UK Visa Sponsorship Licences (formerly known as Tier 2)
Page Contents
Workers and Temporary Workers: Guidance for Sponsors
Practice Benefits of Becoming a UK Visa Sponsoring Organisation
GPs Included on the Shortage Occupation List – October 2019
Online Process for UK Visa Sponsorship for Employers
What Next and How Much Does it Cost?
How Long Will it Take to Get a Licence?
Skilled Worker Visa Sponsor Support
Introduction
Wessex LMCs have compiled a list of practices who hold a UK Visa Sponsor Licence or who are interested in applying for a licence. If you wish your practice to be added to this list, please email your details to the office – office@wessexlmcs.org.uk.
This list is available HERE for GPs who are looking to find employment with a UK Visa sponsoring organisation.
There are a number of resources on International GP Recruitment the FutureNHS website.
Practices can apply to be a UK Visa Sponsoring Organisation and when granted a licence, can then issue UK Certificates of Sponsorship for clinicians from outside the UK, applying on a Skilled Worker Visa (formerly a Tier 2 General work visa).
As you will be aware, increasing numbers of GP trainees, both nationally and here in Wessex, are international graduates.
Whilst some of our International Medical Graduates (IMGs) have been in the UK for many years, increasing numbers are new to the UK at the start of GPST1. As GP training is only three years, and it takes five years to qualify for “Indefinite Leave to Remain,” IMGs who are new to the UK when they start their GP training require ongoing visa sponsorship when they complete their training.
As announced in May 2023, GP trainees in receipt of their Certificate of Completion of Training (CCT) are now eligible for a four-month extension to their visas whilst they arrange substantive post-CCT employment with a new visa sponsor.
For new trainees, including Feb 2024 new starters, this additional four months should be added to the visa automatically when the trainee first applies for the visa. Existing trainees who wish to do so (i.e. those who have not already finalised a post-CCT job with a sponsoring practice) must apply for this extension when they are nearing the end of their training.
There is work ongoing nationally to push for all Certificate of Completion of Training (CCT) GPs to automatically qualify for Indefinite Leave to Remain on completion of GP training; however, we are not there yet. In the meantime, practices may want to consider becoming registered as visa sponsors.
This is also a route for practices struggling to recruit clinicians, so you may wish to consider this as an alternative recruitment pathway.
Financial support from NHS England to cover the applications costs ended on 31st March 2020. However, it may be that practices will be able to approach their ICB for reimbursement of costs associated with becoming a UK Visa sponsoring organisation.
Despite this uncertainty there may be some organisations for whom it may still be beneficial to apply for a sponsorship licence and therefore employ someone who requires a certificate of sponsorship.
Visa Sponsorship in General Practice Podcast
- Does your practice have a visa sponsorship licence already?
- Do you what it is or why you might want one?
This podcast will persuade you to push this up your practice list of priorities as something to have in place! Listen now to find out why. Our Joint CEO and GP Dr Laura Edwards talks with a panel around visa sponsorship and how it impacts international graduates particularly around the time of qualification and what actions practices may want to take to help with their recruitment.
Helpful resource: Skilled Workers/Visa Sponsorship Licences – bswtraininghub.nhs.uk
Listen to the podcast here
Workers and Temporary Workers: Guidance for Sponsors
GOV.UK have a suite of guidance documents:
‘Workers and Temporary Workers: guidance for sponsors’ (or ‘sponsor guidance for employers’ for short). The guidance is structured as follows:
You can find all documents on the ‘Guidance for employers and educators’ page on GOV.UK.
We would recommend that you read all parts of the guidance to ensure that you understand your duties and responsibilities as a licensed sponsor.
Main Parts
The 3 main parts are:
- Part 1: Workers and Temporary Workers – Apply for a licence: tells you how to apply for a sponsor licence, the requirements you must meet, how they consider your application, and what happens if they refuse your application.
- Part 2: Sponsor a worker – general information: tells you about the processes you must follow to sponsor a worker once you have obtained your sponsor licence.
- Part 3: Sponsor duties and compliance: tells you about your duties and responsibilities as a sponsor and the action they will take if you breach, or are suspected of breaching, these duties, including if you act in a manner that is not conducive to the public good.
Appendices
The relevant appendices are:
- Appendix A: this tells you the documents you must submit to support your sponsor licence application.
- Appendix B: this is a list of immigration offences they will note when considering your suitability to hold a sponsor licence.
- Appendix D: this tells you about your record-keeping duties as a licensed sponsor.
Route Specific Guidance
This document contains detailed information on sponsoring a skilled worker:
Here is some of the information taken from the GOV.UK guidance on the process and how to apply:
Practice Benefits of Becoming a UK Visa Sponsoring Organisation
- It will allow you to employ your registrar following their Certificate of Completion of Training (CCT) if they are a doctor from outside the UK.
- Access to an expanded workforce to employ from
- The Home Office has announced that from 6 April 2024, employers that already hold a sponsorship licence will no longer be required to apply for a licence renewal after four years. There is no action needed for employers. If a practice has a sponsorship licence that is due to expire on or after this date, the Home Office will automatically extend the expiry date on the licence by 10 years.
Requirements of the Practice
Significant trust is placed with the sponsorship organisation and the Home Office needs to establish 4 criteria when considering licence applications:
- You are a genuine organisation operating lawfully in the UK.
- You are honest, dependable and reliable.
- You can carry out your sponsorship duties, i.e., you have robust HR and recruitment processes.
- You are offering genuine skilled, appropriately remunerated employment.
How Do You Apply?
Applying to hold a UK Visa Sponsor Licence is quite a commitment. As with any application procedure it is important to ensure your supporting documentation is up to date and correct. Preparation is the key to success. NHS England recommends you invest a minimum of 2 days into the application process so be aware of this commitment at the outset but accept it could take longer. The process can seem a complex multi-stepped process with complicated guidance, but this is probably because the official Home Office guidance must cover all sectors and all eventualities. While not a substitute for the official guidance hopefully this simplified version will be beneficial for your practice and your patients if your vacancy can be filled.
Be aware there are time sensitive requirements along the way. Where relevant these have been highlighted below to help you prepare. For example, to prove your organisation is genuine and has an established trading presence in the UK you must ensure that all supporting documentation and the submission sheet is received within 5 working days from the date that you submit your online application. Other time sensitive actions are highlighted in this document.
The process is an online application.
GPs Included on the Shortage Occupation List – October 2019
On 29th May 2019 the Migration Advisory Committee published its recommendations that all medical practitioners including GP’s should be added to the shortage occupation list (SOL). This means that the recruitment process for non-EEA GPs will be significantly quicker as since 7th October 2019 there is now no need for practices to satisfy the Resident Market Labour Test (RMLT)
The most recent changes to the SOL can be viewed at here.
Online Process for UK Visa Sponsorship for Employers
Once you have all your documents to hand, the online form should take about 20 to 25 minutes to complete. If you get part way through it and need to stop, you can save the application mid-process. It is recommended to save each page as you complete it as your session will time out after 20 minutes of inactivity. You must be connected to a printer in order to print your submission sheet. Ensure the email address provided does not block/redirect to junk.
To complete the application form you will need to have collated the following information:
*Key personnel – the online form requires named persons to have certain responsibilities (note these roles can all be done by the same person).
- Authorising Officer – the most senior person responsible for recruitment
- Key Contact – main contact for Home Office
- Level 1 user – carries out the day-to-day sponsorship activities, more can be nominated once licence granted. Must be employee, director, or partner. They are the person with the access to the Sponsor Management System, the online gateway between you and UK Visa and Immigration.
- (Optional personnel) Level 2 user – have fewer permissions than a level 1 user as can only assign Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) and report worker activity, if for example the worker doesn’t come to work.
**Once you have successfully applied for a licence you have an online account can apply to give out more.
*** It is your responsibility to check exactly which documents need to support your application, more details can be found here – https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/supporting-documents-for-sponsor-applications-appendix-a. Documents submitted must be the originals or certified copies, the Home Office will carry out an online check for the CQC and GMC documentation.
What Next and How Much Does it Cost?
Once your online submission is complete, you will need to scan or take pictures of your submission sheet and supporting documents. Make sure your files are in PDF, JPEG or PNG format, have descriptive titles with 25 or fewer characters.
If you cannot scan and send the documents via email, you will need to print out the submission sheet and copy the supporting documents and send them to UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) using the contact details on the submission sheet as soon as possible, but within 5 days.
Most GP practices will be classified as small businesses. The Sponsoring Licence application fee for small businesses is £574. You are classified a small business if:
- Your annual turnover is £15 million or less
- You have 50 employees or fewer
The fee for medium and larger businesses is £1579.
Details can be found at Apply for your licence
Once the practice has a licence, they can then look for suitable candidates/workers. You must assign a certificate of sponsorship to each foreign worker you employ. This is an electronic record, not a physical document. Each certificate has its own number which a worker can use to apply for a visa.
You’ll need to pay a fee when you assign a certificate to a worker. How much a certificate will cost depends on the type of sponsor licence you have. Full details can be found here: Certificates of Sponsorship
However, the information on Gov.uk goes on to tell us that “If you assign a certificate of sponsorship to a worker on a Skilled Worker or Senior or Specialist Worker visa, you might also need to pay the immigration skills charge.”
This is an additional charge when you assign a certificate of sponsorship to someone applying for a Skilled Worker or Senior or Specialist Worker visa. This is called the ‘immigration skills charge’.
You must pay the immigration skills charge if they’re applying for a visa from:
- outside the UK to work in the UK for 6 months or more
- inside the UK for any length of time
The amount you need to pay is based on:
- the size of your organisation
- how long the worker will work for you, using the start and end dates on their sponsorship certificate
| Period | Small or charitable sponsors | Medium or large sponsors |
|---|---|---|
| First 12 months | £480 | £1,320 |
| Each additional 6 months | £240 | £660 |
These figures relate to applications on or after 16th December 2025 (see Impacts of the changes to the UK immigration policy | NHS Employers for full details of all the changes to the UK Immigration policy from that date).
How to tell if you’re a small sponsor
You’re usually a small sponsor if at least 2 of the following apply:
- your annual turnover is £10.2 million or less
- your total assets are worth £5.1 million or less
- you have 50 employees or fewer
How much to pay based on how long the worker will work for you
If the worker will be in the UK for longer than 6 months but less than a year, you must pay for at least 12 months.
You must pay the full charge in one go.
The longest you can sponsor a worker for is 5 years, so the most you’ll have to pay is:
- £1,820 (5 x £364) if you’re a small or charitable sponsor
- £5,000 (5 x £1,000) if you’re a medium or large sponsor
UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) will contact you if you do not pay the charge or pay the wrong amount. You’ll have 10 working days to pay the charge – the worker’s visa application will be refused if you do not.
In summary, there is a cost to apply for a licence and in addition to this, there will then be further charges for assigning a certificate of sponship and also an immigration skills charge if you go on employ a worker.
How Long Will it Take to Get a Licence?
Most applications are dealt with within 8 weeks.
Help and Advice
Sponsors can get advice from the sponsorship, employer and education helpline: Tel 0300 123 4699 from Monday to Friday, 9am to 4pm.
National support for practices, ICBs, regional teams and GPs with visa queries ended on 31 May 2024 and other responsibilities such as funding visas and providing practice matching were moved to ICBs under the new NHS England operating model.
- Individual GPs with immigration concerns can get free advice from the Immigration Advice Service.
- Visa related queries and issues should be raised directly with the dedicated NHS Visa Team at the Home Office via UKVINHSTeam@homeoffice.gov.uk.
- Queries relating to the 4-month visa extension for newly qualified GPs should be raised with NHS England’s Overseas Sponsorship Team via sponsorship@nhs.net.
Please note that existing NHS England visa support for sponsored GP trainees, and GP and practices participating in the International Induction Programme will continue to be provided.
What Next?
When you have your CoS details, you will need to register and use the online sponsorship management system (SMS).
Remember as a practice once a licence is granted you are acting in an official capacity for the Home Office and need to log onto your online account regularly to ensure it remains up to date. A useful tip from one of our Practice Managers who has been through the process is to diarise a monthly log-in to remain compliant in your responsibilities.
Skilled Worker Visa – Sponsor Support
There is a dedicated team of support staff available, enabling Skilled Worker Visa Sponsors to contact UK Visa and Immigration’s specialist team if they have any issues with the application process or eligibility for the skilled worker and also health and care workers. Sponsors can contact UKVI’s dedicated NHS team at the following email address: UKVINHSteam@homeoffice.gov.uk
Further Resource List
Skilled Worker visa applicants visit here.
Health and Care Worker visa applicants visit here.
FutureNHS – International GP Recruitment
The RCGP has a guide for overseas doctors planning to train and work in the UK as a GP
The BMA have a suite of guidance for international GP’s applying for a visa sponsorship licence. It does not replace official Home Office sponsor guidance
For information on the skilled worker route visit NHS Employers
For information on the General Practitioner (GP) 4-month extension scheme announced in Autumn 2023 visit NHSE Workforce, Training & Education
Part 1: applying for health and social care jobs in the UK from abroad – GOV.UK