Search the Home Office ‘Register of licensed sponsors: workers’ on GOV.UK. Download or open the list, then search for the employer by their legal company name (not the brand or trading name). If they appear with the ‘Skilled Worker’ route, they hold a licence to sponsor — though that alone doesn't mean they're currently hiring or that every role qualifies.
One check can save you weeks of wasted applications. A UK employer can only sponsor your visa if they hold a Home Office sponsor licence — and that information is public. This guide shows you exactly how to check, step by step, using the official register, and explains the traps that catch most people: trading names, ratings, and the difference between ‘licensed’ and ‘actually hiring’.
What is the register of licensed sponsors?
The register is the Home Office's official, public list of every organisation licensed to sponsor workers on visas such as the Skilled Worker visa. It's published as a downloadable file (usually a spreadsheet) and updated regularly. If an employer isn't on it, they cannot legally sponsor your visa — full stop. That makes the register the single most useful filter in your whole job search.
How to check an employer, step by step
- 1Go to the GOV.UK ‘Register of licensed sponsors: workers’ page and open or download the current list.
- 2Search within it — use Ctrl+F (or Cmd+F on a Mac) to find the employer quickly rather than scrolling.
- 3Search by the employer's legal company name, not the brand you see on adverts (more on this below).
- 4Check the ‘Route’ column shows ‘Skilled Worker’ (or the specific route you need), not only a temporary or other route.
- 5Note the rating — an ‘A rating’ is the standard licence; a ‘B rating’ means the sponsor is on an action plan to fix issues.
The biggest gotcha: legal name vs trading name
This is where most people wrongly conclude a company ‘isn't a sponsor’. Employers appear on the register under their registered legal name, which is often different from the brand on the job advert. A shop, restaurant, or care home you know by one name may be licensed under a parent company or a limited-company name ending in ‘Ltd’. If you can't find an employer, search for variations, the parent group, or look up their legal name on Companies House first, then search the register for that.
What the register columns mean
| Column | What it tells you |
|---|---|
| Organisation name | The sponsor's legal name — search by this, not the trading/brand name. |
| Town/City & County | Where the licensed entity is based — helps distinguish similarly named firms. |
| Type & rating | The licence type and whether it's an A rating (standard) or B rating (on an action plan). |
| Route | Which visa routes they can sponsor — look for ‘Skilled Worker’ for most roles. |
A-rating vs B-rating: what it means for you
The register shows each sponsor's rating, and it's worth understanding. An A rating is the standard, healthy status — the sponsor is in full compliance and can assign certificates of sponsorship normally. A B rating is a downgrade: the sponsor is on a time-limited action plan to fix compliance problems and cannot assign new certificates of sponsorship until it returns to an A rating. A B rating doesn't mean you could never work there — but a new sponsored hire may have to wait until they're back to an A rating, so it's worth asking about.
Check they hold the route you actually need
Being ‘a sponsor’ isn't one single thing — licences are tied to specific routes. Most sponsored jobs need the Skilled Worker route, while healthcare roles often use the Health and Care Worker branch of it. Some organisations are licensed only for a Temporary Worker route (for example seasonal or charity work), which can't sponsor a Skilled Worker role. Always check the ‘Route’ column matches the visa you need — not just that the company appears somewhere on the list.
Can you look up a ‘sponsor licence number’?
This is a common search that leads people astray: the public register does not publish sponsor licence numbers. It lists the organisation's name, location, licence type and rating, and the routes they can sponsor — but no licence number you can look up. The sponsor's licence number appears later, on your Certificate of Sponsorship, once a licensed employer assigns one for a specific job. So to verify a sponsor before you apply, you're matching the company name and route on the register — not hunting for a number.
What being ‘on the register’ does and doesn't mean
A listing tells you an employer is licensed to sponsor. It does not tell you everything, so be clear on the limits:
- It does NOT mean they're currently hiring, or hiring for a role you can do.
- It does NOT mean every job they advertise is eligible for sponsorship — the role still has to meet the skill level and salary threshold.
- It does NOT guarantee they'll choose to sponsor a given candidate; sponsorship has a cost and administrative burden, and some employers reserve it for hard-to-fill roles.
- It DOES mean sponsorship is legally possible — which is the essential first hurdle every other job fails.
If an employer isn't on the register
Not finding a company doesn't always mean they can't sponsor. Work through these possibilities before you rule them out:
- You searched the trading or brand name — try the legal company name and the parent group (check Companies House first).
- They were licensed very recently — the register is updated regularly, so a brand-new sponsor may not appear yet.
- Their licence lapsed or was revoked — in which case they genuinely can't sponsor right now.
- They simply don't hold a licence — most UK employers don't, and no amount of wanting to hire you changes that.
If you're unsure, it's fair to ask an employer directly whether they hold a Skilled Worker sponsor licence, and whether the specific role would be sponsored, before you spend time on the application.
Watch out for sponsorship scams
Sponsorship's high demand attracts scams. Treat these as red flags:
- Anyone asking you to pay for ‘sponsorship’, for a Certificate of Sponsorship, or to be added to a sponsor's books — legitimate sponsors don't sell certificates.
- An ‘employer’ or agent who won't name the company, or who isn't on the register when you check.
- Offers of a CoS with no real job, interview, or genuine recruitment process.
- Pressure to pay quickly, or to cover fees the employer is legally required to pay themselves.
Questions to ask an employer about sponsorship
If a listing looks promising, a few direct questions save everyone time:
- Do you hold a Skilled Worker sponsor licence (or the Health and Care Worker route, if relevant)?
- Will this specific role be sponsored, or is sponsorship only for certain positions?
- What is the job's SOC code and salary — and does it meet the current threshold?
- When would you be able to assign a Certificate of Sponsorship if I'm the successful candidate?
Checker tools and shortcuts
Several websites let you search the register more comfortably than the raw spreadsheet, with cleaner filtering by name, location, or route. They can be handy, but they're only as current as their last update of the official data — always treat GOV.UK as the source of truth. The bigger limitation of any manual check is that it tells you a company is licensed, not whether the specific job in front of you is one that can actually be sponsored — and, if offered, that comes with a Certificate of Sponsorship. For the wider picture of who sponsors, see our roundup of UK companies that sponsor Skilled Worker visas, and the full workflow in our complete UK visa sponsorship jobs guide.
Let Hirely do the checking for you
Checking each employer by hand works, but it's slow — and it only answers half the question. Hirely cross-checks every listing against the Home Office register automatically, so every role you see comes from an employer with an active sponsor licence. Instead of vetting companies one by one, you spend your time applying to jobs that can genuinely sponsor you. Create a free profile to see sponsor-verified roles matched to your experience.