Visas and sponsorship
These guides cover the visa questions that decide where an international student or graduate can apply in the UK: how long the Graduate route lasts, when and how to switch to a Skilled Worker visa, the salary a sponsored job has to pay, and how to tell whether an employer can sponsor at all.
They are general information about published Home Office rules, not immigration advice. The data behind them is linked below: the register of licensed sponsors, programme-by-programme sponsorship verdicts and the salary calculator. Check anything that matters to you on gov.uk.
23 guides, newest first. How we write and correct them
Visa sponsorship job scams in the UK: 9 warning signs and how to check an employer
Nobody can sell you a certificate of sponsorship. The warning signs of fake sponsored jobs, especially in care, how to check an employer on the Home Office register, and where to report a scam.
Universities that sponsor Skilled Worker visas: what the register shows, and which jobs qualify
At least 130 UK universities hold a Skilled Worker sponsor licence, and most also hold a licence for visiting researchers. Which academic, research and professional services jobs can actually be sponsored, and at what salary.
Temporary Shortage List and Immigration Salary List: what ends for Skilled Worker visas on 31 December 2026
Under the current rules, both shortage lists only work for certificates of sponsorship issued before 31 December 2026. Which 52 jobs are on the Temporary Shortage List, what the Immigration Salary List does, and what the Migration Advisory Committee has recommended next.
Can you bring your family on a Skilled Worker or Health and Care visa in 2026?
It depends on your occupation code. Degree-level jobs can still bring a partner and children; care workers and most other medium-skilled jobs mostly cannot. The rules, the costs and the exceptions, from gov.uk.
Skilled Worker visa to settlement (ILR): the rules in force in October 2026, and what is only proposed
Settlement on the Skilled Worker and Health and Care routes still takes 5 years under the rules in force. A tougher English test arrives on 26 March 2027. The 10-year "earned settlement" model is still a proposal. What each means for you.
Which NHS trusts sponsor visas? What the Home Office register shows (October 2026)
We searched the Home Office sponsor register for NHS bodies by name. More than 200 trusts, all 14 Scottish health boards, all 7 Welsh health boards and all 5 Northern Ireland trusts hold a Skilled Worker licence, plus thousands of GP practices, dentists and pharmacies.
Lost your job on a Skilled Worker visa? The 60-day rule and your options
If your sponsored job ends, the Home Office will normally cut your visa so you have 60 days left. What triggers it, when the 60 days start, what you can and cannot do in that time, and your three options.
Health and Care Worker visa 2026: which jobs still qualify, and which have closed
Doctors, nurses, midwives, allied health professionals and social workers can still apply from overseas. Care workers cannot, and healthcare assistants depend on a list that currently runs to 31 December 2026. The full job list, salaries and costs from gov.uk.
Changing jobs on a Skilled Worker visa: new certificate of sponsorship, timing and costs (2026)
To change employer on a Skilled Worker or Health and Care visa you need a new certificate of sponsorship and a successful update application before you start. The rules, the salary traps, the fees and a step-by-step timeline.
Can a recruitment agency sponsor your visa? What the UK sponsor rules allow
An agency can hold a sponsor licence, but only for staff who work in its own business. It cannot sponsor you and then supply you to a care home, hospital or other client. What the Home Office rules say, what the register shows, and what agencies can and cannot charge.
Skilled Worker Salary Thresholds in 2026: The Real Figures for 15 Graduate Jobs
The gov.uk going rate and new-entrant minimum for 15 graduate jobs by SOC code, who counts as a new entrant, and the pay-period rule in force since 8 April 2026.
Sponsor Licence Check: How to Check if a UK Company Sponsors Visas (and What the Register Can't Tell You)
How to search the Home Office sponsor register, what the route and A/B rating columns mean, why sponsors vanish from the list, and our count of the 7 October 2026 edition.
Will You Require Visa Sponsorship? How to Answer Honestly on UK Applications (2026)
On a Student, Graduate or HPI visa the honest answer to "now or in the future" is usually yes. The right answer for each visa, and how to check an employer first.
Which Banks and Trading Firms Sponsor International Students? Spring Weeks and Internships 2027
Most banks publish no visa sponsorship position for spring weeks. What Lazard, Bank of America, Barclays and others actually say, who holds a licence, and the deadlines.
Which UK Companies Sponsor Graduate Visas in 2026 (and How to Check Any Employer)
More than 126,000 UK organisations can sponsor Skilled Worker visas. Which graduate employers actually do, and how to check any company in under a minute.
The salary threshold that decides if a graduate scheme can sponsor you
Why a licensed employer still cannot sponsor its own graduate scheme. The two headline numbers, the occupation going rate that overrides them, and the four-year clock most guides never mention.
The Graduate visa drops to 18 months on 1 January 2027: apply by 31 December to keep two years
Apply for the Graduate visa on or before 31 December 2026 and you get two years; apply from 1 January 2027 and you get 18 months. Who is affected, how to beat the cut-off, and what it means for sponsorship.
We Analysed All 126,219 UK Visa Sponsors: What the Register Really Tells Graduates in 2026
Analysis of all 126,219 licensed UK visa sponsors and 7,080 live graduate job ads: where sponsors are, and why ads almost never mention sponsorship.
Visa Sponsorship Jobs UK: Where Graduates Can Actually Find Sponsored Roles in 2026
Where to find visa sponsorship jobs in the UK as a graduate: the sites that work, the ground-truth register, and the dead platforms old lists still recommend.
Which UK graduate schemes sponsor visas
Why there is no fixed list of sponsoring schemes, the sectors more likely to sponsor, and the one reliable check to run on any scheme before you apply.
UK companies that sponsor Skilled Worker visas (2026 guide)
How to find employers that can actually sponsor you — the official register, what a licence does and does not mean, and how to apply where you can be hired.
Graduate visa to Skilled Worker: the timeline
When to start, when sponsorship has to be in place, and how to sequence the switch from the Graduate route to a sponsored Skilled Worker visa without a gap.
How to find visa-sponsoring graduate schemes
A method for finding UK graduate schemes that sponsor international students, cross-referencing scheme lists against the official sponsor register.
Data and tools for this topic
- Licensed visa sponsors by cityThe Home Office register of licensed sponsors, refreshed dailyData
- Graduate schemes that sponsor visasA sponsorship verdict per programme, quoting the employerData
- Skilled Worker salary calculatorThe general threshold and the going rate for an occupation codeFree tool
- Sponsor licence checkSearch one employer against the Home Office registerFree tool