Amazon: does its software development engineer sponsor a UK visa?

Yes, with conditionsSoftware Development Engineer (SDE), University/New Grad Program (UK)

Yes. Amazon sponsors its software development engineer for eligible international graduates. Amazon UK Services Ltd holds an active Skilled Worker sponsor licence (confirmed via the gov.uk Register of Licensed Sponsors). Certificate-of-Sponsorship volume and occupation-code data compiled from Home Office FOI releases (via a third-party sponsorship tracker, not itself cited here) showed roughly 3,060 visas sponsored over 3 years, with 'Programmers and software development professionals' the top sponsored occupation (213 CoS in one recent year). Amazon's own SDE university-programme page could not be re-extracted this session (amazon.jobs is JS-rendered and returned 404/blocked responses on retry), so the verdict rests on the sponsor-licence record plus this occupation-level pattern rather than a fresh employer quote, hence confidence is capped at medium.

Sponsors grads?
Sponsors
Pay vs threshold
Clears the threshold
Opportunity
graduate scheme
Pay
No official grad-specific figure confirmed this session. Widely reported UK SDE pay is well above £70,000, comfortably clear of the software-specific threshold. CAUTION: a commonly circulated 'Amazon Graduate Program' average of roughly £30 to 31k blends ALL Amazon grad tracks (operations, HR, supply chain) and should not be used for the SDE track specifically.
2027 cycle
Not confirmed live this session.
Confidence
medium

What is covered: Software Development Engineer (SDE) roles specifically; sponsorship is role/level-dependent company-wide, not blanket

The catch: Lower-skilled operational/fulfilment-centre roles generally fall below the Skilled Worker threshold and are not sponsored. Amazon has a wide pay spread across the business; do not read a fulfilment-centre-adjacent listing's non-sponsorship as Amazon-wide policy.

Sources

Verdict last checked 2026-08-11.

Common questions

Does Amazon sponsor visas for its software development engineer?

Yes. Amazon sponsors its software development engineer for eligible international graduates. Amazon UK Services Ltd holds an active Skilled Worker sponsor licence (confirmed via the gov.uk Register of Licensed Sponsors). Certificate-of-Sponsorship volume and occupation-code data compiled from Home Office FOI releases (via a third-party sponsorship tracker, not itself cited here) showed roughly 3,060 visas sponsored over 3 years, with 'Programmers and software development professionals' the top sponsored occupation (213 CoS in one recent year). Amazon's own SDE university-programme page could not be re-extracted this session (amazon.jobs is JS-rendered and returned 404/blocked responses on retry), so the verdict rests on the sponsor-licence record plus this occupation-level pattern rather than a fresh employer quote, hence confidence is capped at medium.

Does the pay clear the UK Skilled Worker salary threshold?

The pay for this scheme clears the Skilled Worker salary threshold.

What is the catch international students miss with Amazon?

Lower-skilled operational/fulfilment-centre roles generally fall below the Skilled Worker threshold and are not sponsored. Amazon has a wide pay spread across the business; do not read a fulfilment-centre-adjacent listing's non-sponsorship as Amazon-wide policy.

How should I confirm Amazon's sponsorship before applying?

Read the specific vacancy on Amazon's careers site, ask its early-careers team directly, and check the employer on the gov.uk Register of Licensed Sponsors. Policies and thresholds change, so treat this page as a starting point and confirm for the exact role and cycle.

Other technology schemes

Before you apply

Scan your CV against UK applicant tracking systems for free, then tailor it to the schemes that can actually sponsor you.

Sponsorship data: Home Office register + job ad wording. Not immigration advice, verify on gov.uk. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.