Resources & Knowledge Centre

Visits can be announced or unannounced, and can happen in person or digitally. GOV.UK doesn't publish a fixed duration — it depends on the size of your organisation and the scope of the check.

While suspended, you cannot assign new Certificates of Sponsorship and the licence is removed from the public register — but existing sponsored workers generally keep their valid permission unless the case later moves to revocation.

There's no blanket legal bar to a limited company sponsoring its own director for a genuine, appropriately paid, appropriately skilled role — but this attracts closer Home Office scrutiny of whether the company and the vacancy are genuine, especially for very small or single-director companies. GOV.UK doesn't use the term "self-sponsorship"; the relevant official test is the genuine role requirement.

Sole traders can hold a sponsor licence for their business, but because a sole trader isn't legally separate from the individual, self-sponsorship in the company-sponsors-its-director sense generally isn't workable for a sole trader. Most arrangements use a limited company instead.

Reporting windows vary by the type of change. Current guidance cites, for example, reporting an unauthorised absence of more than 10 consecutive working days, while organisational changes are generally reportable within 20 working days. Always check the exact current window on GOV.UK, as the reportable-event list and deadlines are updated from time to time.

A downgrade (A-rating to B-rating) is for relatively minor or moderate issues — you can keep operating, but must complete a paid action plan to regain A-rating before you can issue new Certificates of Sponsorship. Suspension is for more serious, significant, or systemic failings, or a serious threat to immigration control, and can lead on to revocation.

At least 12 months from the date of notification, or 24 months if the licence has been revoked more than once. This period can be amended by the Home Office, so confirm the current position before relying on it.

No. Settlement under the Skilled Worker route — self-sponsored or not — currently requires 5 years' continuous qualifying residence, and this may be affected by the government's proposed (not yet implemented) move toward a 10-year settlement model. The Innovator Founder visa is a genuinely faster route (3 years) but is a completely different, non-sponsored route for founders.

Generally yes — records should be kept for the whole sponsorship period and until the earlier of one year after sponsorship ends, or the date a compliance officer has examined and approved them, if that's sooner.

A civil penalty of up to £60,000 per illegal worker, and potential criminal prosecution — up to 5 years' imprisonment and/or an unlimited fine — if the employer knew, or had reasonable cause to believe, the person lacked the right to work. This is a figure that can change, so confirm the current maximum on GOV.UK.