Frequently Asked Questions

A sponsor licence is permission granted by the Home Office (UK Visas & Immigration) that allows an employer to hire workers from outside the UK. Only organisations that hold a valid sponsor licence can assign Certificates of Sponsorship (CoS) to foreign nationals, which are required for most work visa applications.

You can search our database, which mirrors the official GOV.UK register of licensed sponsors. Simply type the employer name, location, or visa route into the search bar. You can also browse the full list on the Sponsors page with filters for status, location, and route.

Active means the sponsor currently holds a valid licence and can sponsor workers. Removed means the licence has been voluntarily surrendered or removed. Revoked means the Home Office has withdrawn the licence, usually due to non-compliance. Suspended means the licence is temporarily paused while the Home Office investigates.

The register includes sponsors licensed for various routes including Skilled Worker, Health & Care Worker, Senior or Specialist Worker (Global Business Mobility), Scale-up Worker, Temporary Worker (including Charity, Creative, Religious, Seasonal, and Government Authorised Exchange routes), and more.

We regularly import the latest data from the official GOV.UK register of licensed sponsors. The "Last Updated" date shown on the homepage reflects when our dataset was last refreshed. The GOV.UK register is typically updated multiple times per month.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator of health and social care in England. We automatically fetch CQC ratings for sponsors that are registered care providers. Ratings range from Outstanding to Inadequate and can help you assess the quality of a potential employer in the health and care sector.

No. SponsorFinder UK is an information tool — we help you find and research licensed sponsors. To apply for a visa, you need to receive a Certificate of Sponsorship from your employer and then apply through the official GOV.UK visa application service.

Before applying, verify that the employer is listed as Active on the register. Check which visa route they are licensed for — it must match the route you intend to apply under. You can also review their CQC rating (if applicable), community ratings from other users, and their sponsor licence history to see if they have had any past issues.

No. Being on the register means the employer is licensed to sponsor workers, but you still need to meet all the visa requirements yourself — including salary thresholds, English language requirements, and having a valid Certificate of Sponsorship. The Home Office makes the final decision on every visa application.

Any visitor can rate a sponsor from 1 to 5 stars. Ratings are anonymous and help other users get a sense of employer reputation. Both the mobile app and web users contribute to the same rating pool. You can change or remove your rating at any time.