UK sponsor licence checks: how to verify a licensed sponsor

To check whether a UK employer or education provider holds a sponsor licence, you use the official registers of licensed sponsors published by UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI). These registers list the organisations that hold a licence to sponsor foreign workers or students. A licence is a prerequisite for most work routes and for the Student visa, but its presence on the register does not guarantee that a specific job or course is eligible, nor that the sponsor will issue you a certificate of sponsorship (CoS) or confirmation of acceptance for studies (CAS).

What the official register is

The register of licensed sponsors is a list of organisations that UKVI has granted permission to sponsor people under the relevant immigration routes. There are two separate registers: one for workers and one for students. Both are published as guidance documents on GOV.UK, and both are part of the wider collection of sponsorship guidance for employers and educators.

You should treat the register as the starting point for any check. If an organisation is not on the register, it cannot sponsor you for most work routes or for a Student visa. If it is on the register, you still need to confirm that the specific role or course you are applying for falls within the scope of the licence.

How to find the register

The official pages are the “Register of licensed sponsors: workers” and “Register of licensed sponsors: students”, both published by UKVI. They are listed in the collection “Sponsorship: guidance for employers and educators”, which is the main landing page for all sponsorship policy guidance, user manuals, codes of practice and support services.

You can access the collection directly on GOV.UK. From there, the two register links take you to the current lists. The collection page also links to the sponsorship policy guidance documents, which explain the duties and responsibilities that come with a licence, and to the user manuals for the sponsorship management system (SMS).

What the register tells you

The register confirms that an organisation holds a licence. It is the authoritative source for that single fact. It does not tell you:

• whether the sponsor has a licence for the specific route you want to use
• whether the sponsor has any unexpired allocation of CoS or CAS
• whether the sponsor is willing to sponsor you
• whether the job or course meets the requirements of the route
• whether the sponsor is compliant with its duties at the moment you check

Those are separate questions. The register is a necessary check, but not a sufficient one.

Checking a sponsor licence number

Licensed sponsors have a sponsor licence number. You will normally see this number on the certificate of sponsorship or confirmation of acceptance for studies that the sponsor issues to you. The register does not publish a searchable database by number on the pages described in the official guidance; you verify a number by checking that the organisation appears on the relevant register and that the details match.

If you have a CoS or CAS, the number on it should correspond to a licensed sponsor. If the organisation does not appear on the register, or if the details do not match, treat that as a warning sign and do not proceed without independent confirmation.

What the licence does not guarantee

A sponsor licence is not a guarantee that a particular job or course is eligible. For work routes, the sponsor must assign you a certificate of sponsorship, and the job must meet the requirements of the specific route, including the skill level and salary thresholds that apply. For the Student visa, the sponsor must assign you a confirmation of acceptance for studies, and the course must be at the required level and with a licensed student sponsor.

The register also does not tell you whether the sponsor has a history of compliance issues. UKVI publishes separate guidance on sponsor duties and compliance, and on civil penalties and immigration offences, but the register itself is a list, not a compliance report.

How to use the register in practice

When you are considering an offer of employment or a place on a course, follow this sequence:

1. Check the relevant register to confirm the organisation holds a licence.
2. Ask the sponsor for their licence number and confirm it matches the register entry.
3. Ask the sponsor to confirm the specific route and the job or course.
4. Ask whether they are willing and able to assign a CoS or CAS.
5. Read the route-specific guidance to check the requirements you will need to meet.

This sequence will not tell you everything, but it will establish the basic fact of sponsorship eligibility.

What to check on the official pages

The most important step is to verify against the official source. Go to the GOV.UK collection page for sponsorship guidance and open the register that matches your situation. Check the organisation name exactly as it appears, and note the date the register was last updated. Registers are updated regularly, so a check you did months ago may no longer be current.

If the organisation is not on the register, do not assume it will be added later. If it is on the register, still confirm the route and the specific role or course before you rely on it. The official pages are the only reliable basis for this check.