Every charge a UK employer actually pays to sponsor an overseas worker — the licence itself, the per-worker fees, and the ones you are not allowed to pass on.
Updated 7 August 2026. All figures are the Home Office rates in force after the 8 April 2026 fee revision.
The sponsor licence application fee depends on your organisation’s size, and it buys you a licence that lasts four years.
Home Office fee, 4 years
Home Office fee, 4 years
Optional, ~10 working days
You count as a small sponsor if at least two of these are true: annual turnover of £10.2 million or less, total assets of £5.1 million or less, or 50 employees or fewer. Registered charities pay the small rate whatever their size. Get this wrong in your favour and the application is refused, so it is worth checking against your latest filed accounts before you pay.
The licence is the entry ticket. The recurring cost is per hire, and it is where most budgets are underestimated.
Per worker, per assignment
Per year of sponsorship
Per year of sponsorship
A Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) is assigned each time you sponsor someone — including when an existing employee extends their permission or moves to you from another sponsor. The Immigration Skills Charge rose by roughly a third on 16 December 2025 and is charged up front for the whole sponsorship period, with half-year increments of £240 (small) and £660 (medium or large).
A worked example. A medium-sized employer sponsoring one worker for three years pays £1,682 for the licence, £525 for the CoS and £3,960 in Immigration Skills Charge — roughly £6,167 before the worker’s own visa costs. The same hire by a 30-person company costs £611 + £525 + £1,440 = £2,576.
These are legally separate, but they shape whether an offer is accepted, and many employers absorb them.
The health surcharge is usually the largest single line. Over a three-year visa it is £3,105 for the worker alone, and more than £9,000 for a family of three.
The rules here are strict, and breaching them puts the licence itself at risk.
Repayment clauses are the common trap. A clause requiring an early leaver to repay “sponsorship costs” is unenforceable to the extent it covers the charges above, and the Home Office treats it as a compliance failure.
Beyond the Home Office schedule, budget for the work that gets the application through: HR and right-to-work systems that satisfy sponsor duties, document gathering and certified translations, the time of whoever will be named as Authorising Officer and Key Contact, and professional fees. A refusal is the expensive outcome — the fee is not refunded, and a cooling-off period can block you from reapplying for six months.
The Immigration Skills Charge does not apply to every hire. Health and Care Worker sponsorships, certain PhD-level occupations, and students switching to a Skilled Worker visa from inside the UK are all outside it. Because eligibility turns on the occupation code, check the code before you build the budget rather than after.
We handle UK sponsor licence applications on a fixed fee agreed up front, and advise on immigration and employment more broadly. If you want a number for your own situation rather than a table, book a free consultation.
From 8 April 2026 the Home Office application fee is £611 for a small or charitable sponsor and £1,682 for a medium or large sponsor. The licence lasts four years. An optional priority service costs a further £750 for a decision in about ten working days.
You qualify for the small-sponsor fee if at least two of the following apply: annual turnover of £10.2 million or less, total assets of £5.1 million or less, or 50 employees or fewer. Registered charities pay the small-sponsor rate regardless of size. Everyone else pays the medium or large rate.
Each Certificate of Sponsorship costs £525. The Immigration Skills Charge is £480 per year for small or charitable sponsors and £1,320 per year for medium or large sponsors, charged for the full period of sponsorship. The worker’s Skilled Worker visa fee and Immigration Health Surcharge are separate again.
You cannot recoup the sponsor licence fee, the Certificate of Sponsorship fee or the Immigration Skills Charge from the worker. The visa application fee and the Immigration Health Surcharge may be paid by either party, and many employers cover them as part of the package.
Yes. Exemptions include workers sponsored on the Health and Care Worker route, certain PhD-level occupations, and students switching to a Skilled Worker visa from inside the UK. Whether an exemption applies is decided by the occupation code, so check it before you budget.
Tell us the role, the salary and your company size, and we’ll cost the whole sponsorship — licence, certificate, skills charge and visa — before you commit.
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