Self-sponsored Skilled Worker visa

Overview

There are two applications. First, the company applies for a sponsor licence. Once licensed, it assigns you a certificate of sponsorship and you apply for a Skilled Worker visa like any other sponsored employee.

Your visa then works like any Skilled Worker visa, with the same route to settlement after five years. You must work in the sponsored role and be paid through payroll. Owning the company does not free you from the rules: if your role changes, your salary drops or the business stops trading, both the licence and your visa are at risk.

The 2025 changes have made self-sponsorship harder. Since 22 July 2025, the role must normally be skilled to RQF level 6 (roughly degree level) and pay at least £41,700 or the going rate, whichever is higher. Since 8 January 2026, you need English at level B2. The company must be able to fund your salary sustainably, as well as the licence fee and the Immigration Skills Charge.

Who can apply

Self-sponsorship can work if you have, or can build, a real UK business that genuinely needs your skills. For example:

• a Graduate visa holder whose consultancy already has clients, contracts and revenue;
• an entrepreneur whose UK company has traded for some time through local staff, and who now needs to work in it full time;
• a professional buying an established UK business with employees and a trading history.

It is usually not suitable where:

• the company has been set up from abroad mainly so that you can come to the UK, with no trading, staff or customers;
• the business cannot pay your salary at the required level;
• the business is a new, innovative idea that needs time to develop, where the Innovator Founder visa may fit better;
• you are being sent by an overseas company to open its first UK branch, where the UK Expansion Worker visa is designed for this.

Requirements

You must meet both the sponsor licence rules and the Skilled Worker rules.

• A UK company operating or trading lawfully, with any registrations its sector needs.
• A sponsor licence, with HR systems that meet the sponsor duties.
• Suitable key personnel based in the UK (see below).
• A genuine vacancy: a role the business really needs, matching an eligible occupation code at RQF level 6 or above, or on a shortage list.
• A salary of at least £41,700 or the going rate, whichever is higher (lower for new entrants), paid through PAYE and funded sustainably.
• English at B2, savings of £1,270 unless exempt, and the other Skilled Worker requirements.

The genuineness tests

The Home Office may refuse a licence if it suspects the company was set up, or exists, mainly to help someone enter or stay in the UK. Its guidance gives an example that fits many self-sponsorship cases: a foreign national living abroad registers a UK company and appoints a UK-based person to manage the licence so that the company can sponsor them. The Home Office says it would be unlikely to see such a company as existing for any other reason.

It must also be satisfied that the company can offer a genuine role. The guidance warns about roles a business has no credible need for, and about salaries that do not fit the company's turnover unless there is a sustainable source of funding. Evidence that helps includes:

• trading history, contracts, invoices and a UK business bank account;
• a realistic business plan and cash flow forecast showing how your salary will be paid;
• premises suited to the business;
• other staff, or a credible plan to recruit;
• proof that you have the qualifications and experience the role needs.

Take particular care if the company sells your services to clients. You cannot be sponsored to fill an ongoing routine role for a client under a contract, for example as a contractor placed long term with one client. Be ready for a compliance visit and detailed questions about the business and your role.

Key personnel when you own the company

Key personnel must be based in the UK. If you are abroad when the company applies, you cannot hold a key role, so someone in the UK must. The authorising officer must be paid staff or an office holder, and the most senior person responsible for recruitment. That person needs to be genuinely involved in the business, not a name on a form.

At least one Level 1 user must be an employee, director or partner who is a settled worker, such as a British citizen or a person with indefinite leave to remain. An exception applies where the authorising officer holds certain visas, including Innovator Founder, Global Talent or UK Expansion Worker, but not a Graduate or Skilled Worker visa.

Finally, no user of the sponsor system may assign a certificate to themselves, a close relative or a partner. Doing so is a mandatory ground for revocation. So if you are a sole director already in the UK, you may be the authorising officer, but another user, who is not your relative or partner, must assign your certificate.

How to apply

1. Assess the case honestly: the business, the role, the occupation code, the salary and whether the company can fund it.
2. Put the company in order: UK business bank account, PAYE registration, employer's liability insurance, premises, accounts and contracts.
3. Appoint key personnel who meet the rules, and set up HR systems.
4. Apply for the sponsor licence online, pay the fee, and send the supporting documents within 5 working days.
5. Prepare for a compliance visit and answer any questions.
6. Once licensed, request your certificate. Another sponsor system user assigns it to you.
7. Apply for your Skilled Worker visa within 3 months of the certificate being assigned, prove your identity and wait for the decision.
8. Start the role, go on the payroll at the stated salary, and keep the company compliant from day one.

Costs

The current Home Office fees are shown on this page. You will meet:

• the sponsor licence fee, usually at the small sponsor rate for a new company;
• the certificate of sponsorship fee and the Immigration Skills Charge, both paid by the company;
• the visa application fee and the Immigration Health Surcharge for you and any family members;
• optional priority services for the licence and the visa;
• business costs such as accountancy, insurance and premises, and above all your own salary.

Our visa cost calculator includes an option for a new small company sponsoring its owner.

Processing times

The Home Office decides most licence applications in less than 8 weeks, or within 10 working days with the priority service if a place is available; a pre-licence visit can add time. The visa decision usually takes 3 weeks from outside the UK and 8 weeks from inside. Allow at least three to four months overall, and longer if the business first needs to build a trading record.

Partners and children

Your partner and children can apply as your dependants on the same basis as for any Skilled Worker, provided your role is at RQF level 6 or above. If you are sponsored in a medium-skilled job on a shortage list, new dependants cannot join you. Unless exempt, each must show funds: £285 for a partner, £315 for the first child and £200 for each further child.

A partner can hold a key role in the company, but cannot be the person who assigns your certificate.

Extending your stay and settlement

You can extend while the company keeps its licence, needs you and pays the required salary. After five years, you can apply for indefinite leave to remain on the usual Skilled Worker terms, including a sponsor that is still licensed, the settlement salary, and the absence, Life in the UK test and English requirements. See our settlement page.

Self-sponsorship or Innovator Founder?

The Innovator Founder visa is designed for founders. It needs an endorsement from an approved endorsing body that your business is new, innovative, viable and scalable. There is no sponsor licence and no minimum salary, and you can work for your own business. The visa lasts 3 years, you meet your endorsing body at 12 and 24 months, and you may be able to settle after 3 years.

Innovator Founder cannot be used to join a business that is already trading. Self-sponsorship suits an established business that can pay a full Skilled Worker salary, even if the business itself is not innovative.

How we can help

We start with a frank assessment of whether self-sponsorship is realistic for you, and compare it with the Innovator Founder, UK Expansion Worker and Global Talent routes. If it is not the right route, we tell you before you spend money on a company and a licence.

If it is, we help you structure the key personnel, choose the occupation code and salary, prepare the business evidence and licence application, and brief you for the compliance visit. We then prepare the visa applications for you and your family, and advise the company on its sponsor duties.

Frequently asked questions

Can I sponsor myself if I am the only director and shareholder?

It is possible, but harder. You cannot assign your own certificate, and you will need a settled worker as a Level 1 user. The Home Office will also want to see that the business needs your role and can pay for it.

Can I set up the company from outside the UK?

You can, but the Home Office guidance warns specifically about companies set up from overseas so that their owner can be sponsored. Without real trading, staff and a UK presence, a licence application is likely to fail.

Can I pay myself in dividends instead of salary?

Not for the salary requirement. Only guaranteed basic gross pay counts, so the required salary must be paid through PAYE. Dividends do not count towards it.

What happens if the business struggles?

The company must keep paying your sponsored salary. A reduction must be reported, and paying less than the certificate states without permitted grounds can lead to revocation of the licence and cancellation of your permission. Take advice before making changes.

Can I switch from a Graduate visa?

Yes, if the company is licensed and the role qualifies. As a Graduate visa holder you will usually count as a new entrant, so the minimum salary is £33,400 and 70% of the going rate, for up to four years in total including your Graduate visa time.