Free tool · Employers
Sponsorship cost calculator
Work out what it costs your business to sponsor a worker: the sponsor licence, certificates of sponsorship and the Immigration Skills Charge, plus the worker’s visa costs if you choose to cover them.
Step 1
Your business
Step 2
The role
Step 3
Optional
Your estimate
Sponsoring 1 worker for 3 years
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You can’t pass these on. Your business must pay the sponsor licence fee, the certificate of sponsorship fee and the Immigration Skills Charge, including any admin costs linked to them. If you ask the worker to pay any of these, or take them back from their pay, the Home Office will normally revoke your licence.
Not included: the worker’s salary (it must meet the minimum for the role), visas for their partner or children, recruitment, and the time your team spends on sponsor duties.
Thinking of sponsoring? We prepare your sponsor licence application with you, and once you have a licence, our monthly compliance support keeps your reporting and records on track.
Already sponsoring? Our monthly compliance support keeps your visa dates, reports and records on track, and a compliance audit shows what to fix before a Home Office visit.
Fees checked on GOV.UK on 5 November 2026: sponsor licence fees, certificate of sponsorship, Immigration Skills Charge, Skilled Worker and Health and Care Worker visa fees, healthcare surcharge. A general guide, not advice on your business. Nothing you enter is saved or sent.
Related guides for employers
- ServiceSkilled Worker sponsor licenceWho can apply, the documents you need and how we prepare the application with you.
- ServiceSponsor complianceYour duties once you hold a licence, and our monthly support.
- ServiceSponsor licence auditsCheck your files before the Home Office does.
- GuideThe true cost of sponsoring a workerThe fees, the Skills Charge and the costs HR forgets.
- GuideSkilled Worker salary rulesThe £41,700 threshold and going rates explained.
- GuideHome Office compliance visitsWhat happens on the day, and how to prepare.
Sponsorship cost questions
Am I a small sponsor?
You are usually small if at least 2 of these apply: your annual turnover is £15 million or less, your total assets are worth £7.5 million or less, and you have 50 employees or fewer. Registered charities pay the same lower fees.
When do I pay the Immigration Skills Charge?
When you assign the certificate of sponsorship. You pay for the whole period on the certificate in one go: £480 (small or charity) or £1,320 (medium or large) for the first 12 months, then £240 or £660 for each extra 6 months.
Do I pay the charge for the worker’s partner or children?
No. The Immigration Skills Charge is only paid for the sponsored worker, not for their dependants.
Who doesn’t need the Immigration Skills Charge?
You don’t pay it if the worker holds a Student visa on the day you assign the certificate, or for some research and higher education jobs. Graduate visa holders and dependants of students are not exempt.
Can the worker pay some of these costs?
The worker usually pays their own visa fee and healthcare surcharge, and you can choose to cover them. Your business must pay the licence fee, the certificate fee and the Immigration Skills Charge, including any admin costs linked to them. Asking the worker to pay these will normally lead to your licence being revoked.
Do Health and Care Worker visa holders pay the healthcare surcharge?
No. Health and Care Worker visa holders, and their partners and children, do not pay the healthcare surcharge. Their visa fee is also lower: £324 for up to 3 years, or £628 for longer.