks from inside the UK, after identity and documents are provided. Those are usual times, not a promise.
The visa can last up to five years and can be extended if you still qualify. If you change job or employer, you must apply to update the visa. You cannot treat the existing permission as permission to work for someone else.
Health and Care Worker visa
GOV.UK tells doctors, nurses, and people working in health or adult social care to check the Health and Care Worker visa. It is a different application. The overview says it is cheaper to apply for and that the annual immigration health surcharge is not charged. Eligibility for that visa is on its own page. A nursing job in another country does not put you on this route, and registration with a professional regulator is a separate step from either visa.
A check on a UK offer
- Find the employer’s legal name on the current register and confirm the route is Skilled Worker, or the route the offer actually names.
- Read the occupation against the current GOV.UK salary rule, usually the higher of £41,700 or the going rate, unless that page states an exception. Do not treat the figure as a typical UK wage.
- Ask for the certificate of sponsorship reference number and the work start date. Apply within the three-month window GOV.UK states.
- If someone asks you to pay a UK visa fee in cash or by money transfer, stop. GOV.UK says you will not be asked to pay that way.
Sources
- GOV.UK, Skilled Worker visa: Skilled Worker visa
- GOV.UK, your job: Your job
- GOV.UK, register of licensed sponsors: Register of licensed sponsors: workers
- GOV.UK, visa scams: Report visa and immigration scams
