How do you get a job with visa sponsorship in the UK?
To get sponsored for a UK job, start with the job offer. GOV.UK says: “You must have a job offer from an approved UK employer before you apply for a Skilled Worker visa.” Before you apply for a job, this page suggests four checks: 1) the employer is on the Home Office register of licensed sponsors, 2) the advert does not rule sponsorship out, 3) the job's occupation code (SOC code) and 4) its pay, each against GOV.UK's conditions. In our study of 163,891 full adverts from employers we match to the register, about 1 in 5 ruled sponsorship out.
What are the steps to get a sponsored job in the UK?
GOV.UK's Skilled Worker visa page starts from the job offer:
You must have a job offer from an approved UK employer before you apply for a Skilled Worker visa.
So the search comes first and the visa comes after. Steps 1 to 4 are this page's order of checks before an offer. GOV.UK's own conditions for the job are quoted under the links. Steps 5 and 6 come after an offer.
| Step | What to look at | Where | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The employer's name on the register of licensed sponsors | The register (licence check guide below) | Before you apply |
| 2 | What the advert says about sponsorship | The advert (advert wording guide below) | Before you apply |
| 3 | The job's 4-digit occupation code (SOC code, the government's number for a type of work) | GOV.UK's list of eligible occupations (SOC code guide below) | Before you apply; with an offer, ask the employer (GOV.UK, quoted below) |
| 4 | The job's pay | GOV.UK's salary conditions; the SOC code guide shows each code's going rate | Before you apply, if the advert gives pay |
| 5 | A certificate of sponsorship | The employer | After an offer (GOV.UK's wording quoted under "What happens after an offer?") |
| 6 | Your own visa application | GOV.UK's full list of requirements (checklist below) | After the certificate; the time limit is quoted under "What happens after an offer?" |
Step 1: how to check a UK sponsor licence
Step 2: does this job offer visa sponsorship? Reading the advert
Steps 3 and 4: SOC codes and going rates
Already in the UK on a Graduate visa: moving to a Skilled Worker visa
For step 3, GOV.UK's "Your job" page starts with the code, then sorts codes into ‘higher skilled’ and ‘medium skilled’:
Before you can find out if your job is eligible, you need to know its 4-digit occupation code. If you already have a job offer, ask your employer for your occupation code.
If your occupation code is listed as a ‘higher skilled’ job, you can apply for this visa.
If your occupation code is listed as ‘medium skilled’, you can apply for this visa if your job is:
on the immigration salary list
on the temporary shortage list
prison officer (code 3314) and you’re extending or switching to this visa
You can also apply if you’re extending your visa and you got your first certificate of sponsorship before 22 July 2025.
For step 4, the same page says:
You’ll usually need to be paid the ‘standard’ salary rate of at least £41,700 per year, or the ‘going rate’ for your job, whichever is higher.
Which types of work and seniority levels more often rule sponsorship out?
In our study of 163,891 full adverts from employers we match to the register (3 October to 1 November 2026), about 1 in 5 (19.1%) ruled sponsorship out. Security (44.0%) and care and support (40.8%) adverts ruled it out most often, and legal (6.7%) least often. Few adverts said yes: only healthcare (2.04%), IT (1.87%) and research (1.50%) went above 1%.
How we got these figures: our software read the adverts posted by employers we match to the Home Office register between 3 October and 1 November 2026, and kept the 163,891 full adverts (the whole advert text, not a short snippet). It placed 97,367 of them in one of these 15 types of work, between 1,656 and 13,098 adverts each. Across all 202,073 adverts, snippets included, 16.1% ruled sponsorship out.
| Type of work | Ruled sponsorship out | Said sponsorship is available |
|---|---|---|
| Legal | 6.7% | 0.17% |
| Healthcare | 8.1% | 2.04% |
| Sales | 8.3% | 0.38% |
| Accounting | 8.5% | 0.20% |
| Finance | 9.4% | 0.08% |
| Marketing | 10.5% | 0.35% |
| Hospitality and food | 14.3% | 0.01% |
| Education | 14.8% | 0.15% |
| Construction and trades | 17.6% | 0.00% |
| Research | 18.1% | 1.50% |
| IT | 18.7% | 1.87% |
| Project management | 20.5% | 0.33% |
| Engineering | 25.0% | 0.76% |
| Care and support | 40.8% | 0.03% |
| Security | 44.0% | 0.00% |
A low ruled-out share does not mean many adverts said yes: in legal, sales, accounting and finance, under 0.5% said sponsorship was available. By seniority, 48.4% of internship and placement adverts ruled sponsorship out, against 5.7% at executive level. This table covers the 147,961 full adverts the software gave a seniority level:
| Seniority in the advert | Ruled sponsorship out |
|---|---|
| Internship or placement | 48.4% |
| Entry level | 23.9% |
| Associate | 16.4% |
| Mid to senior | 12.1% |
| Director | 9.9% |
| Executive | 5.7% |
These shares are approximate. We checked 80 adverts marked as ruling sponsorship out by hand. About 9 in 10 (91.3%) were marked correctly. If a bare right-to-work line or a bare 'may require security clearance' line is not counted as a no, the figure is about 7 in 10 (68.8%). The figures describe adverts. They do not show whether a particular job can be sponsored or whether a visa is granted.
Our study: how many adverts from licensed sponsors rule sponsorship out
How often do licensed employers rule sponsorship out?
Of the 2,105 licensed employers with 10 or more adverts in our study, 964 (about 46%) ruled sponsorship out in at least one advert, and 1,141 never did. So the register shows which employers hold a licence, and the advert shows what the employer says about one job (step 2). Adverts rarely give a reason. We could read the wording of about 25,000 of the 31,345 ruled-out adverts. It fell into three kinds, and all three count as ruling sponsorship out in every share on this page:
| How the advert ruled sponsorship out | Share of those adverts |
|---|---|
| Says sponsorship is not available | about 54% |
| Asks only for security clearance, UK nationality, years of UK residence or a checkable UK history | about 26% |
| Asks only for an existing right to work in the UK | about 20% |
What if the advert says nothing about sponsorship?
An advert that says nothing has not ruled sponsorship out, and it has not offered it either. Offers were rare in our study. Healthcare had the highest share of full adverts saying sponsorship was available, at 2.04%, and every other type of work was lower. The advert wording guide linked in step 2 sorts the common phrases into yes, no and unclear.
What if the employer is not on the register?
The register lists organisations licensed to sponsor workers, by the name they are licensed under. That name may differ from the name on an advert, so not finding it is not proof on its own that the employer is unlicensed. The Home Office updates the register often; when we checked, the page was last updated on 9 November 2026. GOV.UK says:
If your employer is not currently approved, they can apply for a sponsor licence if they’re eligible.
It usually takes around 8 weeks to process a licence application.
What happens after an offer?
After an offer, GOV.UK sets out the employer's part and yours:
Your employer - also known as your sponsor - will check that you meet the eligibility requirements. They’ll give you a ‘certificate of sponsorship’ ( CoS ) to prove this.
You must apply for your visa within 3 months of getting your certificate of sponsorship.
Sponsoring someone does not guarantee that they’ll get a visa to work for you in the UK.
Where does SponsorJobs fit in?
SponsorJobs matches each listing's employer to the Home Office register (step 1) and reads each advert's wording (step 2). We match employers to the register by name, so some matches can be wrong. Our reading of adverts can be wrong too, as the check above shows. The register and the advert stay the primary sources. We do not check steps 3 to 6: they depend on the job, the employer and you.
Jobs at licensed visa sponsors
What it means for your job search
Common questions
Where can I find jobs that may be sponsored?
Jobs at employers on the Home Office register of licensed sponsors are the starting point, and each advert's wording is the second check. SponsorJobs lists jobs at employers matched to the register and reads each advert's wording. A licensed employer can still say no for a given job, so the advert matters.
Which seniority levels are most often ruled out in adverts?
In our study, 48.4% of internship and placement adverts ruled sponsorship out, and 23.9% of entry-level ones. At director level it was 9.9%, and at executive level 5.7%.
Which types of work most often say sponsorship is available?
Healthcare (2.04% of full adverts), IT (1.87%) and research (1.50%). Of the 15 types of work in our study, every other was under 1%.
Can I get visa sponsorship without a job offer?
GOV.UK says: “You must have a job offer from an approved UK employer before you apply for a Skilled Worker visa.” So the job search comes first.
If an advert does not mention sponsorship, does that mean no?
Not on its own. An advert that says nothing neither rules sponsorship in nor out. Our guide to reading adverts sorts the common phrases into yes, no and unclear.
Can an employer without a licence sponsor me later?
GOV.UK says: "If your employer is not currently approved, they can apply for a sponsor licence if they’re eligible." It adds: "It usually takes around 8 weeks to process a licence application."
Sources
- GOV.UK: Skilled Worker visa
- GOV.UK: Skilled Worker visa, your job
- GOV.UK: UK visa sponsorship for employers
- GOV.UK: UK visa sponsorship for employers, job suitability
- GOV.UK: Register of licensed sponsors: workers
- SponsorJobs study: visa sponsorship in job adverts, November 2026 edition (data 3 October to 1 November 2026)