How to search the UK sponsor licence list

Where to find the register

Go to GOV.UK and search for 'register of licensed sponsors workers'. The direct page is under the Visas and immigration section. On that page you will find a link to download the current register as a CSV or Excel file. There is no interactive search box on the page itself, so you must download the file and search within it.

The file is updated every working day, usually by mid-morning UK time. If you downloaded it more than a day ago, download it again before making any decisions based on it.

• The file name includes the date it was published, for example 'register-of-licensed-sponsors-workers-2026-10-21.csv'.
• The file typically contains more than 100,000 rows, so use your spreadsheet's filter or search function rather than scrolling.
• A separate register exists for student sponsors. Make sure you are using the workers register if you are looking for employment sponsorship.

How to search the file step by step

Open the file in Excel, Google Sheets, or any spreadsheet application. The columns you need are Organisation Name, Town/City, County, Type and Rating.

1. Press Ctrl+F (or Cmd+F on a Mac) to open the find tool, then type the employer's name exactly as it appears on Companies House or their website.
2. If you get no result, try a shorter version of the name. For example, search 'Accenture' rather than 'Accenture Solutions Limited' because the registered entity name may differ from the trading name.
3. Check the Type column. You want 'Worker', not 'Student'. Some organisations appear twice, once for each type.
4. Check the Rating column. 'A' means the licence is active and in good standing. 'B' means the Home Office has placed the sponsor on a temporary action plan, which limits how many certificates of sponsorship they can issue.
5. Note the Town/City and County columns. If a company has multiple legal entities, you may see several rows with similar names in different locations. Confirm which entity is actually hiring you.

What the columns actually mean

The register tells you the licence exists and its current rating. It does not tell you how many vacancies the employer has, whether they are willing to sponsor new hires, or whether they have enough unused certificates of sponsorship to offer you one.

An A-rated licence is the standard status. A B-rated licence is not automatically a red flag, but it does mean the employer is under scrutiny and may have restricted capacity to issue new certificates. Avoid reading too much into a B rating without further research, but it is worth asking the employer directly if you reach the offer stage.

Organisations that have had their licence revoked are simply removed from the register. Their absence is the signal, not a separate revoked status.

Common reasons a legitimate employer does not appear

A company can be entirely legitimate and still be absent from the register. There are several common explanations.

• The employer has never needed to sponsor a worker and has not applied for a licence.
• The employer uses a parent company or umbrella entity to sponsor workers. Search for the parent name instead.
• The employer applied for a licence recently and the register has not yet been updated, though updates are daily so this gap is usually short.
• The trading name differs from the legal entity name. A company called 'Blue Sky Digital' may be registered as 'Blue Sky Digital Ltd' or 'BSK Holdings Ltd'.
• The employer's licence was revoked and they have been removed from the register.

What the register cannot tell you

The register confirms a licence exists. It does not confirm that the employer will sponsor the specific role you are applying for, that the salary meets the Skilled Worker threshold (currently £38,700 per year for most roles as of 2026, or the going rate for the occupation code if higher), or that the employer is actively hiring.

You still need to read the job posting carefully. Look for phrases such as 'we are unable to offer visa sponsorship' or 'applicants must have the right to work in the UK'. These phrases mean the employer will not use their licence for this particular vacancy even if they hold one.

The register also does not show the SOC code or occupation list the employer is approved to sponsor under. An employer licensed to sponsor IT roles may not be approved to sponsor a marketing role, for example.

How to use this check in your job search

Build the register check into your workflow before you spend time tailoring an application. Download the latest file, filter by the employer name, confirm the A rating, then read the job posting for any sponsorship exclusion language. Only then invest time in your application.

Break-In Bad's assistant Omar reads the full job posting, including location, visa language, and role level, and scores each job for your eligibility before you apply. If a posting says sponsorship is not available, Omar flags it rather than sending you to apply. This is most useful when you are tracking dozens of roles at once and cannot manually cross-reference every posting with the register yourself.