Home office Certificate of Sponsorship
A Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) is an electronic record that a UK employer holding a sponsor licence assigns to a foreign worker it wants to hire. It is not a paper document. The worker uses its reference number to apply for a work visa.
The CoS is valid for three months for the prospected foreign employee to make their visa application; after which time the certificate will expire. The worker also cannot apply more than 3 months before the start date on the certificate.
There are two types of CoS: Defined CoS and Undefined CoS. A Defined CoS is for a Skilled Worker applying from outside the UK. An Undefined CoS is for a Skilled Worker applying from inside the UK, and for workers on every other sponsored route wherever they apply from. It is important to note that the CoS is not a work permit, and assigning one does not guarantee that a visa will be granted.
For the full rules on allocations, time limits and how to check a certificate is genuine, see our guidance on the Certificate of Sponsorship.
Certificate of Sponsorship Number
Your employer gives you the Certificate of Sponsorship reference number once the certificate has been assigned to you. There is no official CoS letter, although you can ask your employer for a printed copy. It is essential information for work visa applications in the Worker and Temporary Worker categories, for example Skilled Worker, Health and Care Worker, Senior or Specialist Worker and Scale Up Worker.
How do I get a Certificate of Sponsorship?
If you’re an overseas candidate looking to work in the UK, you’ll need a job offer from a UK company that is on the Sponsor Licence list. Only companies that have a valid Sponsor Licence can issue a CoS. Click here to see the list of registered Sponsors in the UK. A care worker or senior care worker job cannot be sponsored from outside the UK, because no Defined CoS can be issued for those roles.
Assign a Certificate of Sponsorship
It is the employer’s responsibility to assign a Certificate of Sponsorship. Employers should assign a CoS through the Sponsorship Management System (SMS). Employers should have access to the SMS when their Sponsor Licences were granted by the Home Office. The employer pays a fee each time it assigns a certificate: £525 on Worker routes such as Skilled Worker, and £55 on Temporary Worker routes. On the Skilled Worker route the employer must pay this itself. If anyone asks you to pay for a certificate, do not pay.
CoS processing time
An application for a Defined CoS is usually approved within one working day, or longer if the Home Office needs to make further checks. An Undefined CoS comes from the employer’s annual allocation, so no decision is needed to assign one. A request for extra Undefined CoS is usually decided within 12 weeks. To make sure submitting the correct information on the CoS application, speak to our expert here.
CoS priority service
If the employer needs extra Undefined CoS faster, it can use the Home Office priority service, which costs £350 per request and considers eligible requests within 5 working days. It does not cover Defined CoS.
How can WorkPermitCloud help?
At WorkPermitCloud, we have a team of Immigration experts to guide you through the CoS allocation process. We help organisations with process defined/undefined CoS, managing the SMS, assigning CoS, CoS priority service and corresponding with the Home Office. Your seamless journey starts here.
Contact us today to get your CoS allocation sorted.
