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UK Sponsor Licence Application Refused
If your sponsor licence application has been refused, there’s no right of appeal—but you may be able to request an Error Correction within 14 calendar days if UKVI made a simple caseworking error or failed to consider evidence you submitted. Otherwise, you’ll usually face a cooling-off period before reapplying. GOV.UK
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When you apply for a sponsor licence with UK Immigration and Visas (UKVI), you’ll usually get one of three replies. Your application is either accepted (and you get an A-grade pass), refused, or rejected.
If an application is rejected, the company can reapply right away. When the UKVI rejects an application, they consider it to be invalid, and they generally refund the application fee. Refusing an application, on the other hand, is usually a more complicated situation with more serious effects. The company lost the entry fee and can’t apply again right away.
Quick facts: sponsor licence refusals in the UK
No right of appeal
There’s no appeal against a licence refusal. Options are Error Correction (if applicable) or reapply after any cooling-off period.
Error Correction (14 days)
You can submit an Error Correction request within 14 days if UKVI made a simple caseworking error or did not consider evidence you sent. UKVI aims to reply within 28 working days.
Cooling-off periods
Typical outcomes include no cooling-off (e.g., online form submitted by a representative; missed evidence due to reasons outside your control) or six months for most other refusal reasons; 12–24 months (or up to five years) apply in more serious scenarios (e.g., revocation history or multiple civil penalties).
Reapplying
When any cooling-off ends, you must fix the original refusal reasons; expiry of the period does not guarantee a grant. UKVI may conduct a compliance check before deciding
The Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS) is a fee paid by most visa and immigration applicants for over six months to access the National Health Service (NHS). It is not required for British citizenship applications, as permanent residents contribute via taxes like National Insurance.
Missing/incorrect documents under Appendix A, unsuitable key personnel, failed compliance visit, or genuineness concerns. (See Sponsor guidance: Appendix A for required evidence.)
When applying for a Spouse visa, you must pay the Immigration Health Surcharge to cover your healthcare costs while in the UK. Since February 2024, the surcharge has been £1,035 per year, following a 86% increase. For in-country application, it will be for 30 months and out-country application, it will be for 33 months.
After refusal, you may face a six-month bar before re-applying unless the Home Office permits earlier submission.
The Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS) is a fee paid by most visa and immigration applicants for over six months to access the National Health Service (NHS). It is not required for British citizenship applications, as permanent residents contribute via taxes like National Insurance.
Inadequate HR systems, false information, and non-genuine vacancies are the top triggers for denial.
When applying for a Spouse visa, you must pay the Immigration Health Surcharge to cover your healthcare costs while in the UK. Since February 2024, the surcharge has been £1,035 per year, following a 86% increase. For in-country application, it will be for 30 months and out-country application, it will be for 33 months.
Our mock-audit service identifies compliance failures and strengthens your case for a successful re-application.
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Analyse your refusal letter against the sponsor guidance
A refusal disrupts recruitment and operations but the next 14 days can be decisive.
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From Consultation to Visa Approval
Our immigration specialists streamline your application process by clearly identifying which evidence and strategies will strengthen your case.
By aligning your unique circumstances with Home Office requirements, we help you focus on high-impact preparations while addressing any potential weaknesses in your application.
From Consultation to Visa Approval
Our immigration specialists streamline your application process by clearly identifying which evidence and strategies will strengthen your case.
By aligning your unique circumstances with Home Office requirements, we help you focus on high-impact preparations while addressing any potential weaknesses in your application.
Maximising Your Approval Chances
Our goal is to maximise the chances of your visa being approved the first time. By carefully reviewing your circumstances, identifying potential weaknesses, and preparing strong supporting evidence, we significantly reduce the risk of refusals. Every application is checked by senior immigration solicitors who apply their expertise to make your case as clear, accurate, and persuasive as possible. This attention to detail is what improves success rates and helps our clients move forward with confidence.
Success Rate Optimisation
We carefully analyse every detail of your application to maximise the chances of approval. By addressing weaknesses, strengthening supporting evidence, and ensuring full compliance with Home Office rules, we optimise your case for success. This thorough approach significantly improves approval rates and gives you confidence throughout the process.
Risk Mitigation Strategies
We identify potential risks in your application early and put safeguards in place to address them. By preparing strong evidence, clarifying complex points, and anticipating Home Office concerns, we minimise the chance of delays or refusals.
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Evidence-based case preparation
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Home Office compliance checks
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Success rate optimisation
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Risk mitigation strategies
From Consultation to Visa Approval
Our immigration specialists streamline your application process by clearly identifying which evidence and strategies will strengthen your case.
By aligning your unique circumstances with Home Office requirements, we help you focus on high-impact preparations while addressing any potential weaknesses in your application.
Maximising Your Approval Chances
Our goal is to maximise the chances of your visa being approved the first time. By carefully reviewing your circumstances, identifying potential weaknesses, and preparing strong supporting evidence, we significantly reduce the risk of refusals. Every application is checked by senior immigration solicitors who apply their expertise to make your case as clear, accurate, and persuasive as possible. This attention to detail is what improves success rates and helps our clients move forward with confidence.
Success Rate Optimisation
We carefully analyse every detail of your application to maximise the chances of approval. By addressing weaknesses, strengthening supporting evidence, and ensuring full compliance with Home Office rules, we optimise your case for success. This thorough approach significantly improves approval rates and gives you confidence throughout the process.
Risk Mitigation Strategies
We identify potential risks in your application early and put safeguards in place to address them. By preparing strong evidence, clarifying complex points, and anticipating Home Office concerns, we minimise the chance of delays or refusals.
Work With Trusted, SRA-Regulated UK Immigration Experts
Your immigration journey is too important to risk on unqualified or unregulated help. Every case we handle is prepared by SRA-regulated solicitors who apply structured legal reasoning, precise documentation checks and full compliance with Home Office and UKVI rules.
Our accreditations are your assurance that you are working with a reputable, experienced and highly trained legal team. We combine decades of immigration expertise with strict professional standards to give you clarity, confidence and complete peace of mind — no matter which visa or application route you are pursuing.
Why is your Sponsor Licence Application Refused?
When there are more serious or basic problems with the application, the sponsor licence is denied. Refusals are worse for the applicant because they usually can’t get their licence application fee back, and the company may have to wait six to 12 months before they can make another application.
If your application for a sponsor licence is turned down, the Home Office’s reasons for the refusal will tell you what your choices are. Reasons for UK sponsor license application refusal include:
Failure to provide the right documents
If you are not a UK government-recognized public body, like a local government or a business listed on the London Stock Exchange Main Market, you will need to show at least four documents from Appendix A to back up your claim.
To show that you can get a sponsor licence, you need to show the papers in Appendix A of the sponsor guidance, along with any other documents that UKVI may ask for. These papers are needed by UKVI to make sure that your business is real and can legally do business in the UK. The only exception is for people going through the UK Expansion Worker (GBM) route. If you are an overseas company wanting to grow, you must not already be doing business in the UK, but you must have a “footprint” there.
Some of the evidence listed in Appendix A will need to be a document or a group of documents. Other evidence will only need to be checked online, which UKVI can do without you having to give them any paperwork. On the other hand, you might not need to send any paperwork at all for some of the applicants mentioned in Table one of Appendix A, like organisations applying through the Scale-up route.
Nevertheless, the majority of applications need a minimum of four documents sourced from Tables two – four of Appendix A. These documents should demonstrate, among other things, your legitimacy and legal operation in the UK, your presence in the UK, and your credible intentions to extend to the UK.
You may also need to give more information. For example, if you want to support skilled workers, you need to give more information about your company, along with why you want to come to the UK and what jobs you want to fill.
To send your application online, you must include all pages of the submission sheet that have been signed and dated by your Authorising Officer. You must also include the documents mentioned in Appendix A and on that sheet. You should get in touch with UKVI if you can’t send the submission sheet and supporting documents online.
UKVI always has the right to ask for original papers or copies that have been certified. To send certified copies by mail, you must follow the strict rules for certification, whether you want to or UKVI asks you to. The paper will be thrown out if the details of the certifier can’t be checked or if the copy doesn’t meet the requirements and can’t be checked by UKVI online. This could then mean that the application is turned down as well.
If any necessary documents for your sponsor licence application are missing or wrong, or if you don’t send in the minimum number of documents, UKVI will automatically say that your application is invalid and reject it.
Failure to submit supporting documents on time
Along with your application, you will need to send a number of supporting documents, such as detailed proof that you are a real business or organisation working legally in the UK. You need to send these within five business days of your first application. If you don’t meet this limit, your application might not be accepted.
If more papers are asked for by the Home Office and aren’t sent within the time limit, the application will be denied.
Incorrect supporting documents
There are a lot of rules that need to be followed when applying for a sponsor licence. One of the most difficult parts is making sure that you meet the standards listed in Appendix A. One of the most common mistakes people make when asking for a sponsor licence is not providing the right documents.
Any hard copies you send with your application must be either the originals or verified copies unless you are sending them by email under COVID-19 temporary rules.
But in some cases, UKVI may also be able to check your identity documents online. This means you need to include a cover letter with the website address where the details can be found.
You should know that if you can’t provide the necessary documents to support your application, or if you can’t do so on time, your sponsor licence application could be greatly slowed down or even lost.
Not passing the test of genuineness
The situation is a little more complicated if your application is turned down because you didn’t pass the sincerity test.
If the Home Office thinks you were acting in good faith but just couldn’t meet the requirements of the genuineness test, you will need to make and show a strong business case with extra information to show them why you need that particular foreign worker for that role. In this case, there is no cooling-off time, and you can make a new application right away.
The Home Office can stop an organisation from applying again for up to five years if they think it acted dishonestly, like by sending in a document they don’t believe to be real or by lying about a job role, saying it required a certain level of skill when it actually required less experience. This is called a “cooling-off period.”
If you think that the Home Office’s claims are not based on facts, you could file an application to question the decision, along with reasons and proof that they were not based on facts.
Falsified supporting papers
If you submit fake or fraudulent documents, the Home Office may not accept your application. As a punishment, your company may have to wait a certain amount of time before you can reapply.
Unsuitable key persons
As part of the licence application process, background checks will be done on the key people you name to do your funding work. They must meet particular requirements for suitability. If UKVI finds that any of your key employees or people who own or run the business have a past of immigration violations or unspent criminal convictions for a relevant crime like fraud or money laundering, this can be a reason to deny them a licence.
Failure of a compliance visit
Before giving you a licence, UKVI will visit the site and decide if they are satisfied that your HR systems and hiring practices are good enough for you to do your job. If they also think that key employees are not trustworthy enough or not able to do their job as a sponsor, the application can be turned down.
Caseworker mistake
You have the right to ask for a correction if you find a factual mistake in the way your application was handled. For example, if they missed a piece of documentation you sent in, you can do this. If this happens, you have to tell the Home Office about the mistake within 14 days of the refusal date.
Previous problems with immigration
The Home Office has the right to reject the applicant’s application in the event that their previous sponsor licence was rejected. Get advice on how to apply for a new licence after taking enforcement action, as this will likely require a lot of planning and thought about how the company handles compliance and licences. Applicants who have been fined under the regulation against illegal working will also have more time to change their minds.
Getting expert assistance while applying can help you avoid these mistakes. Our UK immigration solicitors know a lot about UK immigration law and will make sure that your application for a sponsor licence is flawless.
Sponsor Licence Application Refused
The issue is more severe when the application for a sponsor licence is refused. You can’t get your application fee back, and you can’t ask for an administrative review. When the Home Office finds major and basic problems with an application, they refuse it.
Depending on the reason for the refusal, you will have to wait between six and 12 months before you can apply again. The cooling-off time can last up to five years in the worst situations.
Why are your Sponsor Licence Application Rejected?
A sponsor licence application can be rejected as invalid for a number of reasons, such as not paying the right application fee or not sending the submission sheet to UKVI within the deadline or not including the right supporting documents. Also, you might not have checked to see if the Level one User you listed in your sponsor licence application is an employee, partner, or director of your company.
Fail to pay the right fee for the application
The cost of applying for a sponsor licence depends on the type of licence you want. There are two kinds of licenses: “Worker” and “Temporary Worker.” You can apply for either one. You can also ask to add either one to a licence that you already have.
Employers who want to hire foreign workers for long-term positions in the UK can get a “Worker” licence. This licence is for the Skilled Worker route or the Senior or Specialist Worker route under the Global Business Mobility (GBM) umbrella. This is the “Temporary Worker” licence, which is used to sponsor workers for shorter periods of time. The last four GBM routes are also considered “Temporary Worker” routes for sponsor licence fees.
Applying for a sponsor licence through one of the “Temporary Worker” routes costs £536. Applying for a licence through a “Worker” route costs either £536 for small or charity sponsors or £1,476 for medium or large sponsors. The fees to apply for both types of licenses at the same time will also rely on the type and size of your business, which could be £536 or £1,476. Small or charitable sponsors will not have to pay anything to add a “Worker” licence to a current “Temporary Worker” licence. Medium or large sponsors, on the other hand, will have to pay £940 to do the same thing. Any size of sponsor, though, will not have to pay anything to add a “Temporary Worker” licence to a current “Worker” licence.
As the applicant, it is your responsibility to make sure you pay the right fee.
Not sending the submission sheet
After you finish your online application and pay the needed fee, you will need to print out and fill out a submission sheet. This needs to have information about your company, a list of the required and main documents you are sending, and information about the fee that was paid. Your Authorising Officer must sign and date every page of the submission sheet, and you must also sign and date a statement saying that you agree to do everything that comes with being an approved sponsor. After printing it out, you will send it to UKVI’s Sponsor Licensing Unit along with your other paperwork within five business days.
You might get a reminder if you don’t send in the application sheet within the first five business days. But if you don’t send the necessary documents to UKVI within 10 working days of the date you submitted your online application, your application will be rejected as invalid, even if you are reminded more than once. In the same way, your application for a sponsor licence will be turned down if the submission sheet is missing a signature or if it was signed by someone other than the Authorising Officer.
Failure to choose the right Level one User
On the online form for applying for a sponsor licence, you have to assign certain tasks to members of your staff. If you are accepted for a sponsor licence, some or all of these staff members will be able to access the Sponsor Management System (SMS). The SMS is the online UKVI portal that you use to manage your daily tasks and sponsorship activities, as well as your responsibilities as an employer who is sponsoring migrant workers.
The people you need to name as part of your licence application are your “key personnel.” They are an Authorising Officer, a Key Contact, and a Level one User. Once you’ve been accepted for a licence, you can name more Level one and Level two Users. As for the Authorising Officer and Key Contact, they can be the same person, but they have to be paid staff or someone you’ve hired as an office-holder.
On the other hand, a Level one or Level two User can work for a third-party company that you have hired to do some or all of your human resources work. UKVI will not accept your application, though, if your company does not have at least one Level one User who is an employee, partner, or director.
Invalid sponsor licence application
The submission sheet and any other documents you send will be kept by UKVI so that they can be matched with your electronic application. At this early stage, your application for a sponsor licence will be checked to see if it is genuine. If it is, it will then be given to a designated UKVI caseworker for a final decision.
At the validation stage, several checks will be made, such as making sure the correct application fee was paid, that the submission sheet was signed by the Authorising Officer and turned in by the due date, and that all required supporting documents were sent in. If the submission sheet has an original signature and a list of the documents that were sent, the caseworker will then use Appendix A of the sponsor guidelines to make sure that the documents are right for the type of sponsor and the industry in which they work.
If mistakes are found during the validation step, your application will not be looked at on its own merits, but will be rejected outright because it is not valid.
Can I appeal a rejected sponsor licence application?
Unfortunately, if UKVI refused your application for a sponsor licence, you cannot appeal or get an Administrative Review.
Besides accepting the choice and applying again, there are two other possible ways to challenge it.
The first way is to use an Error Correction request to challenge the failure of the licence application. You can only ask for an Error Correction if the decision was made wrongly by a caseworker or because important supporting papers were not looked at. The person who made the request only has 14 days from the date of the decision to ask for an Error Correction. Most applicants will hear back up to 28 days after sending in their application.
You can also ask for a judicial review of the decision if you think the rejection of your sponsor licence application was illegal, unfair, or made in a way that wasn’t following the rules.
If a court thinks that a public body’s decision was legal, they look at how they came to that conclusion instead of the decision itself. This is called judicial review.
Furthermore, even if there is a way for a judge to review a refusal decision, it might not be the best thing to do because the chances of success are low, especially since you would have to show the court that the decision was one that no reasonable person could have made.
This is a very complicated area, so you should talk to an expert to find out if a judicial review is possible and right for you. You will also need to move quickly because applications for judicial review must be sent within three months of your refusal decision.
What should you do if your sponsor licence application is refused because it is invalid?
If a sponsor licence application is turned down because it isn’t valid, it can be extremely stressful for the business. This is because any delay in being allowed to sponsor migrant workers will make it harder for those workers to get a visa and start their new job.
A rejection decision is different from a refusal decision. A rejection only means that your application did not follow the right steps. This does not mean that you are not eligible for a sponsor licence, and you will not have to wait for a cooling-off time to pass, like you might have to do after being refused.
It’s important to know that UKVI will turn down your application if you don’t meet all the requirements for qualifying and suitability. You might not be able to apply again for at least six months. The only thing you have to do if your application is turned down is figure out what went wrong and reapply, making sure you don’t make the same mistake again.
If you make a mistake during the process, UKVI may give you a chance to fix it. For example, if you are missing any papers listed in Appendix A that aren’t required, this could be an opportunity. But if you don’t send the necessary information or paperwork within five working days, or if you don’t email UKVI by the due date to let them know that you sent the extra paperwork by mail, your application may be “refused” instead of just “rejected.”
Also, keep in mind that the application fee will usually be returned, even if the application is rejected right away and sent back without any further consideration. The application fee will not be returned if your application is rejected. Still, it’s better to make sure your application follows the right steps from the start, even if your fee is refundable and you can reapply right away. Before you send in your application, you should always get help from an immigration specialist.
Can you apply for a sponsor licence again?
You can’t appeal, and it can be hard for the courts to overturn decisions, but you might be able to apply again right away if you were turned down because you missed a deadline to send in documents or information that was asked for, or because someone else submitted your online application.
Additionally, you will need to check with UKVI to see if there is a cooling-off time before you can apply for a new licence. The cooling-off time can last anywhere from six months to five years from the date of the refusal letter, but it’s usually between six months and twelve months. In some cases, it can last up to five years.
Moreover, if you got a civil penalty for hiring illegal workers and your application was turned down, you will have to wait twelve months before you can apply again.
In a few severe cases, you can’t get a new licence until five years have passed since you were given the punishment.
How to make an application successful for a Sponsor Licence?
If you decide to apply for a sponsor licence once again, make sure that the reasons why the first application was denied are included in the new application.
Before you can get either a sponsor licence or an operator licence, you will need to prove that your business is real and legally working in the UK. In this case, you will need to show proof in the form of documents listed in Appendix A of the guidelines for sponsors. Organograms and other papers may be useful and helpful in showing that you are eligible.
Also, when you apply for a support licence, you will need to name key people who will carry out the duties and responsibilities that come with the licence. Because of this, these people and the people who work in your business every day must be honest, dependable, and trustworthy. There are also rules about who can be in charge of key personnel jobs. For example, a level one user must work for the company or be a partner or director of the company.
Lastly, you must be able to show that your company has the right human resources systems and hiring practices in place to do its sponsorship tasks on a regular basis. This means having good records on your employees, making sure they have the right to work, and telling someone about any changes in the situation of a migrant worker.
Please keep in mind that if you are looking for a skilled worker visa, you will also need to show UKVI that you can really offer work that requires the right level of skill and pays the right amount.
If you are applying for a licence again after being turned down before, you should expect a compliance call from the Home Office when you send in your new application. Officials will want to know that you have the right systems, procedures, and policies in place to make sure that you continue to follow the rules for your licence and that the initial reasons for refusal have been properly handled.
Is it possible to revoke a sponsor licence?
If you fail to fulfil your sponsorship responsibilities or cause concern to immigration authorities, your licence could be cancelled even if your application for a sponsor licence is approved.
You will first be given an A-rated sponsor licence. After that, you can start giving CoS to foreigners who want to work for you. You’ll also be able to use the Sponsor Management System (SMS). Moreover, you can control your licence and report certain migrant activities on this website. For example, if someone fails to show up to work, you can report them.
Anytime you are caught breaking the rules, UKVI may decide to lower your licence to a B-rating. To get your original A-rating back, you will have to pay for a funding action plan. In serious cases, UKVI may decide to cancel or take away your licence completely.
Please keep in mind that your sponsor licence will only be valid for four years before you have to apply to renew it, even if it is not lost.
How Can UK Immigration Solicitors Help?
A sponsor licence application can take a lot of time and resources, and if it fails, it can mess up a company’s plans for growth and development. A good application, on the other hand, can give a business a lot of chances to grow.
With professional help, you can avoid making many of the mistakes that lead to license application denials. You will get your sponsor licence on time if you speak to pros. It will save you time and money from having to renew after being turned down or appeal a licence application that was rejected.
UK Immigration solicitors are happy to assist you through the process whether you’re applying for the first time, applying again, or appealing a refusal.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
When a business gets a UK support licence, it means they can hire foreign workers with certain types of work visas.
UK businesses that seek to employ people from other countries with certain types of visas must have a legal sponsor licence.
In the UK, you have to meet certain standards in order to get a sponsor licence. The process is not hard as long as you follow the rules and meet the requirements.
On average, it takes eight weeks to get a sponsor licence.
Yes, your application for a sponsor licence can be turned down if you don’t meet the standards.
Yes, you can apply for a sponsor licence again after being turned down the first time. However, the timing of your second attempt will rely on the reason for the first refusal.
The Home Office can refuse tier 2 sponsor licence applications for a number of reasons, such as not passing the genuineness test, applications that are not complete, problems with the key people chosen, or fake supporting documents.
The amount of time you have to appeal a support licence denial will depend on the reason for the denial, but it will usually be 6 months.
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