How to get a UK visa sponsorship 2022/2023

In recent times, the UK immigration system has changed, skilled worker visa and the company transfer visa has replaced the tier 2 visa category. So in order to apply for a UK visa, you must have a valid sponsorship from an employer. In this article, we would be looking at how you can get a UK visa sponsorship.

Your prospective employer who has a sponsorship license must request if his/her request is granted. Assign your certificate of sponsorship via their online Sponsor Management System Account.

After this, your certificate number would be given to you. This is what you will then use when submitting your UK visa application.

COS for a UK visa sponsorship

COS (Certificate of Sponsorship) is what your potential employer or sponsor gives you to certify that you are eligible to apply for a UK visa. He/she confirms on the COS that you have a job offer that meets the following requirements:

• The job given meets the minimum skill level requirements.
• The skilled worker visa or company transfer visa application must be made not more than 3 months after the certificate of sponsorship is issued.

The corporate bodies must be able to ascertain that you are qualified to perform the job you were offered. This would be done and included in your COS and submitted during your visa application.

UK visa sponsorship application process after COS is assigned

After being offered a COS by your sponsor, you have about 3 months to apply for your UK visa, after which time the certificate will expire.

If you are not ready to start your application process, the COS starts and end date can be changed. This can be done by your sponsor making changes via a sponsor note in the Sponsor Management System, else you won’t be able to apply after 3 months of COS issued.

Types of UK Certificate of Sponsorship

There are two types of UK COS: defined and undefined. Immigrants outside the UK, they would need a defined COS.

Defined Certificate of Sponsorship

The types of scholarships are for skilled worker visa applicants who are based abroad. Employees based in the UK who is eligible and willing to change working status to a skilled worker visa or those outside the UK applying for a company transfer visa.

Undefined Certificate of Sponsorship

Undefined COS is to employ eligible new employees living in the UK or for visa extensions for current employees who are already in the UK.

It is also used for applicants applying under the intra-company transfer visa category and others.

Working another job using your Certificate of Sponsorship

What happens when you decide to take up another job role in the UK after you have applied for visa sponsorship for a particular job role?

This can be tricky, but as long as you follow the procedure in the section, you should be ok. If you wish to take up alternative employment in the UK then the procedure is as follows:

• Also, verify and be sure that your new employer is in a position to sponsor you enabling you to apply for another visa before your visa expires.
• Ask your new employer to retract the old COS before you can apply for another COS
• The sponsor must cancel your current COS within 5 days of receiving your request.
• Once your old COS is canceled, you can apply for another one from your preferred employer
• If your sponsor does cancel your COS after the listed steps above. You can petition the Sponsor License Unit of the UK visas and immigration to cancel for you.

How to Apply

As stated above, the first step to take is to get a sponsor to sponsor you who has a sponsor’s license. After that, he/she gives you a certificate of sponsorship which states that you have met all the requirements for a visa application.

Once this is done, you will need to prepare all documents needed for your visa application. And submit them online or offline.

Visit this website for more information on COS and Sponsors License.

Further Information

During the course of your application, it is important to always do the following:

• Have your documents at hand, both digital and physical documents
• Always stick to one profile during the course of your application
• Get in contact with the right agency for more information on areas not clear
• Contact the Sponsor Licensing Unit in the event your employer is not able to cancel your current COS
• Try as much as possible to stick to one job role once you have been granted a UK visa to work in country