The Home Office now offers a Priority service when applying for a Sponsor Licence. This costs an additional £500 (regardless of the size of the company) and should see the application decided in 2 weeks – significantly faster than the current average of 8 weeks. Many employers decide this is a small cost to pay to speed up the process, particularly if they need to sponsor a skilled worker as soon as possible.

In 2024, approx. 30% of applications for a Sponsor Licence were rejected, refused or withdrawn, often because of missing documentation or information.

Applications that are prepared carefully and submitted with all the relevant information and documentation are almost always processed in less time than applications submitted with incomplete, ambiguous, or missing information and documents. It really is worth the time and effort to properly read through the Home Office guidance and submit everything in good order.

The alternative is to seek the assistance of a trusted advisor that has extensive experience in preparing and submitting Sponsor Licence applications. This can avoid seemingly minor errors and omissions that often result in the Home Office taking weeks to reach out for clarification, delaying the application. Mistakes at this stage can also trigger a pre-licence audit of your business, which normally delays the application by several weeks or months. Read more about we can help you with this process here.

This is especially important when collating and preparing the information requested by the Home Office in Appendix A. Employers must explain why they are applying for a Sponsor Licence, with reference to who they want to sponsor if the Licence is granted. Many applications are rejected because employers answer these questions too literally, without necessarily understanding how their answers will be interpreted by the Home Office – it is crucial to have a thorough understanding of the sponsorship rules and requirements to ensure the best chance of success.