How to Check if a UK Company Has a Sponsor Licence

You can check whether any UK company currently holds a sponsor licence for free using the Home Office's published register. The register is updated regularly and shows the company name, town, licence type, and rating (A or B).

Where the register lives

The official register is published at gov.uk as a downloadable CSV. It is updated on a rolling basis — not always daily — so there can be a short lag between a licence being granted or revoked and the register reflecting that change.

What the register shows

• Organisation name
• Town or city
• Route(s) — Worker, Temporary Worker, etc.
• Rating — A or B

As of June 2026 the register lists 141,956 licensed sponsors. A company not on the register cannot legally employ sponsored workers — but an absence can occasionally reflect a sync lag rather than a genuine revocation, so always check again after a few days if a known sponsor appears to have disappeared.

A-rated vs B-rated

An A-rated licence is the standard, unrestricted status. A B-rating signals Home Office concerns about compliance: the sponsor faces restrictions on assigning new CoS and is subject to enhanced scrutiny. B-rated sponsors are statistically more likely to face revocation.

Faster lookup with SMS System

SMS System syncs the full Home Office register daily and exposes it as a free public lookup. No signup required.