Answer · Sponsor licence costs

How much does a UK sponsor licence cost?

Direct answer

The Home Office sponsor licence application fee is £611 for small or charitable sponsors and £1,682 for medium and large sponsors. On top of that, sponsoring each worker typically involves a Certificate of Sponsorship fee (£525 per Worker-route CoS) and the Immigration Skills Charge — £480 (small/charity) or £1,320 (medium/large) for the first 12 months, plus £240 or £660 for each additional 6 months. Professional fees for application support typically start from £1,750 + VAT.

Who this applies to: UK employers planning to apply for a sponsor licence or budgeting for the full cost of bringing sponsored workers into the business.

Regulated by the Immigration Advice Authority

Home Office fees

Sponsor licence application fees.

Small or charitable sponsor

Applies if you meet at least two of: turnover ≤ £15m, total assets ≤ £7.5m, ≤ 50 employees. Charities qualify automatically.

£611

Medium or large sponsor

All other sponsors. This is a one-off fee paid at application.

£1,682

Priority service (optional)

Reduces Home Office processing from 8 weeks to 10 working days. Limited daily slots.

+ £750

Fees as published by the Home Office. Always verify the current figures before submission — the Home Office can update fees with limited notice.

Per-worker fees

What it costs to sponsor each worker.

Once your licence is approved, sponsoring each worker brings additional fees. These are paid per worker, per sponsorship — not part of the licence application itself.

→Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) fee: £525 per worker for Worker routes (Skilled Worker, Health and Care, Senior or Specialist, Scale-up). £55 for Temporary Worker routes.

→Immigration Skills Charge: £480 first 12 months + £240 each additional 6 months (small/charity) or £1,320 first 12 months + £660 each additional 6 months (medium/large)

→ISC is paid upfront for the full sponsorship period — e.g. a medium/large sponsor on a 5-year CoS pays £1,320 + (8 × £660) = £6,600 at CoS assignment

→Worker visa application and Immigration Health Surcharge are paid by the worker (or reimbursed by the employer if agreed)

Worked example

Example: medium-sized employer sponsoring one Skilled Worker for 3 years.

Sponsor licence application

One-off fee at application.

£1,682

Priority processing (optional)

Reduces wait from 8 weeks to 10 working days.

£750

Certificate of Sponsorship

Per worker, Worker-route CoS.

£525

Immigration Skills Charge

£1,320 first year + (4 × £660) additional 6-month blocks, paid upfront when CoS is assigned.

£3,960

Total Home Office cost (year 1)

Excludes worker-side visa and IHS costs.

£6,917

Small or charitable sponsors would pay £611 (licence) and £1,440 ISC (£480 first year + 4 × £240 additional 6-month blocks) instead — total £2,576 before priority, including the £525 Worker-route CoS.

Professional fees

What it costs to get application support.

Harveys Legal offers fixed-fee application support. Fees vary by organisation complexity, document readiness, and whether a readiness audit is completed first.

→Sponsor Licence Readiness Audit: from £395 + VAT — diagnostic-only, identifies gaps before submission

→Sponsor Licence Application Support: from £1,750 + VAT — full preparation and submission

→Combined Audit + Application: typically £1,950–£2,450 + VAT depending on scope

→Ongoing compliance retainer (post-approval): from £295/month + VAT

Common mistakes

Where employers under-budget.

→Budgeting only the licence fee and forgetting the Immigration Skills Charge

→Underestimating ISC by paying year-by-year when it must be paid upfront for the full sponsorship period

→Forgetting the CoS fee is per worker, every time you sponsor someone new

→Not allocating time and money to internal HR system improvements that the application reveals are needed

→Treating priority processing as essential without first checking if the standard 8-week timeline works

Want exact figures for your situation?

Use the Sponsor Licence Cost Estimator to calculate the full Home Office cost based on your business size, number of workers, and sponsorship duration.

Launch Cost Estimator →

Common questions

Questions employers ask us.

The Home Office application fee is generally non-refundable, including in refusal cases. Priority processing fees may be refunded in limited circumstances. This is one reason readiness preparation matters — a refusal does not return your fees.

The Immigration Skills Charge must be paid by the sponsor (the employer). It cannot lawfully be passed on to the worker, recovered from salary, or deducted from any payment. Doing so risks compliance action.

No. The sponsor licence application fee is paid in full at the time of submission. The same applies to priority processing fees and Immigration Skills Charge — both are paid upfront.

Home Office fees are reviewed periodically and have increased multiple times in recent years. The figures above are current as of the most recent fee uplift. Always verify before submission.

Worker visa fees and the Immigration Health Surcharge are technically the worker's costs. Many employers reimburse these as part of the package — but this is a commercial decision, not a legal requirement.

Related services & resources

Want a clear cost breakdown for your situation?

Book a consultation. We will walk through every fee that applies to your specific case — licence, CoS, ISC, and professional fees — so there are no surprises.

Book Consultation →Use the Cost Estimator

Harveys Legal supports immigration applications, sponsor compliance preparation and related legal processes. Final decisions remain with the Home Office or the relevant decision-maker.