How to Sponsor a UK Skilled Worker Visa Without a UK Entity: 4 Options for Employers (2026)

You can’t sponsor a UK Skilled Worker Visa without a UK entity, because the Home Office only grants sponsor licences to organisations that operate or trade lawfully in the UK.

If you wish to do so, there are four compliant routes you can take: set up a UK entity and apply for a licence, use the UK Expansion Worker route, hire through an employer of record (EOR) someone who already has the right to work, or hire the person outside the UK first.

In this guide we’ll cover all four of these options and help you choose the right one based on your specific hiring requirements.

Key takeaways

• A UK Skilled Worker visa can only be sponsored by an organisation operating in the UK that holds a Home Office sponsor licence, so an overseas company first needs a UK subsidiary or a branch registered at Companies House.
• Candidates who already have the right to work in the UK, including Graduate, High Potential Individual, Global Talent and dependant visa holders, can start work without sponsorship, which makes them the quickest first hires for a company with no UK entity.
• In 2026, a sponsored role must sit at RQF level 6 and pay at least £41,700 or the going rate for its occupation code, whichever is higher, and setting up an entity and getting a licence usually takes 3 to 5 months.
• RemotePass can employ UK hires who already have the right to work for $549 per employee per month, with onboarding in as little as 2 working days once we receive their documents.

Can you sponsor a skilled worker visa without a UK entity?

A company cannot sponsor a Skilled Worker visa without a UK entity because the route allows sponsorship only by an organisation that operates or trades lawfully in the UK and holds a sponsor licence. An overseas company should either be:

• A UK subsidiary: A private limited company registered at Companies House and owned by your overseas parent. This is the most common structure because it keeps UK liabilities inside the UK company.
• A UK establishment (branch): Your overseas company registers its UK presence at Companies House without creating a separate legal entity. The branch can apply for a licence, though the overseas parent stays directly liable for UK obligations.

In both cases, the Home Office needs to see that the UK operation is genuine, meets its sponsor duties, and the job is a real vacancy at the right skill and salary level.

Skilled Worker visa requirements in 2026

In 2026, a Skilled Worker role must sit at RQF level 6 (graduate level) and pay at least £41,700 a year or the going rate for its occupation code, whichever is higher. New main applicants must prove English at level B2, and the sponsor pays an Immigration Skills Charge for every year of the visa.

The rules have tightened twice since 2025, so check the requirements before you agree on a salary with your candidate.

A few things to keep in mind if you’re planning to hire a skilled worker in the UK:

• The job must be genuine: The sponsor must be able to show a real vacancy with real duties, and a job description written to fit an occupation code will fail a compliance check.
• The salary must clear both numbers: The offer needs to meet the general threshold and the going rate for the specific occupation code, and the higher figure applies.
• The sponsor pays certain costs: The Home Office can revoke a licence if the sponsor recovers the licence fee, the CoS fee or the Immigration Skills Charge from the worker.

Learn more about the employment laws in the UK to make sure you remain compliant when hiring UK talent.

Four ways to hire a skilled worker in the UK without a UK entity: Quick comparison

Here’s a quick comparison of the four options available to you if you wish to hire in the UK without an entity.

Option 1: Set up a UK entity and get a Skilled Worker Sponsor Licence

For this option, you have to register a UK company or UK establishment, build the evidence the Home Office requires, appoint your key personnel, apply for the licence, and assign a Certificate of Sponsorship to your hire. The process takes roughly three to four months in total and is a good option if you plan to build an entire UK team, because one licence lets you sponsor as many eligible hires as your CoS allocation allows.

• Best for: Companies planning five or more UK hires within a year, or any business that wants a permanent UK operation.
• UK presence needed: A registered UK company or UK establishment with genuine operations.
• Time: About 2 to 8 weeks for company setup and preparation, up to about 8 weeks for the licence decision, and about 3 weeks for the worker’s visa from outside the UK. In total, that comes to about 13 to 19 weeks, so most companies should plan for 3 to 5 months from registering the UK company to the worker’s first day.
• What this option costs: The sponsor licence fee is £611 for small or charitable sponsors and £1,682 for medium or large sponsors.
• What it commits you to: A licence holder must keep records on each sponsored worker, report certain changes to the Home Office, run right to work checks and be ready for a compliance visit. A sponsor that fails these duties risks suspension or revocation of the licence, which affects every sponsored worker at once.

How to set up a UK entity

Here are five simple steps to set up an entity for sponsoring UK skilled workers.

1. Register a UK company or UK establishment: A UK subsidiary, or a UK establishment registered at Companies House for an overseas company, both qualify as a licence holder.
2. Build the evidence the Home Office wants: Appendix A of the sponsor guidance lists the documents, and applicants send them within 5 working days of submitting the online application. A UK business bank account sits at the centre of that evidence, and a non-UK resident director should check bank account opening requirements early because some banks take weeks to open accounts.
3. Appoint key personnel: Name an Authorising Officer, a Key Contact and a Level 1 User, and make sure each of them has a clean compliance history.
4. Apply for the licence: Choose the Skilled Worker route, estimate how many Certificates of Sponsorship you need in the first year, and pay the fee for your organisation’s size.
5. Assign a Certificate of Sponsorship and the hire applies: Once the licence is granted, you assign a certificate with the job details and salary, and the worker applies for the visa with that reference number.

Visit the official UK Government website to learn more.

Option 2: Use the UK Expansion Worker Visa

The UK Expansion Worker visa lets an established overseas business send up to five senior or specialist employees to set up its UK branch or subsidiary before it starts trading in the UK.

Your company still needs a UK footprint and an Expansion Worker sponsor licence, and this route is temporary, so workers move to the Skilled Worker route once the UK entity is set up.

This option is best for an overseas company that wants an existing employee to open its UK operation, so it can’t be used to hire a new person you found in the UK market.

Your business must meet these requirements to get an Expansion Worker licence:

• A UK footprint: A UK subsidiary or UK establishment registered at Companies House, or UK business premises.
• No UK trading yet: If your UK operation is already trading, you need a Skilled Worker or Senior or Specialist Worker licence.
• An overseas trading presence: Your overseas business must be actively trading, usually for at least 3 years, with exceptions for some businesses.
• A credible expansion plan: The Home Office expects evidence that you can establish a trading presence in the UK within 2 years.

For example, a Riyadh-based fintech that has traded for five years can register a UK subsidiary, apply for an Expansion Worker licence, and send its head of partnerships to London to open the office. Once the subsidiary signs its first UK clients, it can add the Skilled Worker route to its licence and sponsor local and international hires.

Learn more about hiring in the UK in our detailed country guide.

Option 3: Hire someone who already has the right to work through an EOR

If your candidate already has the right to work in the UK, you don’t need a sponsor licence. An employer of record can employ them on your behalf within days, handle PAYE payroll, National Insurance and pension auto-enrolment, and carry out the right to work check, while your team remains responsible for the day-to-day job work.

This is the fastest legal route for a first UK hire, and people who can usually work in the UK without work visas or sponsorship include:

• British and Irish citizens
• People with settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme
• People with indefinite leave to remain
• Graduate visa holders, who can work for 2 years after a UK degree, or 3 years after a PhD. From 1 January 2027, new Graduate visas will last 18 months.
• High Potential Individual visa holders who graduated from an eligible top-ranked university
• Global Talent visa holders who have been endorsed as leaders or emerging leaders in their field
• Youth Mobility Scheme visa holders from participating countries
• Partners and dependants of many visa holders, such as the partner of a Skilled Worker, whose visas usually allow them to work in any job

With RemotePass’s UK employer of record service, RemotePass becomes the legal employer and handles the employment contract, payroll, pension auto-enrolment, and the right to work check.

The UK EOR fee is $549 per employee per month, and onboarding can take as little as 2 working days once all employee documents are received. Our guide on how to hire employees in the UK without a company covers UK employer costs and the EOR process in more detail.

Option 4: Hire the person outside the UK

If the candidate needs a visa you cannot sponsor yet, you can hire them as an EOR employee in their home country, or in a hub where visa sponsorship is available such as the UAE or Saudi Arabia, and relocate them to the UK once your entity and licence exist.

This route keeps your hire working for you while you decide on your UK plans. These are the main ways to set it up:

• Employ them in their home country through an EOR: The person keeps working from where they live, with local payroll, tax, and benefits handled for you.
• Relocate them to a hub with visa sponsorship: RemotePass can also sponsor work visas. That means your hire can live and work in a country close to your team or your customers. See how RemotePass supports relocation.

For example, a Spanish software company that wants a senior engineer from Brazil for its future London office can employ him in São Paulo through RemotePass, with local payroll and benefits, and sponsor him for a UK Skilled Worker visa once its UK subsidiary holds a sponsor licence. He starts work straight away, and the company only takes on sponsorship costs once it has a UK operation to support the role.

Also read: Everything you need to know about working as an independent contractor in the UK.

How much does it cost to sponsor a Skilled Worker?

For a three-year Skilled Worker visa for a worker applying from outside the UK, a small sponsor pays £1,440 in Immigration Skills Charge, and a medium or large sponsor pays £3,960, plus a one-off licence fee of £611 or £1,682 and the Certificate of Sponsorship fee. The visa fee is £819, and the Immigration Health Surcharge is £1,035 per year.

Here is how those fees add up for one hire on a 3-year visa:

• Small sponsor: £611 licence + £525 CoS + £1,440 Immigration Skills Charge = £2,576 for the employer, plus £827 visa fee + £3,105 Immigration Health Surcharge = £3,932 for the worker, which makes a total of £6,508.
• Medium or large sponsor: £1,682 licence + £525 CoS + £3,960 Immigration Skills Charge = £6,167 for the employer, plus £3,932 for the worker, which makes a total of £10,099.

The licence fee is paid once, so the cost per hire falls as you sponsor more people. You should also budget for the costs of running a UK entity, which include company formation, a registered office, an accountant, payroll, employer’s liability insurance and immigration legal advice for the licence application.

For comparison, an EOR hire under Option 3 has no licence or sponsorship fees. RemotePass charges $549 per employee per month in the UK, on top of salary, employer National Insurance, and pension, and you can model the full cost with the RemotePass employment cost calculator.

Which UK hiring route fits your business?

The right route depends on whether your hire needs sponsorship, how many UK hires you plan, and how established your business is outside the UK. These short answers cover the situations we see most often:

How RemotePass helps you hire in the UK?

RemotePass can help you at each stage of hiring in the UK, from your first employee to running payroll for your own UK company. Here’s how:

• UK employer of record: RemotePass employs your UK hires who already have the right to work. We run their payroll, pay employer National Insurance, enrol them in a pension, and check their right to work, for $549 per employee per month.
• Local payroll for your UK entity: Once you set up your own UK company, RemotePass runs its payroll alongside your EOR hires and contractors.
• One platform for 150+ countries: All your EOR employees, contractors, and local payroll are in one account, with one monthly invoice.
• A dedicated customer success manager: Every customer gets a dedicated contact from day one, with a response time of under 4 hours, so you don’t have to wait in a ticket queue.
• No minimum contract: Some hires don’t work out as planned, and you shouldn’t have to keep paying for 12 months when that happens. With RemotePass, you can end the service with one month’s notice.

If you’re planning your first UK hire and aren’t sure which route fits, talk to a RemotePass expert. We’ll look at your candidate’s visa status, your timeline, and your budget, and find the quickest way to get them started.

Frequently asked questions

What is the fastest legal way to hire someone in the UK without a UK company?
The fastest route is to hire someone who already has the right to work through an employer of record. Candidates with British or Irish citizenship, settled status, or a Graduate, High Potential Individual, Global Talent or dependant visa do not need sponsorship. With RemotePass, onboarding can take as little as 2 working days once all employee documents are received.

Does my UK company need to be trading before it can get a sponsor licence?
Your UK company does not need to be generating revenue. In May 2026, the Home Office confirmed that “operating” includes pre-trade activity by a business that plans to start trading in the foreseeable future. You still need a UK business bank account, at least three other documents from Appendix A, UK-based key personnel and evidence that the role is a genuine vacancy.

What is the difference between the UK Expansion Worker visa and the Skilled Worker visa?
The Expansion Worker visa is for senior or specialist employees of an established overseas business who come to set up its UK branch before it trades, with a limit of five workers. The Skilled Worker visa covers any eligible role with a licensed UK sponsor and can lead to settlement. Expansion Workers usually switch to Skilled Worker once the UK business is trading.

How much does it cost an employer to sponsor a Skilled Worker in 2026?
For a 3-year visa, a small sponsor pays about £2,576 in employer fees, made up of the £611 licence fee, the £525 Certificate of Sponsorship fee and £1,440 in Immigration Skills Charge. The worker’s visa fee and Immigration Health Surcharge add about £3,932. Medium and large sponsors pay more because their licence fee and Skills Charge are higher.

What are the most common reasons sponsor licence applications are refused?
The main reasons are a business that is not genuinely operating in the UK, a job description that does not hold up as a genuine vacancy, a salary set at the exact minimum without justification, weak financial evidence, and an organisation that cannot show it can carry out sponsor duties. Concerns about the people named as key personnel can also cause a refusal.