Table Of Contents:
- Standard fee for in-country sponsor license applications
- Latest priority service fee for expedited processing of in-country sponsor license applications
- Standard service fee for in-country sponsorship management requests
- Latest priority service fee for in-country sponsorship management requests
- Priority service does not guarantee that a sponsorship management request will be approved
- Conclusion
From 21 October 2025, the UK has increased the Pre-sponsor License and Post-sponsor License Priority Service application fee. It has increased the expedited processing fee for an in-country sponsor license application to £750 per request, up from £500. Also, the expedited processing fee for an in-country sponsorship management request made by a worker sponsor or a temporary worker sponsor has increased to £350 per request from £200.
The priority service fee is an additional charge on top of the standard service application fee.
Standard fee for in-country sponsor license applications
A UK-based company or organization wishing to employ foreign nationals to work for them will usually need a sponsor license. For this purpose, foreign nationals also include citizens of the EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland who arrived in the UK on or after 1 January 2021.
Most sponsor license applications are decided within 8 weeks if they go through standard service. The sponsor license application fee depends on the type of license being applied for and the type of organization the applicant is.
For example, the standard service application fee for a worker sponsor license made by small or charitable sponsors is £574 and £1,579 for applications made by medium or large sponsors; and
The standard service application fee for a Temporary Worker sponsor license made by small or charitable sponsors and medium or large sponsors is £574.
Latest priority service fee for expedited processing of in-country sponsor license applications
From 21 October 2025, the in-country sponsor license application priority service fee has increased to £750 from £500.
If a sponsor license applicant wants to get an expedited decision on their sponsor license application, they will need to pay a priority service fee. A sponsor license applicant may not be presented with the option to request priority service for an ineligible route.
Ineligible routes for the purpose of priority service for sponsor license applications at this moment in time are the following:
- GBM UK Expansion Worker
- GBM Service Supplier
- GBM Secondment Worker
- Scale-up Worker
- Government Authorized Exchange
- International Agreement
- Seasonal Worker
Eligible requests for priority service for expedited processing will be considered within 10 working days. The 10-working-day consideration period starts from the working day following the date the applicant paid the priority service fee and does not include weekends and public holidays.
Standard service fee for in-country sponsorship management requests
Sponsorship management requests can be made for the following:
• Additional CoS (Certificate of Sponsorship) allocation
• Annual CoS allocation
• Adding a new level one user
• Changing level 1 user
• Replacing the AO (Authorizing Officer)
• Amending the AO
• Replacing the KC (Key Contact)
• Amending the KC
• Adding a representative
• Amending organization details—moved to new premises
There is no separate standard service fee for these requests beyond the administrative costs for handling the requests. In other words, those who submit a normal sponsorship management request via the SMS (Sponsor Management System) do not need to pay any extra fee specifically for “standard” processing.
Latest priority service fee for in-country sponsorship management requests
From 21 October 2025, the in-country application priority service fee for the expedited processing of a sponsorship management request made by a worker sponsor or temporary worker sponsor has increased to £350 from £200.
If a worker sponsor or temporary worker sponsor wants to get the expedited processing of their sponsorship management requests, they will need to pay a priority service fee. Post-license requests for the GBM Service Supplier route, the GBM UK Expansion worker route, and the GBM Secondment Worker route will not be accepted on priority services.
Eligible requests for priority service will be considered within 5 working days. The 5 working days consideration period starts from the working day following the date the applicant paid the priority service fee.
The 5-working-day consideration period starts the working day following the date the applicant paid the priority service fee.
Sponsorship management requests that are complex or require extra checks may not receive an outcome within 5 working days.
Priority service does not guarantee that a sponsorship management request will be approved
A licensed sponsor can apply for multiple priority requests; however, all requests must be on the same license. The Home Office will not consider multiple request forms for different sponsors on the same email.
The Home Office accepts a maximum of 100 priority service requests every working day. Faster decisions on requests are allocated on a first-come, first-served basis.
Conclusion
The in-country Sponsor Licence Application Priority Service enables UK-based employers to get expedited sponsor licence application processing from the standard 8 weeks to 10 working days. The priority service costs an additional £750. Although priority service speeds up the decision-making timeline, it doesn’t guarantee the approval of the sponsor licence application.
Similarly, in-country post-licence priority service for sponsorship management requests allows UK sponsors to reduce delays in processing urgent changes to their sponsor licence. While the standard service system can take several weeks, priority service offers a decision within 5 working days. This helps employers avoid any disruption when recruitment or business operations depend on timely updates.
However, the service does not offer any relaxation in compliance standards, and any requests made by the Worker sponsor or Temporary Worker sponsor that fail to meet the sponsorship rules or documentary requirements will still be rejected.