Sponsor Licence Application Priority Service

Section A: What is the pre licence priority service?

The sponsor licence application priority service, also known as the pre-licence priority service, provides employers with the ability to request a fast-tracked decision on their sponsor licence.

The option to pay for an expedited decision under the Home Office pre licence priority service can significantly speed up end-to-end processing to help reduce the time it takes between applying for a sponsor licence and a migrant worker being granted permission to come to or stay in the UK to work. In practice, this can be beneficial to minimise any disruption to your business, where vacant positions need to be filled but you need approval to sponsor new recruits.

Importantly, employers must have a sponsor licence in place to be able to hire anyone who is not a settled worker or does not otherwise have permission to work in the UK. Paying for faster consideration of a licence decision does not influence the outcome of the decision or guarantee that the licence will be granted. The organisation must still meet all of the relevant eligibility criteria.

Section B: Pre licence priority service processing times

The Home Office aims to meet the standard sponsor licence processing time of up to 8 weeks for decisions, however applications can sometimes take longer, such as when additional information is requested. It is only once you have been approved by UKVI for a sponsor licence that you will gain access to the sponsorship management system (SMS) enabling you to assign valid certificates of sponsorship (CoS) to prospective new recruits. Equally, it is only once a migrant worker has been assigned a valid CoS, that they can apply for a visa to be able to come to or stay in the UK for the purpose of working for your business.

Under the pre licence priority service, eligible requests will usually be considered within 10 working days. This 10-working day consideration period will start from the working day following the date that you paid the priority service fee, excluding weekends and public holidays. For example, if you pay the priority service fee on a Monday, the 10 working days will begin on the next working day, so the Tuesday. This means that the end-to-end processing period from applying for a sponsor licence and a migrant worker being able to apply for a visa to work for your business will potentially be reduced by up to 6 weeks.

If additional documentation or further checks are needed, you may not receive a decision on your sponsor licence application within the target 10-working day timescale. However, in these circumstances, UKVI should email your nominated authorising officer within this timeframe, explaining the reason for not being able to meet the expedited processing time for a priority application and notifying you of any next steps that may need to be taken.

Section C: How much is the pre licence priority service?

The cost to pay for a faster licence decision using the pre licence priority service is £500 per request. This cost is in addition to your application fee for a sponsor licence, where this fee will depend on the type of licence sought, as well as the size or status of your organisation.

You will be eligible to pay the lower sponsor licence application fee of £574 if you are applying to sponsor workers under a Temporary Worker route only, or if you have charitable status or are classed as a small sponsor.

To qualify as a small sponsor, an organisation typically needs to satisfy at least two of these conditions: an annual turnover of no more than £15 million, total assets valued at £7.5 million or less, or a workforce of 50 or fewer employees. For charitable sponsor status, the organisation must be a registered charity in England or Wales, Scotland, or Northern Ireland, with unregistered Northern Irish charities providing evidence of their charitable tax status from HMRC. Other qualifying charitable entities include excepted charities, exempt charities, and ecclesiastical corporations set up for charitable objectives.

In all other cases, you will be liable to pay the licence fee for medium or large sponsors of £1579.

If your sponsor licence application is either refused or withdrawn after consideration has already begun, the licence application and priority service fee will be non-refundable. The pre licence priority service fee is also non-refundable if you have not submitted all documentation, you fail to respond to a request for further information or if your case raises complex issues and UKVI requires further time to assess these fully.

Refunds of the priority licence application fee is usually only available if consideration of your application is delayed due to Home Office technical errors.

Section D: Who can use the pre licence priority service?

To be eligible to submit a priority request to expedite the time it takes for UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) to consider your sponsor licence application, you must:

• have applied for your sponsor licence under an eligible route(s) by registering and completing the online application form on the GOV.UK website
• have paid both the application fee and priority service fee
• have submitted your licence application form and supporting documentation within 5 working days of paying the priority service fee if you are submitting your application or, if you are adding the priority service to an already submitted application, you must already have submitted these documents.

If your application has already been submitted, you can only add the priority service if the application status shows as ‘not in progress’. You cannot add this service if the application is already being processed by UKVI.

Applications for certain routes are currently not eligible for the priority service, including the UK Expansion Worker, Service Supplier and Secondment Worker routes under the Global Business Mobility (GBM) umbrella, and the Scale-up Worker route, the Government Authorised Exchange route, the International Agreement route and Seasonal Worker route are also not currently eligible. As such, if your sponsor licence application includes one or more of these work routes, you will not be offered the option to request priority service.

Full guidance on how to apply for a sponsor licence can be found at GOV.UK within the Workers and Temporary Workers – Guidance for Sponsors Part 1: Apply for a Licence. However, when applying for a sponsor licence for the first time, it is strongly advised to seek expert advice from a sponsor licence specialist, where there are various strict requirements that must be met to be both eligible and suitable to sponsor migrant workers. You will also need to nominate various key personnel within your licence application, including an authorising officer to sign the submission sheet, where there are again strict requirements when it comes to who can be nominated to act within a key personnel role.

Section E: How to request the pre licence priority service

When you complete the online sponsor licence application, you can opt to add the pre licence priority service at the payment stage. Tick the option, pay the additional £500 alongside the licence application fee and download the submission sheet, which records that the priority fee has been paid.

If you decide to upgrade to the priority service later, sign back into the SMS, choose ‘Finish incomplete applications’, select the priority service and pay the fee. This route is only available while the application still shows as “not in progress”. A separate priority service submission sheet will be generated which you should retain for your records.

Priority requests are only accepted from 09:00 to 23:59 (UK time) Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays. There are, however, only a limited number of priority slots available a day. The option to book a priority slot disappears once the Home Office reaches its daily allocation of requests, so, if no slot is available, you will have to wait until the next working day to try again.

Within five working days of paying the priority fee, you have to email your signed submission sheet and all mandatory and supplementary documents to SponsorshipValidations@homeoffice.gov.uk, unless those documents were sent earlier when you first submitted the application.

You will not see the priority service option if your application includes an ineligible route (GBM UK Expansion Worker, GBM Service Supplier, GBM Secondment Worker, Scale‑up Worker, Government Authorised Exchange, International Agreement or Seasonal Worker), or if the daily quota has already been reached, or if you are outside the service’s operating hours, or if the application status has moved to “in progress”.

If your priority request is accepted, UKVI will consider the sponsor licence application within ten working days. The clock starts on the next working day after you pay the fee; weekends or public holidays do not count. The service accelerates consideration but, as the guidance stresses, it does not guarantee that the licence will be granted.

The priority fee is non‑refundable unless a delay is caused solely by Home Office technical error. Missing documents, unanswered queries or case complexity will not lead to a refund.

Section F: Common Priority Service Pitfalls

Employers applying for a sponsor licence using the priority service must meet not only the eligibility criteria for fast-tracked processing but also avoid several common mistakes that can undermine the benefits of the service. Missteps in submission, documentation or communication with the Home Office can lead to delays, refusals, or a complete loss of the £500 priority fee. This section outlines the most frequent issues that cause UKVI to delay or reject a sponsor licence application even when priority service has been paid for, and provides practical guidance on how to avoid these problems.

1. Missing or incomplete supporting documents

One of the most common reasons for failed priority service outcomes is the submission of incomplete supporting documentation. Employers must ensure that all mandatory and supplementary documents listed in Appendix A are submitted in the correct format and within the required timeframe. Failure to include even one required document can cause the application to be treated as invalid or delayed beyond the 10-day target, without entitlement to a refund of the priority fee.

2. Ineligible sponsor licence routes

Submitting a sponsor licence application that includes a route not eligible for priority processing — such as the Scale-up Worker, Seasonal Worker or UK Expansion Worker routes — will result in the priority option being disabled. If employers do not correctly identify route eligibility before applying or upgrading to priority, their request will be rejected. UKVI does not allow partial prioritisation where only part of the licence application qualifies.

3. Delayed submission of documents or forms

After paying for the priority service, employers have five working days to submit all required documentation to UKVI. If this deadline is missed, or the documents are sent to the wrong email address, the request will be disregarded. Employers must also download the correct submission sheet confirming payment and retain this for records. Delayed or misplaced communications can render the priority fee forfeit, regardless of application quality.

4. Application already in progress

The option to add the priority service is only available while the sponsor licence application status remains “not in progress.” If the application has already been allocated to a UKVI caseworker or has entered active review, it is too late to request priority. Employers trying to add the service at this stage will find the option is not available within the online system. This is why early planning is critical if priority processing is required.

5. Lack of response to UKVI correspondence

Where further information is requested by UKVI during the consideration period, a delay in response — or no response at all — will usually cause the application to fall outside the 10-working day service standard. This is a common issue when the nominated authorising officer does not regularly check their email inbox, including junk or spam folders. UKVI sends all correspondence related to the application, including the final decision, to the authorising officer’s email address as listed on the submission sheet.

6. Incorrect fee payments

Another common pitfall is the incorrect payment of either the sponsor licence application fee or the priority service fee. Payment errors, such as paying the fee for a small sponsor when the organisation actually qualifies as a large sponsor, can invalidate the entire application. Employers must verify their fee category before payment and ensure both fees are correctly paid at the time of application or upgrade.

Section G: Best practice advice for sponsor licence applicants

Even if you pay for a faster decision using the sponsor licence application priority service, this does not guarantee that your case will be decided quickly. Equally, there may be various scenarios in which you are not eligible for the pre licence priority service in the first place.

However, there are various best practice steps that you can take to improve your chance of being able to pay for a faster decision.

To be eligible for an expedited decision under the pre-licence priority service, you must first submit a valid online application for a sponsored work route currently eligible for priority processing. It is important to confirm that your chosen route qualifies for this expedited service before submitting your application.

You must submit your signed submission sheet and all necessary supporting documentation to UKVI within five working days of paying the priority service fee. If you are adding priority processing to an application that has already been submitted, ensure these documents have previously been provided. Missing this deadline may result in your priority request being denied.

You must fully pay both the sponsor licence application fee and the priority service fee. If you fail to make the necessary payments, your application will not qualify for priority service. Additionally, an incorrect payment amount for your organisation’s size or status can lead to rejection of your sponsor licence application.

Submit your request to use the pre-licence priority service as quickly as possible after application submission. Delays in requesting this service may result in your application already being allocated to a UKVI caseworker, making expedited processing impossible.

Requests for an expedited decision must be made during the established operating hours for priority service. Submissions outside these hours will not be processed, potentially causing further delays.

If UKVI requests further details or documentation, it is important to respond promptly within the specified timeframe. Failure to do so may result in your priority service request being denied and your overall sponsor licence application being treated as invalid.

Your authorising officer should regularly check their email, including junk folders, to avoid missing any important communications from UKVI, especially those related to the priority service or requests for additional information. Overlooked emails can result in processing delays or application refusals.

If your organisation does not qualify for priority processing, you can still prevent unnecessary delays by ensuring your application is accurate and complete. Incomplete or inaccurate submissions often lead to additional requests for information, causing substantial delays or refusals. Seeking professional advice from the outset can significantly improve the likelihood of receiving a timely and favourable decision from UKVI.
 

Section H: Summary

The Sponsor Licence Application Priority Service enables UK employers to accelerate sponsor licence application processing from the standard eight weeks to 10 working days, costing an additional £500 fee. Although this service speeds up the decision-making timeline, it doesn’t guarantee approval. Employers must ensure eligibility, carefully submit the correct documents within set timeframes and be aware that certain visa routes do not qualify. Failure to comply with documentation or submission rules risks losing the priority fee without receiving expedited processing. Seeking specialist immigration advice beforehand significantly enhances chances of timely, successful outcomes and minimises business disruption.

Section I: Need assistance?

DavidsonMorris are UK business immigration specialists. For expert guidance on your sponsor licence application, including advice on use of the pre-licence priority service, contact us.

Section J: Sponsor licence priority service FAQs

What is the Sponsor Licence Priority Service?

The Sponsor Licence Priority Service allows UK employers to expedite the processing of their sponsor licence applications, reducing the standard processing time from up to eight weeks to ten working days.

How much does the priority service cost?

The priority service requires an additional fee of £500 on top of the standard application fee for a licence. This fee is non-refundable, even if the application is delayed or refused.

Who can use the priority service?

The service is available to employers applying for a new sponsor licence or making certain changes to an existing licence. Availability is limited, and applications are processed on a first-come, first-served basis.

Does the priority service guarantee approval?

No, the service only accelerates the processing time. Approval depends on the quality of the application and compliance with sponsorship requirements. Incomplete or non-compliant applications can still be refused.

What documents are required for a sponsor licence application?

Required documents vary depending on the business type but may include proof of registration with HMRC, audited accounts, and evidence of genuine recruitment needs. Employers should ensure all documents meet Home Office requirements.

What happens if my application is refused?

If an application is refused, the additional priority fee will not be refunded. Employers should address the reasons for refusal before reapplying.

Can I use the priority service for urgent certificate of sponsorship requests?

No, the priority service is only for sponsor licence applications and some licence changes. Certificates of sponsorship requests must follow a separate process.

Section K: Glossary

Section L: Additional Resources & Links